‘Urgent need’ for solution in face of Dunbar knockback
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
MAINTAINING services at the Dunbar Hospital in their present form is not an option and a solution needs to be found for the sake of patients in the west of the county.
That is the view of North Highland Community Health Partnership general manager Sheena MacLeod who said that it was a matter of urgency that an agreement be reached on the redesign of health services in the west.
It comes after the North Highland CHP refused to support proposals for the redesign of Dunbar which included changes to palliative and end-of-life care, closing 12 inpatient beds and reducing the operating hours of the 24-hour primary care emergency centre.
On Tuesday, the committee members said they could not support the proposals following negative feedback from GPs about how the changes would impact on patients. They said that more information is required.
The CHP management team is now analysing the discussions which took place at the meeting in the Weigh Inn and is in the process of setting up meetings with councillors and local representatives.
An update on the future of the Dunbar Hospital will be presented at the next CHP meeting in February.
Mrs MacLeod said that she is disappointed a decision could not be made, but that the partnership will continue to work to find a way for agreement, as changes are urgently needed.
“Change is always painful, but the status quo is not an option,” she said.
“It is important that community support is strengthened to cope with an increasingly elderly and frail population.
“I am bitterly disappointed that the committee was not able to make a decision, if we are not careful we are going to be doing the people of Caithness no favours.
“We heard at the meeting, the importance of inward investment and opportunities and the proposals will support all of this.
“But I also absolutely accept that there are still concerns expressed by local representatives and we take these seriously.
“We need to sit down with the councillors and others who have taken the time to respond and keep working together.”
She said that the NHS has had a constant history of redesigning its services to meet people’s needs and with Caithness’s elderly population set to double within the next 25 years, standing still and hoping things will resolve themselves is not an option.
With the proposals suggesting an emphasis away from hospital care to care at home, it is estimated the changes would save £600,000.
Clinical director for North Highland Dr Moray Fraser said that healthcare provision at the Dunbar Hospital is a matter which must be resolved as soon as possible, and he maintained that closing the inpatient ward would not pose a risk.
“It is my opinion, based on almost 20 years’ involvement with the Dunbar and direct discussion with many GP colleagues, that the model is a sensible one,” he said. “But it can hardly be helpful for the public or other committee members to not get a consensus from the GPs. So we must get round the table and resolve this as a matter of priority.”
Members of the CHP governance committee called the meeting after originally not supporting the plans which were presented earlier this year.
They asked the NHS to look again at five areas of the proposal which included reconsidering palliative and end-of-life care to provide inpatient access in Thurso, greater clarity around the use of the Dunbar site, and the impact on staff and ambulance services as well as socio-economic factors.
Landward Caithness councillor and CHP members David Flear said that the committee was not convinced that the changes would be of benefit to the community.
“Once we heard the concerns raised by the GPs about the proposed changes as well as the public concerns we didn’t feel it would be appropriate to endorse the plans,” he said.
“There didn’t seem to be the finances associated with the capital aspect of the development and it was said that these changes could take up to a year, which gave us concern.
“It didn’t seem to us that the building would be able to function as was said in the preferred option.
“There was a lot of doubts about the whole process. Although I fully support the concept of community care, I don’t think you can put all your eggs in one basket.
“Also there was not enough information on how palliative care could be operated outwith Dunbar Hospital and in a residential home, whether it would require extra staff and if adequate beds would be available.”
