MSP's efforts to try to make travelling easier for community nurses in bad weather

15 February 2011

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant and NHS Highland have joined forces to try to help community nurses driving in bad weather.

Rhoda Grant was contacted by a number of nurses who complained that they were not allowed to fit their lease cars with winter tyres even though they were travelling to remote areas where roads are either inadequately gritted or do not have the level of traffic required to churn the gritting salt so that the ice melts.

She then wrote to NHS Highland to see what it could do to resolve the situation.

NHS Highland Chief Executive Elaine Mead said the current position was that the lease companies did not provide or support winter tyres as a standard on all lease vehicles.

They could be fitted for business and private use but only at the expense of the driver -ordinary tyres are fitted free of charge under the lease contract.

The position with the purely Business Use vehicle was that the expense could be covered by the departmental budget.

She added that the NHS Highland Transport Manager had contacted the Transport Manager for NHS National Services Scotland to request that he formally approaches the three lease companies to see if they will consider their position on the fitting and support of winter tyres.

Rhoda Grant commented :

"It seems to be ludicrous that community nurses are prevented from having their cars fitted with tyres that are more appropriate to the winter conditions in the areas they cover.

"These journeys would be safer if their cars were better equipped to deal with winter conditions.

"I hope that NHS chiefs will see the necessity for winter tyres to be fitted as a matter of course on all lease vehicles used by community nurses and front line staff, who will often find themselves travelling in bad weather to attend to patients. "

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