Hospital patients are facing “unknown” waits for medication following major damage to backroom dispensing robots.
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary’s dispensary was hit with flooding from a leaking pipe last night, rendering it inaccessible to staff and breaking crucial equipment.
Pharmacists are now having to dispense medicine for all ARI patients by hand from a smaller base in the children’s hospital.
The health board is now drafting in engineers to repair the damage.
An NHS Grampian spokeswoman said: “A smaller dispensary is operational at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital but it will not be able to match the capacity of the ARI dispensary.
“Unfortunately this will mean delays for patients in the coming days.
“However, we will continue to fill all prescriptions.
“It is important to stress that our main pharmacy stock holding area was unaffected and we still have access to a full range of medicines.
“We can only apologise to patients facing longer waits for their medicines and thank them in advance for their understanding.
“The Aroma cafe also suffered flood damage and will be closed until further notice.”
A spokesman for the fire service said: “The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was alerted to reports of flooding at 10.21pm on Monday, February 12.
“Operations Control mobilised a number of fire appliances to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where firefighters assisted hospital staff to clean up leaking water from a faulty pipe.
“Crews left the scene after ensuring the area had been made safe.”