Polar cruise ship cancels her maiden Lerwick call due to weather 

The final cruise ship visit of the season has been cancelled due to weather – despite her credentials as a luxury polar exploration ship.

Weather halts some ferry services

Some inter-island ferries have stopped for the night due to high winds.

Sailings on the Yell Sound, Whalsay and Skerries have already ended, with the last trip on the Bluemull Sound due to return at 9.10pm.

The Met Office has forecast a blustery night with winds as high as 69mph.

However, the Bressay ferry is currently running to schedule.

Hjaltland unveils new homes in Walls 

Hjaltland Housing Association has celebrated after completing four new homes in Walls.

Council leader wins top award

Council leader Emma Macdonald has won the Cllr Awards Scotland Leader of the Year.

Mrs Macdonald was one of 44 councillors who were nominated to be at the event in the Edinburgh City Chambers last night (Thursday).

Isles MP warns NHS will go into ‘reverse’

NHS services risk going backwards, the isles MP warned if the National Insurance contribution increase is not offset for GPs and other care providers.

Speaking during an Urgent Question in parliament, Alistair Carmichael referenced discussions with GPs in the isles who are reducing recruitment as a result of the tax increase.

The government has provided the NHS as a whole an increase in funding to cover the increased tax, but this does not apply to GPs, who are considered to be private operators despite working for the public sector.

The Liberal Democrat agreed with the government that it should do what it can to prevent the vital health service from “going into reverse” but that was exactly what it risked doing.

“I met with [a GP] on Friday who told me that as a consequence of having to find extra National Insurance contributions, they won’t now be able to make a support post permanent, which was on a temporary contract, and they won’t proceed with the recruitment of the extra GP that they were wanting to take on,” Mr Carmichael said.

Something had to give, he added, as GPs would be eligible for employment allowance as private contractors but are unable to as they work entirely in the public sector.

Minister for health Karin Smyth said it was a “complex” situation that GPs found themselves in.

“We absolutely understand the precariousness of primary care, they are crucial to our plans for developing the health service, and we will be discussing with them in the normal process about the allocations for the following year,” she said.

After the exchange, Mr Carmichael said that GPs and care providers were now making cutbacks because of uncertainty.

“That will inevitably have an effect on the health services on which we all rely,” he said.

“The government must give more clarity on their plans as soon as possible – and confirm that they will offset the increased NICs cost for GPs and care homes.”

Bring back shared cabins, MSP says

An MSP has called on Serco NorthLink to reintroduce shared cabins on its ferry services.

SNP elected member Emma Roddick has urged the company’s managing director Stuart Garrett to do everything in his power to bring back the policy.

For those ferrying between Aberdeen and Lerwick, it is an “accessible” way to travel, according to the list politician.

She was “completely unclear” why they had not been reinstated after the pandemic.

“Numerous constituents have contacted my office, expressing their disappointment and concern over the continued absence of what was a popular and cost-effective option for travellers,” Ms Roddick said. 

It was clear that the ferry operator had been facing capacity issues, she said, but added this had caused “significant inconvenience” to passengers.

Ms Roddick added: “The lack of affordable cabin space directly impacts constituents’ ability to book travel at times that best suit their needs. This, in turn, restricts their access to essential services, employment and education.”

Allowing shared cabins to be booked would help address capacity challenges and provide a “comfortable and affordable” travel option.

Lerwick Dental Practice to deregister NHS patients 

NHS Shetland has confirmed Lerwick Dental Practice will deregister NHS patients.

The health board said it had become aware of Lerwick Dental Practice’s decision to deregister some of its NHS patients.

“As independent dental practices operate as private businesses, they have the freedom to make decisions about service delivery, including whether they treat patients under NHS regulations and on registering or de-registering NHS patients, which may not involve prior consultation. Unfortunately, NHS Boards are unable to control these decisions,” the health board said in a statement.

NHS Shetland Public Dental Service (PDS) is currently working at almost 50 per cent less capacity than the pre-covid workforce levels, but over 70 per cent of the Shetland population registered with the service.

As a result, the PDS is only able to provide an emergency/non-routine service for the patients de-registered by Lerwick Dental Practice.

WATCH: Skate attacking inflatable vessel off Muckle Roe 

A fisherman had to pull teeth out of his inflatable vessel after a skate bit his boat in six different places. 

Paul Hutchison had been fishing in his Avon SR4 RIB boat on Saturday when he came across what he initially believed was a startled seal.

“I had moved inshore to catch a drift going north, so I wasn’t on the fishing ground, so I wasn’t fishing, I was sat having a cup of tea on the boat,” he said.

“Something splashed right at the side of the boat and I thought it would be a seal that’s come up and got a fright. It’s quite common for seals to come up beside you, not realise your a person on a boat and get spooked.”

However, the “seal” came up multiple times and bumped the bottom of the boat – after the fourth time it surfaced, Mr Hutchison heard a hissing sound and realised it was not a seal.

“I saw this kind of brown mottled colour, it was quite bizarre and I thought ‘I don’t know what it is’ so I started up the engine to make a bit of noise and banged on the boat a couple of times, but it was still coming up.

“I thought ‘I can’t go into gear and move away now because it comes near the engine I’m going to hurt it'”.

After it surfaced again, he realised it was a skate biting the vessel.

“I turned round and saw it biting the tubes of the boat. It let go and dived down, so I put the boat into gear and moved as quickly as I could.”

On his way back to shore, Mr Hutchison said the boat was “rapidly deflating” and by the time he reached the marina half the boat was deflated.

“I’ve got a bag of teeth I had to pull out the boat, they’re quite small but they’re absolutely razor sharp and when I looked at my boat when I got out the water I realised the skate had punctured it in six different places.” 

The skate was believed to be the flapper skate – which is considered to be a critically endangered species. 

Although the skate attacked his boat, Mr Hutchison stressed he did not want anyone to “go after it”. 

Frankie’s win national award

Frankie’s Fish and Chips shop in Brae has won a national award.

They were named Best Chip Shop (North) at the Scottish Fish and Chip Awards atthe Double Tree by Hilton in Glasgow on Monday night.

The chippy was also highly recommended in the best dine-in restaurant and best fish supper (north) categories.

The team at Frankie’s celebrated their win on Facebook, saying: “Huge thank you to our amazing team and customers.”

The business was launched in 2008. It was taken over in 2020 by Corinna and Mark Hoseason.