Health bosses consider shake-up

Patients and medical staff are being invited to have their say on a proposed shake-up of health centres across the north-east.

Aberdeenshire has nine minor injury units at present.

However, health bosses are considering major changes after it emerged only five patients went to one of them in a month.

All the units are over budget in this financial year and four are forecast to have overspent by a total of £420,000 by the end of the 12 months.

Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership leaders are concerned staff might lose their skills if they are not able to practise them often enough.

In December, Aberdeenshire Integration Joint Board launched a review of the units, which included the Kincardine Community Hospital in Stonehaven. The partnership’s chief officer Adam Coldwells said: “We hope to have wide engagement with all of the local communities about the options for the best use of the resources.”

He said both clinical and managerial staff would be available at each of the sessions.

The partnership’s head of nursing, Eunice Chisholm, said there was concern that low levels of patient activity might mean it is “insufficient to ensure safe, competent and capable provision of a sustainable nurse-led service”.

A consultation will take place at Stonehaven Community Centre from 2-4pm and from 6-7.30pm on March 14.