North-east politicians to raise NHS staffing shortage concerns with Health Secretary
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North-east politicians have secured a meeting next week with Scotland’s Health Secretary about local NHS services.
Staffing shortages have struck Aboyne and Glen O’Dee in recent months, after Insch War Memorial Hospital was mothballed with similar reasons given during the Covid pandemic.
MSP Alexander Burnett and MP Andrew Bowie have expressed disquiet over the recruitment and retention of nursing staff and clinicians across the north-east.
And they will push for “a concrete plan” for community services to fully reopen at a meeting on Thursday, January 12.
Health secretary Humza Yousaf said NHS and partners were to “market community nursing roles” as well as promote foundation apprenticeship work experience.
In his response to the request for a meeting, Mr Yousaf said the closure of Scolty Ward at Glen O’Dee “was not taken lightly”.
The meeting follows the scrapping of a proposed redesign of health and social care in Deeside and Upper Donside, following a 1000-person consultation that overwhelmingly called for further investment instead of centralisation.
Aberdeenshire West MSP Alexander Burnett said: “There has long been a concern over the closure of community hospitals in our constituencies, and we wanted to put that disquiet to Humza Yousaf.
“I recognise the difficult time for healthcare teams in Deeside and further afield, who I know are doing the utmost to provide excellent patient care, and I thank them for all their hard work.
“People want investment at Aboyne and Glen O’Dee and that needs to be in people more than the facilities, which are excellent.
“More than 18 months after Nicola Sturgeon pledged to reopen Insch, the lights are still off, and I also intend to ask Humza how far advanced his plans are to make good on this promise.”
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP Andrew Bowie said: “The health partnership scrapped a service redesign that was undoubtedly aimed at Glen O’ Dee and Aboyne.
“This was the right thing to do and the overwhelming public response underlined that.
“We’re constantly told how many staff there are in NHS Scotland – hotly contested by the BMA – but that is no comfort to people in the north-east who often have to travel long distances to see a doctor, attend minor injuries or get a place for loved ones who need dementia care.
“So I’ll be asking Humza how his ‘rural workforce recruitment strategy’ is being tailored for the needs of people in the north-east, and when it will finally start running.”
