Bed crisis hits medics’ morale

MORALE among brain surgeons at a major hospital is ‘plummeting’ as they have to turn patients away because of a bed shortage.

Liberal Democrat MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton told Holyrood’s health and sport committee Patrick Statham, a consultant neurologist at Edinburgh’s Western General Hospital, had raised concerns with him about cancelled operations.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said: ‘He felt cancellations in his ward due to the unavailability of beds because of the lack of ring-fencing in the department was getting to the stage where the morale of him and his fellow surgeons was plummeting because they kept having to turn people away.’

Jacquie Campbell, interim chief officer for NHS Lothian, said: ‘Our dedicated teams are working hard to prioritise patients by clinical need and in some instances appointment dates require to be changed.

‘I apologise to anyone who has had their appointment rescheduled.’