The chief executive of NHS Highland has admitted Raigmore Hospital is “not sustainable” for the future.
In an e-mail response to Highlands and Islands MSP Edward Mountain, Pam Dudek said the health board recognised the hospital’s ageing facilities.
Mr Mountain has been calling on NHS Highland to replace the hospital in Inverness, the main facility for the whole of the Highlands.
A petition has more than 500 signatures calling on all parties to look at replacing Raigmore Hospital soon.
The current building, built in the 1980s, has gone through various refurbishments, most recently in 2016, with upgrades to critical care units and operating theatres.
Earlier this year, the National Treatment Centre near the hospital was opened to relieve pressure on facilities, offering routine eye, hip and joint operations.
Mrs Dudek admitted in an email to Mr Mountain the health board was aware of the issues facing Raigmore Hospital for expected future use.
‘These facilities are not sustainable as they stand’
She wrote: “With regards to Raigmore, we absolutely recognise the age of the facility and that for the longer term, these facilities are not sustainable as they stand.
“We are currently in the process of completing our outline business cases for Lochaber and Caithness redesigns with the aim of care closer to home central to the planning.
“This in itself will determine what is needed in a more acute and specialist setting for the future.
“We will be moving forward with developing a clearer understanding of what that might be in terms of a range of services and therefore what a future facility needs to look like and, as such, the planning required.”
Mrs Dudek’s response suggests NHS Highland is currently looking at rural hospitals for potential upgrades or redesigns to offer patient care within local communities.
New hospital should be the ‘number one priority’.
NHS Highland is the largest geographical health board, so rural residents can face long journeys to travel to Inverness for treatment.
By looking to facilities in Caithness, Skye and Fort William, the health board could expand capacity in rural areas, making it easier for patients to receive local care.
It was recently announced a new facility would replace the existing Belford Hospital in Fort William within the next five years, doubling the current operating capacity.
Mr Mountain said: “I welcome NHS Highland’s response and their assurances that a new facility would be designed to work in partnership with our more local and rural hospitals too.
“It is vital that the correct balance is struck so that communities receive as much care as possible closer to home.
“When it comes to replacing Raigmore, I believe the Highlands needs an acute general teaching hospital and this should be the number one priority for the Scottish Government when it announces its funding plans for new hospitals in 2025.”
