Sick divers will have to travel to Aberdeen or Liverpool for hyperbaric oxygen therapy, unless an NHS decision to pull funding for specialist clinical support in Oban can be reversed.
If the hyperbaric chamber, based out at Dunstaffnage, continues to remain closed with no expert medical back-up, the health of divers from coastal waters across the West Coast will be at risk.
The decision is also putting the future of commercial diving operations in jeopardy, which could cost the area’s economy tens of millions of pounds, it has been warned.
There is a legal requirement for the diving industry to nominate their nearest chamber, which should be between two to six hours away from a dive spot. If you draw a six-hour circle round Oban, it covers a huge chunk of the West Coast.
"This could mean that some will have to stop what they are doing or buy their own chamber and learn how to use it - quickly," says Dr Martin Sayer, managing director of Tritonia, which runs the facility.
As of March 31, funding for the clinical service was pulled by NHS Grampian. There is still a chamber in Aberdeen for critically-ill divers but 99.9 per cent of west coast divers needing hyperbaric treatment can successfully be cared for in Oban, according to Dr Sayer.
Argyll MP Brendan O’Hara is asking Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care, Neil Gray MSP to intervene as a matter of urgency. He is concerned that as well as safety implications for divers, the loss of the facility could also jeopardise ’tens of millions of pounds’ to the area’s economy.
Mr O’Hara said: "As I understand it, as a result of this funding cut and without Dunstaffnage, divers requiring urgent decompression treatment would have to be transported to either Aberdeen or Liverpool, many miles and many hours away, a situation which is completely unacceptable.
"The west coast of Scotland is an important centre for the commercial diving sector, particularly the military and the aquaculture industry. These are worth tens of millions of pounds to our local economy, but that will be jeopardised if there is not a decompression chamber within a legally required time and distance from any incident."
Decompression illness, known as the bends, is a complex condition.
"No one case is the same really. We’ve definitely had people go into the Oban chamber who would otherwise have deteriorated quickly. It is a remarkable thing to see people go into the chamber very ill then walk out a few hours later feeling much better," said Dr Sayer.
"Communication from NHS Grampian had been pathetic. We got very short notice, it was a very abrupt end," he said, urging people to lobby Argyll MP Brendan O’Hara and MSP Jenni Minto to help reopen the Oban chamber.
A spokesperson for NHS Grampian said: "Our contract with Tritonia has expired and will not be renewed. The NHS service there was suspended in January 2024. We are content there will be no impact on service delivery, as the main national hyperbaric unit in Aberdeen remains fully operational. Appropriate arrangements to transfer patients to the centre in Aberdeen, as required, have been in place since the start of the year, due to the suspension of the NHS service."
Dr Sayer said NHS Grampian should have renewed that statement after he had a meeting with officials last Thursday resulting in the health authority stepping back from the non-renewal and revising the closed status to ’suspended’.
In order to run the service, there needs to be a team of doctors who are certified in diving and hyperbaric medicine. Oban has a team of five, with two more keen to join, but ending the funding means those expert doctors, who were on call around the clock for the chamber and for A&E in Oban, can no longer practice diving medicine if needed, said Dr Sayer.
Argyll MSP Jenni Minto has written to NHS Grampian to seek more information on why this decision has been made and also to ask what support has been put in place for those who will be affected.
She said: "Argyll and Bute has a coastline the length of France’s, which supports dive tourism and aquaculture, both of which could be impacted by the removal of this important resource."
Yes! I would like to be sent emails from West Coast Today
I understand that my personal information will not be shared with any third parties, and will only be used to provide me with useful targeted articles as indicated.
I'm also aware that I can un-subscribe at any point either from each email notification or on My Account screen.