A major overhaul of health services in the north east has been described as a “leap in the dark” as a major step forward is taken in the way the elderly and vulnerable are looked after.
NHS Grampian is now ready to sumbit three separate plans to the Scottish Government on how it will deliver care alongside Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray councils.
It comes as Holyrood drives the merging of health and social care services for those living with long-term conditions, such as older people and those with disabilities.
The new approach with tackle pressing issues such as bed blocking – where patients remain stuck in hospital because they don’t have the right local authority care package in place to allow them to return home.
The three separate plans for the three local authorities were approved at a NHS Grampian board meeting yesterday.
Board member Jonathan Passmore, also of Moray, added: “We should acknowledge the amount of work that has gone into getting us to this stage.
“We are taking a leap into the dark. It is as perfect as it can be at this stage and we shouldn’t beat ourselves up about these imperfections at this stage.
“We need reassurance from the executive team that it is the basis for delivering change.”
Member David Anderson, of Moray, said the new direction must deliver better services, and not just additional red tape.
He said: “If we are not careful we are just going to end up creating bureaucracy rather than a better health and welfare service.”
The Scottish Government will now look to approve each of the Health and Social Care Integration Schemes devised by the three local authorities.
The huge task in compiling the separate strategies has taken many months to complete.
The move is seen as key to the future of the NHS given greater life expectancy and a rise in the number of people living with complex conditions.
Graeme Smith, director of modernisation, said it was up to NHS Grampian and the councils to deliver the detail of the plan and to create “really strong” relationships between both organisations.
He said that officials were “keen” to move on and get to the “real business” of fusing the work by the board and local authorities.