NHS Grampian has announced a major shake-up of its beleaguered surgery unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Just weeks after a lengthy inquiry closed into the conduct of eight consultants within the department – who were cleared of any wrongdoing – NHS Grampian has revealed plans to change how it is run in the hope of improving treatment times, staff morale and communication.
The general surgery unit, along with more than 200 nurses, doctors and other staff, will move to the more modern pink zone building by late spring.
And although health bosses are warning of months of disruption, they hope the move will ensure patients are treated more efficiently with fewer operations cancelled.
The health board also revealed that 100 graduate nurses have been recruited from the Robert Gordon University, with another 30 returning to the profession, to tackle the overall staffing shortages.
Professor Duff Bruce, clinical lead for general surgery, said the shake-up would help cut down on waiting times, and the length of time people have to stay into hospital.
Included in the changes will be the introduction of ambulatory emergency care, which allows those who need urgent surgical attention to be treated and released later that day – cutting down on “unnecessary” admissions.
Prof Bruce said: “Over the last couple of years we’ve been doing a lot of work to try and improve the flow of patients through the unit, and improve how we use the teams that we’ve got.
“When we move to the new unit we will be adopting some new models of care, one of those is known as an ambulatory emergency care project.
“That’s a project that’s been adopted in a lot of hospitals across the UK, it’s a model where we try to manage as many patients as possible as outpatients, using other resources to minimise their time in hospital and improve their experience.
“There’s a number of other projects ongoing, but that’s one of the key ones.”
ARI has been rocked by a number of controversies in recent years, with issues arising throughout the hospital – but most recently the general surgery unit.
Reviews and inspections by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) revealed severe problems with communication and team working at the Foresterhill site among a litany of other concerns.
The GMC then launched an investigation following a controversial report by the Royal College of Surgeons England, which found “significant numbers” of surgeons had shown “unprofessional, offensive and unacceptable behaviour”, with rows between medics in front of trainees and patients among the complaints.
Fears were raised that if communication between surgeons and ward nurses were not improved, patients could lose out on high quality of treatment.
But last month, the GMC cleared the eight consultants – including the Queen’s former personal physician in Scotland, Professor Zygmunt Krukowski.
Prof Bruce said since the reviews, efforts had been made to rebuild a cooperative, friendly atmosphere among staff and improve teamwork.
He added: “One of the key things that has happened over the last couple of years is there’s been a lot of development in the department, and as part of that development we’ve done a lot of work on how we operate as a team.
“I think the RCS review was part of the change, but a lot of the work between our teams in the department and having a look at how our unit interacts with the organisation itself has helped us to make huge improvements for our communications and behaviour in the department.
“With the challenges we’ve been facing right now, we’ve seen the team rallying round to offer support in a way that might have been difficult previously, so we’re seeing a much more collegiate department, much more interaction within the groups, and one that offers a lot of support.
“This move will be part of the ongoing changes in the department, it’s another little springboard around which we can develop these improvements and better the patient experience.”
Last night, north-east MSP Lewis Macdonald said the health board’s announcement was a “step in the right direction”.
“General surgery needs this shot in the arm,” said Mr Macdonald.
“I think it will make a huge difference to staff and patients to move into a new purpose-built facility.
“Of course, there has been a real issue with nurses and midwives so this recruitment announcement is also a very positive move.
“NHS Grampian has targets in a number of areas that it is falling behind but I think this facility and more nurses is a step in the right direction.”