Health chiefs have warned ministers that north-east hospitals will struggle to cope with a severe winter without additional money.
NHS Grampian’s board will meet today to approve a plan for dealing with seasonal surges caused by illness and disasters, such as flooding.
But in a report, officers say there has been “no indication of any dedicated winter funding from the Scottish Government” to ensure already-stretched services do not buckle under the pressure.
And they claim the “challenges” posed by a lack of extra resources are made worse by a ban on using agency staff despite severe gaps in the ranks.
That could rule out options such as re-opening wards to accommodate exceptional patient numbers.
Aberdeen councillor Barney Crockett – a non-executive member of the board – urged ministers to provide the cash needed to cover the gaps.
“For too long the north-east has been the sacrificial baby for the SNP. They have under-funded NHS Grampian for many years,” he said.
“They must make sure that we have the resources to cope with what might be a very bad winter.”
The full picture of the potential problems is being kept under wraps until the strategy is signed off to be submitted to the government.
But a publicly-released summary makes clear the depth of concern of senior managers about the pressures.
“There is no indication of any dedicated winter funding from the Scottish Government therefore financial planning for winter must be based making best use of existing resources,” it says.
“It must be acknowledged that an increase in capacity is difficult to achieve without a corresponding increase in available resource presenting operational challenges for responsible managers.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon last month said NHS Grampian would get almost £700,000 as part of a national package to deal with flu.
That is not seen as sufficient to cover the extra pressures however.
Additional beds at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary which “apparently eased” pressures last year were “highly unlikely” to be available because of the restrictions on agency workers, the report said.
“This presents a further challenge for realistically responding to surges in demand.”