Concerns have been raised about the additional burden extra patients from Moray will place on the maternity service in Aberdeen.
Critics are worried the situation is going from “bad to worse” at the health board following the downgrading of the facility at Dr Gray’s in Elgin last month.
Eleven mums-to-be with complicated pregnancies have been transferred to either Raigmore Hospital in Inverness or Aberdeen Royal Infirmary since the service changed to a midwife-led unit on July 18.
The move was brought in due to a lack of staff able to provide suitable care in Moray.
NHS Grampian confirmed that four of the women would have needed to be transferred to other hospitals for specialist care regardless of the current situation.
Mother describes ‘horrendous’ transfer to Aberdeen caused by Moray maternity crisis
But the remaining seven patients had to be moved due to the shortage of resources – a rate of almost two per week.
Dr Gray’s has only a quarter of the trainee doctors required to run the paediatric unit and has downgraded the service for the following year while it rebuilds the team.
However, critics have complained that the situation is piling further pressure onto the service in Aberdeen.
Staff from the city’s midwifery unit have been temporarily relocated to work in the labour ward since May because the department was short by 20.8 full-time equivalent posts.
The health board hopes to have 22 new graduates in place by October to bring its rotas back up to full capacity.
Moray MP Douglas Ross said: “If the hospital at Aberdeen is already struggling with staff shortages how are they going to cope with the extra patients being sent through from Moray?
“Not just that, but these patients are being sent because they are not seen as straightforward cases and the mums-to-be and their families need to be reassured about the measures in place.”
Last night NHS Grampian said plans to return its midwifery unit to a normal service were still in place.
It has also been contacting the women booked into its midwifery service to answer any concerns they may have.
An NHS Grampian spokesman said: “(The co-location will finish) towards the end of September.
“However the midwifery manager responsible for the alongside midwifery unit is currently reviewing the timeline to explore the possibility of reopening following further successful recruitment to health care support worker posts.”
