Inside Holyrood: MSP Edward Mountain warns recruitment could hinder the full operation of National Treatment Centre with it due to open in the Autumn as some people claim they they have been 'told that they could be waiting up to six years for treatment'
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Long waiting times for operations continue to be at the forefront of peoples’ minds in the Highlands. My mailbag is full of constituents expressing their agony at how long they’ve waited for treatment so far and their fear that solutions are not arriving soon enough.
Waiting times have long been an issue for NHS Highland, but the arrival and aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic has certainly exacerbated the problem.
By the end of 2021, 6,237 patients were on the waiting list for scheduled elective operations within the health board, and over a third of those have been waiting for more than a year.
Even more worryingly, I have been contacted by some constituents in the last twelve months who had been told that they could be waiting up to six years for treatment. That is unacceptable.
The key to reducing long waiting times is of course the delivery of the new National Treatment Centre in Inverness.
I have supported the creation of this world-class facility since it was first announced in 2016.
Before the foundations had even been dug, I was pleased to meet with the Head of Estates for NHS Highland to learn more about this state-of-the-art facility, which our region desperately needs.
While I was disappointed to see that the National Treatment Centre would be delivered over a year later than planned, I am now encouraged to learn that the facility remains on course to be completed by this Autumn.
Due to the delay to the building works, my requested visit to the site will now unfortunately not happen until the building is open.
While I look forward to the opening ceremony, I am deeply concerned that as the ribbon is cut on the National Treatment Centre, a lack of successful recruitment may mean that the facility is not ready to be fully operational on day one. This scenario must be avoided at all costs.
At the moment though, NHS Highland has only recruited 25% of the staff required. I believe there is still enough time for the recruitment issue to be addressed, but urgent action will have to be taken sooner rather than later.
That is why I have written to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to raise my concerns and to ask what assistance the Scottish Government will be providing to NHS Highland to secure the required staff.
I look forward to receiving the Cabinet Secretary’s response, in which I hope he provides assurances to patients that the National Treatment Centre will be ready to operate as soon as it opens. Anything less than that would be a major setback.
Patients have waited long enough for this facility to open and I will continue to keep pressing NHS Highland and the Scottish Government for the required staff to be recruited successfully.
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