Top staff air concerns on patient impact

But NHS boss defends‘interim move’

Specialist staff at Monklands Hospital have told NHS chief executive Calum Campbell that they do not support controversial plans for trauma and orthopaedic services.

The document – seen by the Advertiser – comes as the Monkscourt Avenue facility prepares to lose orthopaedic services later this year.

In it, respected staff tell Mr Campbell that “moving trauma patients about the county on stretchers” is not the way to resolve long-term staffing issues.

In response, Mr Campbell labelled the claim “a misrepresentation of what we are proposing”, before going on to robustly defend the decisions that have been taken and urging staff to get behind them.

He said: “I wish to again reiterate that the challenge we face is not just a staffing challenge; it is a volume challenge; it is a sub-speciality challenge; and it is a concentration of expertise issue.”

The staff’s letter suggests the changes to orthopaedic service provision have the potential to impact on patients.

“We are happy to give you all other support to enhance the workforce numbers,” the letter reads, “and help solve the problem, but the patients should not suffer as a result.”

Mr Campbell insists it is “imperative” Monklands Hospital heads into the busy winter period in a more “resilient state” after issues last winter.

He went on: “NHS Lanarkshire is clear that its primary objective is patient safety. The NHS board has acted in accordance with this and accepted that the status quo is not an option ,and has committed to consulting on a recommendation of a single trauma centre and a single elective centre for Lanarkshire.

“The interim move is essential to help mitigate the current service challenges.”

A Monklands insider told the Advertiser the interim changes were just “a patch-up job”.

When asked what they would propose as an interim solution in light of the Healthcare Improvement Scotland ( HIS) report calling for a review of orthopaedic services across NHS Lanarkshire, our source said more staff to be recruited at Hairmyres where, they say, the issues lie.

In a report presented to last Thursday’s crunch board meeting, a section entitled ‘Sustaining the medical workforce’ addressed the issue of staffing.

It stated: “Onerous and stretched outof-hours on-call rotas for consultants impacting on recruitment and retention was identified as a challenge of the current clinical model which has elective and trauma services provided across three sites,” it stated.