For many families in Lewis, a routine school-age health check has become something far more significant, a potential early warning for serious heart conditions that often show no symptoms. Over two days at The Nicolson Institute, around 200 young people are offered voluntary cardiac screening. The process is simple, but the outcome can be life-changing: ECGs and specialist assessments carried out by visiting cardiac physiologists, identifying those who may need further investigation through the NHS.
While most young people receive reassuring results, each screening event has consistently identified a small number who require follow-up care, individuals who would otherwise have had no indication that anything was wrong. Bringing this service to an island setting is complex. Specialist staff travel to Lewis, alongside clinical equipment, with each visit requiring careful coordination and significant logistical support. Without dedicated funding, maintaining a regular programme has become increasingly difficult.
Support from Point and Sandwick Trust has ensured the next screening session will go ahead in 2027, securing continuity for a service that many families now see as an important part of local preventative healthcare.
The initiative exists in memory of Andrew Macleod, who died suddenly at 21 from an undiagnosed heart condition. His family established the memorial fund so that other families might have the chance to detect conditions earlier and avoid similar loss. As Murdo Macleod, Andrew’s father noted, the impact of the programme is measured not in numbers, but in the reassurance it provides and in the rare but vital cases where it identifies something that needs urgent attention.