Our remit includes advising and lobbying all organisations in the Western Isles and beyond to look at ways to improve the health of our population. As we are all aware, our track record, particularly in men, is poor as regards health and longevity — with heart disease being a major cause of illness and premature death.
Our use of drugs to prevent heart disease and associated health problems has increased dramatically over the last five years, but these drugs are only applicable to a select group of patients deemed to be at much higher risk. A far healthier approach would be to encourage, in as many ways as possible, regular physical exercise which has been shown beyond all doubt to decrease cardiovascular illness. There is good evidence that, among other benefits, exercise increases levels of 'good' cholesterol and causes a reduction in blood pressure — often as much as that achieved with a blood pressure tablet. In addition, exercise after a heart attack in a structured programme has been shown to reduce mortality by more than 25%.
We are very privileged in Lewis and Harris to have a state of the art centre situated in Stornoway. As anyone who has used the facility on a Saturday knows, there is an obvious demand for increasing its availability. With so many families working five or six days a week, it is often the case that Sunday is the only time available for family leisure and exercise. In addition, as a GP, I am often told by patients that they would use the sports facilities if they were available to them on a Sunday. At present, we have the bizarre situation which allows us to sit in a pub for a large part of Sunday, but no facility to swim, and I am certain a large number of us would prefer to do the latter with our families and friends. As the weather is a common reason for people not getting out exercising, surely the benefits of Sunday access to the Sports Centre are clear? We have a falling population and a shortened life expectancy is not helping this equation. I appreciate that there are likely to be many objections to this proposal, just as there were with Sunday flights a few years ago, but this is such an important aspect of the well-being of the residents of the Western Isles that I urge the council to look at this once again and for all members of the public to lobby their local councillor to allow us to start the new year in a positively healthy way.

DR DAVID RIGBY
Chairman
Western Isles Health Board coronary
heart disease managed clinical network