Calls to merge health boards as winter pressure hits NHS | Opposition parties have called for Scotland’s health boards to be merged as winter puts the NHS under pressure.
by backupJM
Calls to merge health boards as winter pressure hits NHS | Opposition parties have called for Scotland’s health boards to be merged as winter puts the NHS under pressure.
by backupJM
7 comments
>Scottish Labour has proposed reducing the number of boards from 14 to three in order to cut through “bureaucracy”.
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>Maree Todd, the Scottish government minister for social care, mental wellbeing and sport, told the programme that an amalgamation of boards is an idea “being bounced around” and she was open to discussing the subject.
>However she said areas like the Highlands and islands were “cautious” about a system that does not work for rural areas as “unique needs” could be overlooked.
>She added: “The whole health system is experiencing sustained pressure as it has over the last few winters – but actually we’re coping well.
>”We’re managing to maintain at capacity for planned care, we haven’t stopped operations, there are signs we’re coping better than previous pandemic winters.”
Interesting that ScotGov is discussing it. But would this work. I feel like 3 is so few? Would it not be a huge burden in the central belt, and what would it mean for rural communities? Is centralisation a good policy to undertake?
I understand that it would cut through bureaucracy and save costs, which is a major positive, but could that not be achieved through other means, like updating digital systems and having a national framework for certain things? The idea is interesting, and I think it could work but I’m cautious about reducing it to just 3.
I’d be interested to know the thoughts of those who are more educated than me on this topic!
Interesting that there seems to be consensus across parties for this – especially as there has been criticism of the merged Police Scotland!
I can certainly see benefits of shared back of house systems and services – but would be concerned about loss of local understanding and accountability.
Merging the police wasnt that great an outcome for the Police or the service they provide
At this point NHS Highlands (& Islands) should just be made into a travel agent since that’s basically the only service they offer nowadays.
So in otherwords everything is moving to the central belt…. Again.
This won’t fix the problems with chronic underfunding and toxic management who are immune to the repercussions of their actions.
It is classic reorganisation to give the illusion of progress.
Merge payroll, IT and create a national surgical waiting list so if somewhere is quiet people can travel there for operations.
But reduce the health boards to three? Ya crazy