A SERIOUSLY ill and partially sighted cancer patient was stranded on Benbecula yesterday after an air ambulance crew flew him to the wrong Hebridean island.
Archie Boyd, 63, was due to be transferred to St Brendan's Hospital in Castlebay on his home island of Barra yesterday morning after undergoing radiotherapy at the Beatson Cancer Centre at Gartnavel Hospital, Glasgow.
However, the pilot of the ai
r ambulance helicopter landed at Benbecula, 40 miles to the north.
Mr Boyd, who has lost the sight in one eye since being diagnosed with cancer six months ago, was taken off the helicopter, which returned to Glasgow.
High winds prevented a helicopter from returning to the island to take Mr Boyd home, and he was taken to Balivanich hospital on Benbecula.
Donald Manford, a senior Western Isles councillor, demanded an investigation into the incident.
He said: "The priority is to get Mr Boyd home as early as possible. This is not the first time incidents like this have happened with people taken to the wrong place or left stranded.
"It is not an acceptable way to operate a service."
A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service admitted an error had been made, but said the weather was hampering attempts get Mr Boyd home.
He said: "We are making every effort with both the Inverness and Glasgow helicopters to get the patient to the Barra hospital today.
"We tried to get the Inverness helicopter out to take the patient to Barra this morning. We will continue until we can."
The full article contains 259 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
