Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Demands for answers over mounting problems in NHS Grampian

Post Thumbnail

A north-east MSP has written to health secretary Shona Robison, demanding answers over the “mounting problems” being faced by NHS Grampian.

Liam Kerr claimed the public had been left with the impression the NHS was “failing” due to a lack of support and planning from the Scottish Government.

He said: “The number of problems affecting the NHS in the north-east region is mounting, and the impression the public are being left with is that the health service is struggling to cope in this area, due to years of poor management from the SNP government.

“Families should not have to wait more than a month for an appointment at their local GP practice, while staff shortages have prompted health boards to take unprecedented action.

“We know that spending in real terms north of the border has not kept pace with increases in England, and that is something that needs to be urgently addressed.

“One of the issues we are still waiting for progress on in the Grampian area is the improvements to the neuro ward at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary – it has been three years since this was first mooted and that is an unacceptable delay for patients and their families.”

A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian responded: “Our director of workforce, Dr Annie Ingram, acknowledged our recruitment difficulties at a board meeting earlier this month.

“Much of this is due to the very high cost of living in the north-east.

“A proposal for key worker housing, in partnership with Grampian Housing Association, is due to go before councillors shortly.

“Dr Ingram also confirmed 186 nurses had been recruited in the last year, while consultant vacancies have been halved.

“With regard to the neuro ward, this is part of a rolling programme of improvement at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and is consistent with NHS Grampian’s commitment to delivering £300 million in new and upgraded facilities across our area over the next few years.”

Health secretary Shona Robison responded: “This Government is committed to protecting and improving healthcare services in Grampian.

“This year, we are providing NHS Grampian with record funding of £882.3 million – a 6.6% increase on the year before and the largest budget uplift of any mainland health board.”