Labour has vowed to fight plans to shut half of the hospital laundries in Scotland as it emerged that 27 jobs have already been axed from the service in just two years.
The party’s health spokeswoman, Monica Lennon, demanded answers from ministers last night after The Press and Journal revealed the cost-cutting proposals.
NHS bosses are considering cutting the number of hospital laundries from eight to four, and a business case for the move could be considered next month.
Laundries at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Raigmore Hospital in Inverness are among the eight which are under review.
The other six are at Borders General Hospital, Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, St John’s Hospital in Livingston, Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, the West of Scotland Laundry in Wishaw and Hillington Laundry in Glasgow.
The proposals would save up to £2.7 million a year, which is around 12% of operating costs, but concerns have been raised about the impact on jobs.
Labour has now obtained figures showing that 526 whole-time equivalent workers were employed in the laundry service in NHS Scotland in 2018/19, down from 553 in 2016/17.
Last night, Ms Lennon said: “Further cuts to NHS laundry services will be unacceptable.
“The health secretary should come clean over this move and say how many staff are facing redundancies and what she will do to respond to the risk of industrial action.
“Across Scotland we’ve seen hospitals running out of clean bed linen and towels too often, as staffing levels go down and health boards struggle to balance the books.
“After 12 years in charge, the SNP’s mismanagement of the health service is having serious consequences for patients and NHS staff, and health boards are warning they’ll struggle to cope this winter with rising demand.
“Scottish Labour will challenge these proposals and seek a commitment that patient safety and NHS jobs are not at risk.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We understand that NHS National Services Scotland’s Laundry Programme Board is seeking to develop a new action plan to ensure their services are as safe, efficient, and sustainable as possible.
“No proposals relating to this have come to Scottish Government ministers to consider.
“We are clear in our expectation that any proposals that come forward must be developed in partnership with staffside representatives.”
