SNP health secretary Humza Yousaf is being pushed to deliver a “concrete plan” for community health services in the north-east, after fears of staff and bed shortages across the region.
The call comes days after NHS Grampian raised the alarm by asking for staff on off-duty or holiday to come into work.
Staffing shortages have struck Aboyne and Glen O’Dee hospitals in recent months.
And Insch War Memorial Hospital was mothballed in March 2020 with staff redeployed to help pandemic efforts.
New figures released on Wednesday revealed 2,000 patients across Scotland spent half-a-day or more waiting in accident and emergency in the week running up to Christmas.
This is the highest weekly total on record.
North-east Tory politicians sounded the alarm and demanded answers before a meeting with Mr Yousaf, due on January 12.
The health secretary is also expected to deliver a statement to the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, addressing the mounting challenges facing the NHS across Scotland.
Pressure on Humza Yousaf
One of the MSPs, Alexender Burnett, said community hospitals are under pressure.
“There has long been concern over the closure of community hospitals in our constituencies, and we wanted to put that disquiet to Humza Yousaf,” he said.
A specialist dementia ward at Glen O’Dee Hospital in Banchory was temporarily closed in October and has yet to reopen.
Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership blamed the decision on “significant” staff shortages.
Aboyne Hospital reopened at the end of October following a two-month closure due to long-term staffing problems across three in-patient wards.
While the day clinics at the facility were not affected by the disruption, all patients at the community ward had to be discharged or transferred elsewhere.
Insch War Memorial Hospital was closed in March 2020 at the onset of the pandemic due to staffing pressures.
Two years on, the hospital has not reopened and health bosses say it no longer meets modern healthcare standards.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon promised to reopen the hospital – by name – as part of a £10 billion “replace and refurbish” package announced during the last Holyrood election.
But she has been accused of backing off from the pledge, with the health board urged to make a business case to the Scottish Government.
Rural and island talks
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said the staffing issues faced by rural and island health boards were a “central point of discussions” during the health secretary’s visits across the country over the summer.
She added: “We have a range of initiatives and incentives in place to recruit and retain staff in remote, rural and island communities.
“Boards also have the power to offer various working patterns and flexibilities to attract candidates.
“The situation we find ourselves in is not unique to Scotland and is the result of pandemic backlogs, Brexit-related staff shortages and increases in winter viruses such as flu which has seen recent a significant rise in the last few weeks – making this winter the most challenging the NHS has ever faced.
“We have record numbers of NHS staff and are recruiting more as part of our £600 million winter plan and £50 million targeting A&E waits through services that allow patients to be treated at home or in the community.”
Conversation