NHS Grampian has revealed it will draft in locums and staff from elsewhere as a short-term solution to the staffing crisis at Dr Gray’s maternity unit.
The health board is taking action to prevent the Elgin hospital’s maternity unit being downgraded, which had prompted fears mums-to-be would be rushed to Aberdeen or Inverness to give birth.
The “wake-up call” comes amid staffing problems at the unit, with the health board unable to recruit two junior doctors for next month.
Mums-to-be could face 60-mile trip to give birth due to staff shortages
Last night, NHS Grampian confirmed extra staff – locums and staff from elsewhere in the region – will be brought in, with amended rotas also in place to protect current services.
However, chiefs warned the changes may just be a stop-gap and that long-term plans still need to be drawn up to ensure the NHS in Moray can be preserved at its current level.
Campaigners last night welcomed the development but vowed to remain “vigilant” on any challenge that could lead to downgrades.
Moray MSP Richard Lochhead believes the fix will be an “immense relief” for mums-to-be, but is eager to ensure that awareness of the crisis can be channeled into action to improve local health provision.
He said: “The recent uncertainty is a wake-up call that highlights the fragility of Dr Gray’s and smaller district hospitals in terms of staffing levels and attracting staff to base their careers in Moray.
“I’ll now be taking forward talks with the relevant authorities on how we can ensure Dr Gray’s recruitment challenges are prioritised and to put in place a plan about longer term stability for patients and staff. For instance, we could perhaps look at Moray becoming a centre for rural medical training.”
The staffing crisis sparked concerns from locals that maternity services in Moray could be thrown back in time to the 1980s – when pregnant woman regularly travelled to Aberdeen to give birth.
Only routine births would have been able to be delivered in Elgin if the service had to be downgraded due to a staff shortage.
Moray Maternity Services liaison committee member Kirsty Watson, from Elgin, spoke out about “risky” transfers to Aberdeen.
Yesterday, she said: “I’m relieved to hear that there won’t be any downgrading of the maternity unit at Dr Gray’s.
“However, we will continue to be vigilant on any potential challenges to the service – it’s important to us that we continue to provide a proactive voice on the case for retaining the full specialist unit.
“We will work with all parties to try and take steps to protect the service.”
Moray MP Douglas Ross added: “I’ll be seeking reassurances that work is being done to prevent this scenario from happening again.”
Gary Mortimer, NHS Grampian’s director of acute services, said: “I’m pleased to confirm that we’ve been able to secure additional staff which, coupled with some changes to the hospital rota, will enable us to continue providing safe, high quality services.
“As a result, there will be no immediate changes to the obstetric or paediatric services. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Dr Gray’s woman and children’s divisional teams – they’ve worked incredibly hard to make this happen
and we’re really grateful to them for their dedication to finding a workable solution.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done to build sustainable services in Moray, as well as elsewhere in Grampian. Work to develop medium and long term plans will continue and patients, staff and the public will have a vital role to play in helping us formulate those as we move forward.”
