The manager of the north’s main hospital has quit her £80,000-a-year job, amid growing tension surrounding a review of the region’s health spending.
Susan Eddie has resigned as boss of Raigmore Hospital in Inverness “for personal reasons”, according to NHS Highland chiefs.
The decision has sent shockwaves among staff at the hospital, several of whom have contacted the Press and Journal to express their fears for the future of wards.
Ms Eddie was understood to have been an active member of the Royal College of Nursing prior to her elevation to a management role and is highly respected by colleagues and her employers.
A spokeswoman for NHS Highland confirmed that Ms Eddie had resigned as general manager and that her decision had been “accepted with significant regret”.
She added: “Susan Eddie has decided to leave Raigmore Hospital for personal reasons. We want to thank her for the contribution she has made over many years and wish her well for the future.”
Ms Eddie could not be contacted yesterday.
The Scottish Conservatives’ health spokeswoman, Mary Scanlon, said: “Susan Eddie is a highly-respected nurse who was promoted into management on the basis of her exceptional abilities.
“It would be a loss to patient care and campaigning on behalf of patients were she not to work in the NHS.”
Highland health board chairman Garry Coutts reaffirmed last night that a spending review had been the health board’s publicly stated policy for some months.
Refusing to comment on reports that Ms Eddie had resigned in anger at her bosses’ handling of this year’s £573million budget, he said: “The priority for us is that every penny we’ve got is spent to best effect for patients.
“There was a regular meeting of the Raigmore committee on Tuesday. It received reports indicating how we would be able to make efficiency savings around a number of headings. That will report to the board, two weeks on Monday.”
Mr Coutts added: “Everyone and their granny knows that for the next few years the public sector in Scotland is not going to see huge increases in the amount of money it’s got.
“What we’ve got to do is to make sure we continue to be at the forefront of the best possible medicine by making sure we’re as efficient as possible.”
Asked if that meant ward closures in order to fund new technology additions, he said: “There are no proposals for anything that is going to do other than improve the outcomes for people who require access to health services.”
NHS Highland has had regular increases in its budget over the past decade and expects a further increase of between 2% and 3% next year.