The Heart to Heart Blog

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Raigmore Have Got It Wrong

by John - 20:53 on 24 March 2012

Patients who have been in pain for more than three days are being refused automatic treatment at Raigmore Hospital’s Accident & Emergency department under a new policy introduced by the hospital management.
This policy has been kept relatively secret and introduced without prior intimation, press publicity or even appearing on NHS Highland's own webpages.

This appears not to be a clinical decision, but rather a purely managerial decision based entirely on cost.
It comes as the hospital struggles to address a £4.7 million overspend in its budget this year.

Whilst we empathise with the board on its budgetery difficulties barring patients as a purely cost saving exercise IS OF DEEP CONCERN TO ALL.

Doctor Gary Kerr, service lead and consultant in emergency medicine at Raigmore, defended the hospital’s new rule, insisting there were a significant number of patients attending A&E that did not need to be there.
Whilst we fully sympathise with the medical staff in that a 'significant number' of these patients need not be there.   By defination, and by what he says it clearly means that a number of patients DO need to be there.

Yesterday Margaret Watt, chairwoman of the Scotland Patients Association, criticised the new procedure and said -
"it was totally unacceptable"

Mary Scanlon, local MSP, is also concerned, and said -
"I personally think it would be a sad day if A&E did not see and treat all patients."

This is not a clinically driven medical policy, it is a calculated administrative, and one has to say medical gamble, hoping that no patient will come to harm.

Source:  The Inverness Courier.

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