NHS Forth Valley: How health board will cope as five respiratory consultants leave

The health board said staff leave for a variety of reasons including career development and promotions – but the resignations were widely reported after the trade union Unison raised concerns that patient safety might be impacted.

Unison said its main concern was how patient safety would be maintained and “unsupportable burdens on staff avoided” given the difficulties with recruitment going into winter. At the time the resignations were first reported, the union asked if a risk assessment had been carried out and what were contingency plans.

At a meeting of NHS Forth Valley’s health board on Tuesday, Councillor Fiona Collie asked what impact the departure of the consultants would have on services and what contingency plans were in place if the vacancies were not filled quickly.

Andrew Murray, NHS Forth Valley’s medical director, said the notice periods of the five consultants would be in December and January. He said they had been working “at pace” to determine what would happen after the consultants move on.

Four consultants from NHS Lothian will join Forth Valley’s staff bank to deliver some of the core services, including urgent cases. “We hope that will mean that part of the service is properly protected and supported and patients will still experience high quality care,” said Mr Murray.

The board is currently recruiting to fill the vacancies and they have had some interest. Mr Murray added that they also have an extensive team of clinical nurse specialists and they are creating an Advanced Practice post.

He told board members that Forth Valley has also made links with NHS Tayside for help with some of the less urgent cases in the referral process. “It’s not a position we would want to be in but actually it is presenting us with an opportunity to redesign the service,” he said.

He offered the board his reassurance that the service would be able to offer a consultant-led service and see all of the patients being referred, especially urgent cases.