Campaign Update, Day 23

The campaign to keep our District Nurses on 24-hour emergency cover continues, with tremendous support from our friends and almost total silence from NHS Highland.

• An anonymous supporter has promised to bankroll our campaign. Only Rosie Curtis knows who they are but, from all of us, a huge and heartfelt "Thank You!"
• On December 23rd, The Herald carried a half-page spread about our fight, and obtained a comment from Nicola Sturgeon that she was 'seeking assurances' from NHS Highland.
• This was followed by a further Herald report on the 28th about our anonymous donor.
• The Herald has carried letters from Ian McKee MSP, Ritchie Dinnes, Pat Glenday and Richard O'Connor.
• Ian McKee, as a member of the Scottish Parliament's Health and Sport Committee, has written to the Chief Executive of NHS Highland questioning whether proper consultation has taken place.
• We have now featured on the front page of The Oban Times for three weeks running.
• The Press and Journal has carried three reports on the story.
• We are very grateful to the local and national newspapers who have given us such support. We ask our supporters to help by writing letters to the editors of these papers.
• Our MP, Charles Kennedy, and the MSPs who have taken up our cause, await responses from NHS Highland.
• A big "Thank You!" to our four Highland Councillors who continue to work actively for us.
• We are aware that hundreds of letters have been received by NHS Highland, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. Thank you to everyone who wrote, and we urge anyone who has not but would like to support us to write. The information you need is in the right-hand column for download.
• A petition is doing the rounds of West Ardnamurchan. The Scottish Parliament e-petition has run into difficulties which we are urgently trying to resolve.
• Iain MacDonald has produced a superb design for our campaign, which will be unveiled shortly. Many thanks to Iain for giving up so much of his holiday to help us.
• Looking ahead, the Action Committee is planning to ask Ms Ligema to come down early in the New Year to answer questions at an open meeting.
• Newsletter 1 has been circulated in West Ardnamurchan to those people who don't have easy internet access. It's available for download in the column on the right.
• Meanwhile, our two much-valued nurses have been covering the holiday season in the usual way. We hope, not least for their sakes, that the uncertainty about their future will soon be over.