Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Scottish Government minister to visit north-east hospital at centre of staffing crisis

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman

The Scottish Government’s new health minister will visit a north-east hospital tomorrow to meet campaigners fighting to retain services in the region.

Services at Dr Gray’s Hospital were further downgraded this week, amidst long-term staffing woes, with the removal of the on-call paediatric service.

That blow means the children’s ward will remain closed at weekends and comes after NHS Grampian confirmed the maternity unit in Elgin was only safe to deliver low-risk pregnancies.

Other births are already being transferred to Inverness or Aberdeen.

In the wake of the changes made at Dr Gray’s, Health Minister Jeane Freeman will make the trip to Moray to meet medical staff and the Keep Mum group.

Ahead of the talks, however, the newly appointed minister has been urged to open her eyes to the “dangers” of transfers outside of the region while considering short-term solutions.

A Keep Mum spokeswoman said: “We challenge Jeane Freeman to interrogate the facts and ask herself if she is really comfortable with what she is being told by NHS Grampian and others.

“Anyone who was at the public meeting in Elgin will find it hard to believe that she could be content that this new model is safe and gives women a positive birth experience.

“Indeed, some of the women who have given birth in the last few weeks are already testament to the poor planning and failure to care for women appropriately.”

Management at NHS Grampian have accepted that it would be impossible for births not to be affected during the downgrade – which could last up to a year.

However, the health authority has stressed the measures put in place are the safest in the current situation.