A councillor has accused Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership of “avoiding scrutiny and accountability”.
Members of the Banff and Buchan area committee yesterday discussed the closure of the MIU overnight at Chalmers Hospital in Banff.
Last month, Councillor Ross Cassie lodged an emergency motion requesting a report to be brought back from the chief officer of the integration joint board with the reasons surrounding the decision to close MIU overnight.
However, due to other commitments, an officer was unable to attend the meeting.
Afterwards, Mr Cassie – who wants answers over the level of risk assessment carried out regarding the closure – said: “Since raising these concerns at the start of November and throughout the process leading to the August decision I have found the process to be frustrating to the point of being obstructive.
“Should any member of the public looking into this process as it is in the public domain I am sure they could reasonably draw the conclusion the Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership and taking steps to avoid scrutiny and accountability.”
Mr Cassie and Councillor Glen Reynolds did meet representatives from Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership prior to last month’s committee meeting when the emergency motion was lodged.
Mr Reynolds claimed yesterday the board was “avoiding scrutiny” and said: “This is a public concern and they’ve not had any reassurance. What was discussed at a meeting following last month’s committee meeting has not been adhered to.”
A spokeswoman for the Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership said: “When the IJB agreed the changes to the opening hours of the Chalmers MIU, we also asked for an update paper to come to the board, six months following the implementation. This will give us the opportunity to monitor the impact of the changes.”
