NHS Grampian makes it clear switchboard service will end
Any hopes of saving hospital jobs dispelled
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NHS Grampian yesterday cleared up confusion about the future of the switchboard service at Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin, confirming the night shift is to be axed and moved to Aberdeen.
A spokeswoman said no final decision had been made about the day shift, however, as consultation is going on.
Last night staff member Caroline Wilson said she was very doubtful the service had any chance of continuing.
Under the current arrangement a team of eight telephonists operate a switchboard at Dr Gray’s 24 hours a day.
Their role is to alert medical staff to emergencies in the hospital and take calls from the public.
The new proposals, which first came to light in August, would see all communications move to Aberdeen by April in a change the health board says would streamline the service.
Most of the telephonists left their jobs after word of the looming changes emerged, however, with only three remaining committed to their posts.
Managers in Aberdeen told workers the night shift would end in December, but earlier this week the general manager of the Moray Community Health and Social Care Partnership, Andrew Fowlie, said no decision had been made.
An NHS Grampian spokes-woman set the record straight yesterday. She said the centralisation was a two-part process, the first being the transfer of the night shift service from Elgin to Aberdeen.
She said staff had been “fully informed and advised” of the changes.
“It is hoped those staff who still remain will find alternative employment within NHS Grampian through our redeployment service,” she said.
The spokeswoman explained the second stage looked at the daytime service.
She said: “The second stage, which is still being subject to further consultation and a separate risk assessment process, is the full transfer of the daytime service to the NHS Grampian switchboard, which already provides full switchboard services to all other NHS Grampian sites.”
Last night switchboard worker Ms Wilson, of Birnie, near Elgin, said the plan did not add up.
The 48-year-old, who has worked there for 28 years, said she thought it was a “sneaky” way of shutting the service down, despite the consultation.
