The SNP has been told to find a plan to fix the health service in a report which exposes Grampian’s failure to meet crucial A&E and cancer waiting time targets.
The north-east health region is among the worst performers listed in a damning report by public spending body Audit Scotland, one day before the Scottish Government sets out its budget.
It follows health board warnings that Grampian is short-changed and does not have enough beds to meet demand.
‘Critical incident’ in Aberdeen
In recent days, a “critical incident” saw patients turned away from Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, followed by doors being closed to visitors at Dr Gray’s in Elgin because of a sickness outbreak.
In a wake-up call for government, Auditor General for Scotland Stephen Boyle says there must be a clear plan.
“Difficult decisions are needed about making services more efficient or, potentially, withdrawing those services with more limited clinical value to allow funding to be redirected,” he states in his annual finance and performance report.
“Taking those steps will require greater leadership from Scottish Government and NHS leaders than we’ve seen to date.”
The audit report looks closely at figures for the three months up to June.
Comparing all Scottish health boards, Grampian is near the bottom of the pack with 68% of A&E patients admitted, discharged or transferred for treatment within four hours.
Only 61% of people are referred urgently with a suspicion of cancer for treatment within 62 days.
Grampian is bottom of the list – at just 42.6% – for making sure all people begin impatient/day case treatment within 12 weeks of a decision to treat.
Board papers for September show the auditor’s warning is well known inside Grampian.
The region does not have enough beds to meet demand. If on a par with Highland, the board thinks it would need an extra 349 beds.
On Wednesday, Finance Secretary Shona Robison will be expected to deliver more cash for the NHS.
Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said First Minister John Swinney has to take control of an NHS crisis.
“John Swinney likes to talk up his NHS record but this damning report shows the scale of SNP incompetence on his watch,” she said.
Health Secretary Neil Gray said reform is essential.
“We are determined to continue to improve our NHS and the budget we set out tomorrow will throw the weight of the government behind performance improvements and ensure we can tackle the challenges in our health service,” he said.
NHS Grampian’s ‘record’ backlog
An NHS Grampian spokesman apologised for long waits and said it has to operate on clinical priority.
“We do our absolute best to keep waits to a minimum and, where there are longer waits, we do keep people informed directly about their likely waiting time,” the spokesman added.
The health board is influenced by the “record” backlog of care built up during the pandemic.
The spokesman said: “Despite the unprecedented challenges, it’s incredibly pleasing to see that the Audit Scotland again highlights that our ‘committed workforce has continued to work to deliver high-quality care’ and we’d like to thank each and every one of our colleagues for their continued efforts.”
Conversation