Closure shock over Aberlour's Fleming Hospital
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STAFF at Aberlour's Fleming Hospital have been left reeling after being told of shock closure plans.
Speyside medical provision will be badly hit when the community hospital closes to in-patients on November 18 – just two weeks' time.
The decision was taken due to unsafe pressures on staff and recruitment problems at the 15-bed hospital, which provides medical, palliative and respite care and has a small casualty department.
Patients in the Fleming Hospital will transfer to the Stephen Hospital in Dufftown, which has capacity for 17 beds but currently only nine are open. The plan proposes that the Fleming Hospital will remain open for out-patients only.
A spokesperson for Health and Social Care Moray said: "Over recent weeks, it has become clear that we need to look at different ways we can continue to safely deliver excellent patient care and to protect our staff members' health and wellbeing.
"At this stage any change would be a temporary measure.
"Staff at both Aberlour and Dufftown are frequently having to work through breaks as well as working extra hours as a result of a number of staff vacancies resulting in us being unable to reliably safely staff both sites at the moment.
"Following discussion with staff, it has been proposed that in-patient services move to Dufftown as services are consolidated on a single site. Outpatient services will be delivered from Aberlour hospital and a new model of delivering care locally will be explored."
Head of service Sean Coady met staff yesterday. Mr Coady said: "Discussions with staff have been ongoing for some time now about the pressures placed upon them and the associated concerns about safe staffing levels. Care provision to get people home has also been an ongoing challenge in Speyside. Many avenues have been explored with little success.
"We are keen to test out an intermediate care team in the Speyside area to see if this can bridge some of the gaps in providing care at home. Knowing how important it is for people to retain their independence, we are working to both keep people at home appropriately for their care and also ensuring hospital stays are only as long as necessary.
"We will be available over the coming week in the Aberlour and Dufftown areas to discuss concerns with the local people face-to-face and will not proceed to implementation until we have all the basics in place.
"Patient safety and staff wellbeing must be paramount and any decisions to change how we deliver services will always be considered within these in mind. These decisions are not taken lightly and we acknowledge the need to work through this with the community to ensure that the longer-term sustainability of services in Speyside are fit for the future and of the highest standard."
Moray Conservative MP Douglas Ross called for urgent talks after learning of the plan to downgrade the 120-year-old hospital.
Mr Ross said: "Some time ago when I suggested the future of the Fleming Hospital was in doubt, this was denied, and it is bitterly disappointing to learn of the decision to close the hospital in Aberlour.
"There are too many unanswered questions with this whole proposal. The main issue here seems to me to be related to the shortage of carers and care packages available in Moray. This is clearly evidenced when we read that the profile of the Fleming Hospital in Aberlour is of elderly patients waiting for care packages. These patients ideally should either be in care homes or at home with an appropriate care package, not sitting in a local hospital. The Moray situation with regard to care needs to be addressed as a priority.
"If these plans in themselves were not enough to concern local people, the fact that these proposals are to take place within two weeks, sends out a worrying message.
"What is the point in the Moray Health and Social Care Partnership holding surgeries in Speyside to allay fears, when it is apparent to everyone that the decision has been made?"
SNP MSP Richard Lochhead said: "The news that Fleming Hospital is to be closed to in-patient admissions due to ongoing recruitment issues is deeply disappointing and it is important that the public are reassured that every other option has been explored to avoid what we are being told is a temporary measure.
"This latest development is further evidence of the mounting pressures facing our more rural hospitals with recruitment issues affecting both Dr Gray’s and our community hospitals. I am scheduling discussions with both NHS Grampian and the health secretary to see what can urgently be done to address this."
Speyside and Glenlivet Councillor Walter Wilson said: "This is desperately sad but safety and care is paramount for patients. If the hospital, with its recruitment problems, is not safe for staff, it's not safe for patients."
Health and Social Care Moray, which governs shared NHS and council services, launched a review into Moray's community hospitals last year.
NHS Grampian said Fleming Hospital was facing severe challenges and would be included in the review to examine its long-term sustainability but said there was no established long-term plan to close it. However, a potential reduction in service was one of the scenarios outlined to staff.
The hospital was financed by a legacy from distiller James Fleming and opened in 1900.
