Angus healthcare sites considered for closure

Infirmaries and hospitals examined as health chiefs told wards ‘no longer sustainable’

Angus hospital care will go under the microscope this year after health chiefs were told it is ‘no longer sustainable’ to keep wards open.

A major review of wards in Forfar, Montrose, Arbroath, Brechin and Stracathro Hospital will take place after it was admitted the local partnership “can’t afford to ignore” staffing and accommodation problems.

The move comes as the Angus Health and Social Care Partnership prepares to gauge public opinion on closing the Mulberry Unit at Stracathro.

“It’s important that people recognise it’s going to be clinically focused and we’re endeavouring to put patients and carers and their needs at the heart of this process,” said the partnership’s head of service Gail Smith.

Five Angus infirmaries and hospitals are being examined by health chiefs due to “challenges” in keeping them all open as normal, The Courier can reveal.

The operation of hospital wards in Forfar, Brechin, Montrose, Arbroath and Stracathro has left them “vulnerable to continual staffing challenges” in recruitment and retention, according to the Angus Health and Social Care Partnership.

And some of the facilities are now “no longer fit for purpose”.

The partnership will undertake a “comprehensive programme review of inpatient services” – including public and staff consultation – and propose options in December.

The review will examine Arbroath Infirmary, Montrose Royal Infirmary, Stracathro Hospital by Brechin, Whitehills Health and Community Care Centre in Forfar, and Brechin Infirmary which has been non-operational since October 2015.

Carnoustie and Monifieth have seen an “anticipatory care” programme run since 2015, involving GPs and district nurses alongside social workers and volunteers, and the board believes this has helped reduce hospital inpatient admissions.

The partnership’s head of community health and care services, Gail Smith, told a meeting of the health committee that staffing and resources will extend into the home and community, and traditional hospital wards must be reviewed.

“We provide care from a number of facilities and that isn’t ideal for delivering the model of care required,” she said.

“They were developed many, many years ago and no longer suitable to deliver the flexible care models we need.”