Scotland-wide funding for Orkney hyperbaric chambers?

The Scottish Government has indicated that hyperbaric chambers in Orkney may be funded collectively by all NHS Boards in Scotland.

Orkney MSP Liam McArthur has been pursuing the issue over recent months and was assured by the health secretary last autumn that a review was under way.

Mr McArthur said: “While the total number of people needing to use a hyperbaric chamber has fallen across Scotland in recent years, the trend in Orkney has been quite the opposite. This is not surprising, given the growing popularity of recreational diving and expansion of marine renewables in the islands.

“Looking ahead, it seems fairly safe to assume that the relevance importance of the Orkney hyperbaric chambers is only likely to increase.”

He added: “There does now seem cause for optimism that some of cost may be spread more evenly across other health boards in Scotland.  That would be a fair and equitable solution that safeguards the provision of this high-quality and highly valued service. Nicola Sturgeon has proved to be open to change in these funding arrangements and I hope she will respond positively to the final recommendations.”