Health bosses have been urged to restore Moray’s largest hospital to full capacity as soon as possible.
Nearly one in five spaces at Dr Gray’s Hospital have been removed to create more room between patients on the wards.
The move has resulted in 32 beds, chairs or trolley spaces, the equivalent of 17% of the capacity of the Elgin unit, being taken away.
NHS Grampian has stressed that all its hospitals across the north-east are having to make changes to limit the chances of spreading Covid-19.
However, Moray MSP Richard Lochhead has called for the reduction to be reversed “as soon as it is safe” to do so while pursuing longer-term ambitions to increase capacity once coronavirus restrictions allow.
He said: “It is important to know whether an increase in transfers to Aberdeen is expected because surely ARI will be under just as much, if not more, pressure than Dr Gray’s.
“Also, to what extent has Moray’s older population been factored in in terms of bed capacity decisions and predicted patient numbers?
“I appreciate that local NHS bosses are looking to a home-first policy but with winter and Covid-19 pressures coinciding, further reassurances about how advanced these plans are would be really helpful.
“I appreciate that this is a difficult balance to achieve and our NHS staff are doing a wonderful job looking after us at this time and hopefully management will be able to provide further clarity on these matters.”
The reduction in capacity at Dr Gray’s was made several months ago as part of NHS Grampian’s infection control measures.
The health board is facing a bill that could stretched to as much as £100million to cover the cost of its response to the pandemic with the main outgoings being increased capacity in intensive care units, additional staffing and orders of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Meanwhile, it has already warned further resources will still be needed to fight Covid-19 during the winter.
Last night NHS Grampian explained the reduced capacity at Dr Gray’s is necessary to ensure patient and staff safety.
A spokesman said: “All hospitals are impacted in terms of the increased focus on bed spacing in line with latest infection prevention and control guidance as part of the pandemic response. This includes Dr Gray’s and every service is having to adapt in light of this.
“Across the site this means removing 32 beds or trolleys from a base of a maximum of 190, but not all of those beds were in fully utilised or in inpatient wards.
“Some wards will have a maximum bed footprint of 24 beds in order that we take appropriate steps to ensure patient and staff safety, as we continue to manage the impact of the pandemic coming into the winter period.”
