NHS Grampian has drafted up its winter plan – using the “lessons” learned from last year.
Health chiefs were forced to limit non-urgent operations in north-east hospitals at the start of 2018, amid warnings they had more patients than they could treat.
In a board paper released today, health bosses acknowledged that “winter planning is complex and can be challenging.”
It added: “Many of our predictions and planning assumptions come from reviewing previous years’ activity and identifying lessons to be learned.
“Undertaking this activity allows local teams and services to be clear about what can be improved and how plans can be refined.”
NHS Grampian develops their Winter (Surge) Plan each year with the aim of minimising the impact of potential increases in activity during the winter period.
It consolidates the individual plans of the health and social care partnerships in Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray, and the NHS Grampian acute sector.
The health board plans to improve on communication across health and social care, and improve the accuracy of data such as predictive activity data.
The board has also decided that services that support patient safety and flow will continue operational delivery over the public holiday periods, alongside business continuity plans which cover the delivery of resilient services over the festive period.
An NHS Grampian spokeswoman said: “Winter and the festive period present challenges to health and social care services; these are anticipated and planned for.
“We can all help by taking simple steps to maintain good health through the winter period, such as taking up the flu vaccine and knowing which local services are best placed to help us.”
In May, it was announced the Scottish Government would provide a winter allocation of £928,022 to NHS Grampian health board.