Grampian hospital beds have dropped by 22.6% in a decade
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GRAMPIAN has lost nearly 300 hospital beds in a decade.
The number of hospital beds in the NHS Grampian has shrunk by nearly a quarter over the last decade, according to official figures.
Aberdeenshire West MSP Alexander Burnett has warned local hospitals have too few beds to meet patient demand, after Public Health Scotland (PHS) revealed the number of NHS beds declined from 1,245 in 2012 to 963 last year.
That means bed numbers have dropped by 22.6%.
Alexander Burnett has blamed what he calls the SNP’s “systemic failure” to ensure that hospitals in Grampian have sufficient beds to meet patient demand.
Across Scotland, PHS data says there were 13,323 NHS beds, 716 fewer than the peak of 14,039 in 2014/15.
Mr Burnett says a lack of beds has a knock-on effect across the area’s health and social care system, with increased waits at A&E and patients waiting on vital procedures.
He said: “Bed numbers here have tumbled over the course of just 10 years.
“That low capacity is putting patients’ lives at risk — the fault for that lies with the SNP Scottish Government.
“And that is a symptom of their mismanagement of our health service.
“Health secretary Humza Yousaf must ensure that Grampian’s bed capacity recovers, to ease the pressure on suffering patients and overwhelmed frontline staff.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Hospitals are under significant pressure as we recover from the effects of the pandemic and there is a real need for initiatives to support recovery and promote different ways of caring for patients traditionally managed in hospitals.
"We are working with boards to ensure people receive the right care in the most appropriate setting and this includes treating more patients at home or in the community, which in turn frees up hospital beds to treat those people who need to be in hospital.
“We have invested £50 million towards our urgent and unscheduled care collaborative which looks to drive down A&E waits by offering alternatives to hospital, such as Hospital at Home; directing people to more appropriate urgent care settings and scheduling urgent appointments to avoid long waits.
"The roll-out of our Out-patient Antimicrobial Therapy service also allows patients to be treated at home or in the community and has already saved 45,000 bed days.
“In 2021/22 the average number of available staffed beds for acute specialties increased by 3.6% on the previous year.”
