Creating a Health Village project on the defunct Mackinnon Memorial Hospital in Broadford, Isle of Skye to support
health, wellbeing and social care in the community.
Estimated Price
Not yet known
What do we want to do:
The Mackinnon Memorial Hospital (MMH) site, Broadford has been recently transferred by NHS Highland to The Highland Council who are working with the community on the development of the site. There is a pressing need for novel health care staff accommodation for Skye, Lochalsh and Wester Ross as the lack of accommodation remains the primary barrier to the recruitment and retention of health care workers. We acknowledge that the Highland Council has strict funding parameters when looking at the development of the site which restricts the potential use in our rural area. What we need rather than more long-term housing on a precious site, previously donated to the community for health and wellbeing purposes, is the creation of a “Health Village” on the redeveloped MMH site.
The community aspirations for the redevelopment may include:
Short term accommodation units for:
On-call staff
Visiting Consultants
Bank and Locum Staff
Students
New Recruits
Step up/Step down care to prevent delayed discharges/bed blocking
Family accommodation, particularly for families of patients requiring palliative care, recognising that visitors may need to travel long distances.
Other uses, which may also be incorporated:
Creche / Nursery provision to support the Health and Social Care workforce
Centre of Excellence to provide knowledge, expertise and resources to support user groups including training and education services
Coffee shop/meeting space for Health & Social Care practitioners
Horticultural therapy garden
Memorial Garden
Why this project is important for our community:
In the Broadford and Strath Local Place Plan, registered in October 2024, the MMH site and adjacent helipad were highlighted and the community stated they would support appropriate development in consultation with the community. Suggestions for use included social / respite care, supported accommodation and NHS housing. The need for a new helipad was also raised. “Continued positive partnership working should establish a valuable community facility that will complement and assist the delivery of health and social care services throughout the Skye and Lochalsh and Wester Ross area and that delivered from the new Broadford Hospital”.
More recently the Scottish Islands Federation briefing paper highlighting island priorities for MSPs and parliamentary candidates suggested that “Fixed term rented gateway housing, giving households looking to move to island communities the option to trybeforeyou-buy" be reintroduced. This is a model we would wish to explore for the new Health Village specifically for health care workers. We would work alongside THC and the Lochalsh and Skye Housing Association to ensure any housing was a “stepping stone” to a long-term tenancy / purchase ensuring that any housing on the MMH site is kept for health and social care purposes in perpetuity.
Milestones:
In October 2022, a dedicated group, the Mackinnon Memorial Hospital Working Group (MMH Group), was established with the specific aim of examining the feasibility and potential benefits of creating a health and social care campus or “Health Village” including the former hospital site and adjacent defunct helipad site. A range of community organisations and service providers joined the effort, including the Broadford and Strath Community Council, the Broadford and Strath Community Company (BSCC), The Highland Council (THC), NHS Highland (NHSH), Lochalsh and Skye Housing Association (LSHA) as well as several other organisations. It was agreed that the group would work in partnership to establish the best possible health and social care purposes for the site adjacent to the existing health and community facilities.
The existing health and social care facilities in close proximity to the MMH site include:
An Acarsaid, a Care Home
Broadford Medical Centre
Broadford Hospital
Broadford Pharmacy
All of these services are located along the access route to the old hospital site and naturally support the community aspiration of expanding our Health Village to meet the complex and diverse needs for our rural and island area.
Next steps:
Working on gathering data with support from The National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care, NHS Education for Scotland
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