A planned £4million refurbishment of the neuroscience ward at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary has been put back until next year.
Upgrade work was originally scheduled for this summer, but will now not get underway until February.
Orkney-based Caroline Critchlow, who founded Friends of the Neuro Ward – ARI (FNWA), said she was disappointed by the news, and raised concerns the refurbishment would be put off again.
She said a renovation was long overdue, pointing to the lack of a toilet in the high-dependency unit which means patients coming out of intensive care have to use a commode in the mixed ward.
She also described patients being given infusions in the day room, and having to shout for help due to faulty buzzers.
Ms Critchlow, whose husband Kevin’s brain tumour was successfully operated on at the hospital, added: “We have been waiting for this for over three years now.
“We have got possibly the best neurosurgery team in the whole of Scotland. We are trying to maintain that standard of staff and yet we are asking them to work in these conditions. It’s fundamentally wrong.”
She and Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichael attended a meeting with NHS Grampian earlier this month.
The Lib Dem former Scottish secretary said, despite the assurances, there was no guarantee the work would go ahead in February.
He added: “It seems to be dependent on the sale of another site that they own to a private developer. There is no provision within their existing budget for this work to be done.”
An NHS Grampian spokeswoman said using the proceeds from the sale of surplus buildings was a normal part of the capital planning process.
She added: “In Grampian this has allowed us to do more in relation to improving existing buildings and constructing new buildings.
“The figure of £4millon is an estimate at present and we will be meeting with the campaigners later in the year to update them on progress. The refurbishment of this ward is part of a rolling programme of improvement at ARI.”
As part of the upgrade, for which FNWA has raised £125,000, the P&J understands there are plans for the ward to be allocated additional space.
The charity is also fundraising to buy a virtual protein reveal imaging machine which allows surgeons to look at brain scans in 3D.
