NHS Grampian will decide today whether to approve plans to transfer a key service to Woodend Hospital.
Under the proposals, the rehabilitation of amputees would move from Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and would be run by the Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership.
However, papers released by NHS Grampian show that the number of beds required for the service to operate to its full capacity at Woodend are not yet available.
They stated: “The relocation of the post-acute amputee rehabilitation bed capacity has been the promised aim within NHS Grampian for many years.”
“The intention of this redesign is that, following an amputation and, once the acute phase of wound healing is sufficiently progressed, patients would transfer from ARI to a specialised rehabilitation setting at Woodend.
“This will enable more efficient, integrated working, potentially reducing the length of stay, and improving the quality of patient and staff outcomes by being in a rehabilitative, goal-setting, integrated health and social care partnership environment.”
A total of ten beds are required for the service, but currently only six are available. As a result, beds will be shared with geriatric patients.
The papers added: “Providing six beds for amputee rehabilitation will effectively reduce the number of elderly rehabilitation beds by eight.
“Part of this plan is the opening of six amputee rehabilitation beds at Woodend to provide amputee patients accommodation in a specialist rehabilitation setting.
“The remaining four beds will be considered as a service development in the future business case, in due course.”
NHS Grampian has allocated £250,000 for the reconfiguration of the ward. It is proposed that Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Councils will supply 40.4% of funding of the service while Moray Council will contribute the remaining 19.2%.
The work will be completed by the end of this month and the six beds are scheduled to become available in April.