NHS Grampian has used recruitment options it has never explored before to fill critical positions to restore maternity services at Dr Gray’s Hospital.
Commercials have been strategically deployed on catch-up television in key English cities to target healthcare shift workers.
And advertisements selling the outdoors lifestyle in Moray have been targeted at publications including Mountain Biking UK and BBC Wildlife as well as TikTok and Snapchat.
Bosses say they have now filled about 75% of the 100 posts they need to as part of their Dr Gray’s recruitment campaign.
- The Press and Journal asked NHS Grampian bosses about why the Dr Gray’s maternity recruitment campaign has been different.
- We spoke to a recently-appointed consultant who has moved the length of the UK for a dream post in Elgin.
- And asked what the recruitment updates mean for restoring a consultant-led service to Dr Gray’s by the 2026 target.
Why Dr Gray’s maternity recruitment campaign has had to be different
NHS Grampian has been forced to think differently about recruitment to restore the maternity services at Dr Gray’s Hospital.
The consultant-led unit in Elgin was downgraded in 2018 after the previous staffing model proved unsustainable.
An initial one-year target to restore the services came and went with up to three quarters of Moray births taking place in Aberdeen, a trend the health service says is beginning to be reversed.
NHS Grampian is not alone in finding it hard to recruit to key public and private sector positions in Elgin.
So, health bosses have devised a different strategy for recruitment to support maternity services at Dr Gray’s.
How NHS Grampian’s recruitment campaign has targeted potential staff differently
The current recruitment campaign for Dr Gray’s has featured the slogan “make a life, not just a living” prominently in all adverts alongside pictures of the coastline.
Jane Gill, programme director of NHS Grampian and NHS Highland’s maternity collaborative, said: “What has helped with the recruitment with the design and the thinking is that it has helped us target the right people.
“So the advert hasn’t been shown on traditional television at all. It’s been targeted at catch-up because that’s probably where the sort of people we’ll be looking for will be watching because they work shifts.
“We’ve also used different social media and have been targeting major cities in England. It seems that more than one million people have seen the content since it launched.”
NHS Grampian staff have also taken the opportunities on the road to conferences in Newport, Liverpool and Glasgow, which attracted 250 inquiries about jobs.
However, not all the interest has come from outside staff wanting to relocate with a surge of interest also among internal candidates.
Mrs Gill added: “We’ve had some interest from nurses and midwives from Aberdeen, or who would have traditionally gone to Aberdeen, interested in a career in Moray.
“That’s something that’s never really happened before, so we’re going to look at that again in the future to target some more internal recruitment.
“We’ve been promoting the lifestyle, but these are professional roles in a comprehensive maternity service. It’s not just about births, but also looking after them before and during pregnancy.
“So it’s an attractive professional opportunity, as well as having lifestyle benefits.”
Consultant moves from Portsmouth for Dr Gray’s career
Among the new recruits to Dr Gray’s is Dr Kirsty Lees, who has been hired as a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist.
After growing up in the Borders she studied at Aberdeen University before starting her professional career in Portsmouth.
When she became pregnant herself nearly two years ago the family initially looked at relocating to Aberdeenshire before falling in love with Glenlivet.
And after hearing about the Dr Gray’s recruitment drive while visiting the Elgin hospital for her own appointments, she jumped at the chance to make the move north permanent.
She said: “I didn’t really know that much about Moray before moving here. We were looking around for somewhere to spend a year and discovered Glenlivet.
“We were keen to relocate permanently, if possible. We’d spoken about it but it was never the right time. Moray definitely wasn’t on the radar, until I heard about the recruitment campaign.
“I love it here though. If offers a good mix of hillwalking, kayaking and other outdoor things.
“We have enjoyed spending time exploring, especially the amazing beaches. It’s a great place to raise a family.”
What Dr Gray’s recruitment update means for restoring maternity services
NHS Grampian’s agreed timetable with the Scottish Government is for a sustainable consultant-led unit to return to Dr Gray’s in 2026.
The move would mean most Moray babies would once again be delivered in Elgin.
The next key milestone on the restoration plan is for elective caesarean births to restart early next year, a deadline Mrs Gill says they are on track to meet.
She said: “The business plan is for that to happen between January and June next year.
“We’ve got some firm plans in place to run some tabletop exercises, test our competencies and identify any training gaps before the end of this year.
“Once we’ve done those, we’ll be in a position to confirm when exactly in that January to June window we’ll be resuming elective caesareans.”
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