A group of NHS Grampian consultants said they will be writing to the Scottish Government to voice concerns after an unprecedented crisis meeting last night.
Medics gathered at the closed meeting at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary’s (ARI) Foresterhill complex, the first of its kind in more than two decades.
Speaking after the meeting, chairman of the consultants’ sub-committee Norman Binnie said: “A closed meeting of consultants, the largest ever in recent memory, was held in the MedChi Hall tonight and a communication will be sent to the government.”
Unrest has grown as a result of staff shortages in the accident and emergency department, and what has been described as an “over-reliance” on expensive locum staff to plug the gaps.
Before the meeting, Dr Izhar Khan, chairman of the area committee which advises the NHS Grampian board, said: “We are expressing our concerns about the board’s inability to adequately address the issues.
“We need to make sure that acute medicine is safe and well staffed.
“It is very important that our services must not be dependant on ad-hoc staffing arrangement. We really feel that the board and the Scottish Government must act to solve these problems.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said: “Senior managers and executives regularly meet with staff across NHS Grampian either individually, in small groups or at larger meetings.
“We are aware of this meeting and our medical director, as a consultant, attended.
“The views of our clinical community are always taken very seriously, and we will reflect very carefully on any feedback.”