New Hospital bed numbers raised with minister

The provision of beds at the new Balfour Hospital was raised at Holyrood yesterday, Thursday.

Responding to Orkney MSP Liam McArthur, the health minister said it was for NHS Orkney to “develop and implement clinical strategies” that will determine the need for beds, but that the Scottish Government will consider a final business case for the new hospital later this year.

Mr McArthur’s questions followed discussions with local councillors and work carried out by a constituent, Dr Ian Cunningham, into projections of how many beds will be needed at the new hospital.

Dr Cunningham highlighted that the Outline Business Case, submitted by NHS Orkney in 2013, quoted a potential requirement of 56 beds against a planned provision of 47 inpatient and two assessment beds. His calculations suggest that the new hospital could be as many as 12 beds short.

Mr McArthur therefore called on the Health Secretary to “look again at the assumptions that are being made by NHS Orkney to justify the planned bed numbers.”

He said: “The health secretary confirmed today that the full business case for the new Balfour will be considered by the Scottish Government later this year.

“She added that bed capacity will be one of the issues that is considered before any approval is given. In the interests of patients and staff in Orkney, I would expect this to be done in a rigorous fashion.”