Dave Thompson MSP

AS MSP for one of Scotland’s largest and most sparsely populated parliamentary constituencies, I believe it is vital that I am able to meet as many of you as possible so that your concerns can be communicated to Holyrood as simply as can those in urban areas whose MSPs can cover their whole constituency in a single morning.

It is, therefore, important that matters which affect people in areas such as Muck, Knoydart or Morvern are given equal weight to those raised by residents of urban areas where MSPs are physically closer to constituents.

One such recent issue has been raised by the community of West Ardnamurchan, where locals are rightly concerned about access to emergency health care after the impending and well-deserved retirement of one of the peninsula’s community nurses, who has selflessly been on call round the clock on an informal basis for as long as people can remember.

Nervousness about a replacement service proposed by NHS Highland has led to a series of public meetings between the community and health managers as a workable solution which meets the needs of the community is sought.

While this has been going on I have written to all the major parties involved – Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon, Milne Weir of the Scottish Ambulance Service and Garry Coutts, chair of NHS Highland – to pass on your concerns and urge them to find a solution that meets the needs of the community.

I am continuing to lobby for action and monitor events but you can be sure I am in contact with all the main players and am working behind the scenes on your behalf.

The vast area of the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency which, don’t forget, also includes Dingwall, Loch Ness and the Black Isle, and its sometimes challenging geography, makes dropping by at short notice very difficult in some areas and that is why recess for me was largely taken up with a series of visits to meet as many constituents as possible.

As part of this I embarked upon a two-day trip to the Small Isles and Knoydart to meet as many residents there as possible. Among the issues raised were several which are common to many other parts of the constituency, such as broadband access, Feed in Tariffs for renewable energy projects and transport links and I am endeavouring to work through these to reach an improved situation but many more were specific to these areas and each involves as much work to resolve as these more general issues.

I also plan to visit West Ardnamurchan over the next few months but, in the meantime, any constituent can contact my constituency office in Dingwall either by phone: 01349 864701 during office hours or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to raise any matter they believe should be brought to my attention.

In addition to matters raised by constituents, I am also busy representing the interests of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch at Holyrood and have recently been reassured that police numbers will not be reduced by a single Scottish Police Force and will remain at the record high numbers seen across Scotland since 1,000 extra officers on the streets were introduced to meet the SNP electoral commitment from the 2007 election.

I also got an assurance that backroom functions like human resources, finance and IT would be spread round the country and I will continue to press for this.

We also got great news in the Spending review this week which confirmed, despite a large cut in the Scottish budget, that the Crianlarich Bypass and Pulpit Rock improvements on the A82 will be funded over the next three years.

Finally I look forward to meeting and getting to know you all over the next few years.