A NHS board has apologised to the family of a baby after an air ambulance was sent to the wrong island more than 150 miles away.

The plane set off on a mercy mission last Friday destined but mistakenly flew to Shetland after a mistake by a member of staff at NHS Grampian.

The plane had been called out to transfer a baby from Orkney to Aberdeen for treatment but went to the wrong islands.

The Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS Grampian launched an investigation into the mix-up and the health board has now issued an apology to the child's family over the incident, which has been branded "deeply concerning".

A spokeswoman said: "NHS Grampian would like to apologise unreservedly to the family involved in this incident. We would also wish to apologise to our colleagues in the Scottish Ambulance Service.

"Following an initial analysis of the timeline of last Friday's events it is clear that a member of NHS Grampian staff made an error during the process of arranging transport.

"This led to the Scottish Ambulance Service aircraft wrongly travelling to Shetland. We must stress that this is an extremely unusual incident. We have seen nothing to suggest this was anything other than an isolated mistake.

"We are continuing to investigate further and co-operating with the Scottish Ambulance Service. We are contacting the family involved to keep them updated and to offer to meet with them should they wish. "

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: "We received a request from a member of NHS Grampian staff in Aberdeen at 19.05 hours on Friday 17 March to retrieve a patient from hospital in Shetland.

"We dispatched our fixed wing air ambulance from Aberdeen and it dropped off our team and equipment in Shetland at 9.57pm.

"Shortly after arriving in Shetland, our team was advised that the patient they had been sent to retrieve was actually in Orkney.

"Once we were made aware of the error, our fixed wing air ambulance returned to Shetland to transfer the team and equipment to Orkney.

"Our aircraft arrived in Kirkwall at 01.44 hours to retrieve the patient from Balfour Hospital. The patient arrived safely at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital at 4.45am.

"This is an extremely unusual occurrence and we have been reviewing the circumstances around the initial request with NHS Grampian.

"We have written to the family inviting them to meet with us to discuss the circumstances around the transfer."

Orkney MSP Liam McArthur said: "The importance of the air ambulance service to islanders cannot be overstated. All too often it can be the difference between life and death.

"Reports that a flight meant to pick up a patient in Orkney can end up in Shetland are deeply concerning. Fortunately, on this occasion, no harm appears to have come to the young patient involved, but it is imperative that the investigation under way is concluded quickly and any additional safeguards necessary put in place.

"There must be no question of this sort of thing happening again."