Scotland’s opposition parties have called for a reduction in the number of health boards in the country, from 14 to three. Scottish Labour has proposed this to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, however, the Conservatives have said that services in rural areas should not be negatively affected due to this proposal. The calls come at a time when hospitals are struggling with capacity and staff shortages. The Scottish government maintains that the situation is better managed than in previous winters, but doctors’ union BMA Scotland has expressed deep concerns about the consequences of short staffing on patient care. Scottish Labour claims that hospitals are overburdened with bureaucracy, causing a rise in excess deaths.
A patient died in hospital due to complications that arose because of transportation issues, claimed Scottish Labour MSP Paul Sweeney in a recent interview. He, along with clinical professionals, believes that Scotland’s health system is too cluttered with territorial health boards. The aim of this proposed reduction is to increase systems’ agility, enabling better data sharing between different procurement systems in more logical ways. The minister for social care, mental wellbeing and sport, Maree Todd, commented that amalgamating health boards is under discussion, but highlighted how caution needs to be applied in rural areas. Scottish Conservative GP Dr Sandesh Gulhane supports the idea, but has flagged the lack of accountability for NHS managers as a more significant issue that needs to be addressed.
BBC Scotland News has asked several health boards in Scotland about the current pressures they are experiencing. NHS Borders urged people not to come to A&E as it was at capacity and “exceptionally busy” on Friday. At the same time, other health boards, including NHS Lothian, NHS Highland, and NHS Forth Valley, noted an increase in workload but not any unexpected pressures. NHS Ayrshire & Arran and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, however, have stressed the importance of only attending A&E for critical emergencies
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