BGH boss: 'The pandemic, for us, is not over'
NHS Borders chief reveals impact of Covid on local health service remains 'extremely challenging'
Last updated 2nd Apr 2023
More than 1,500 patients in the Borders waited more than a year for their first hospital appointment.
And more than 130 waited more than TWO YEARS for treatment.
That's according to a report presented to the latest meeting of NHS Borders.
The health board says recruitment challenges are partly to blame.
Chief executive Ralph Roberts told us: "I think we need to recognise that things remain extremely challenging across all of our services - whether that's in primary care and GP practices, for example; dental and Borders General Hospital (BGH).
"We are still experiencing Covid. We've got almost as many Covid patients in the hospital now as we've ever had during the pandemic - and we're clear that the pandemic, for us, is not over.
"Our staff are still working extremely hard and, unfortunately, we continue to have long waits in our emergency department for people to be admitted to hospital."
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Deaths are still being recorded of people with the virus at the region's hospitals, where pressures on staff and beds led to 52 planned operations being cancelled in January alone.
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Mr Roberts continued: "Some of that is (patients) will come in with other conditions and they will also have Covid, so we will still be recording people who have Covid at the time they die, even if it's not the main reason that they have passed away.
"It makes running the hospital more complicated in terms of trying to separate people and protect them and our staff. And then we've also got challenges around patients in hospital who no longer need to be there but, because of the challenges in social care and some of the issues with recruitment and retention, it's very difficult for us to discharge them.
"So there's a number of factors that are impacting, but, I think we need to be honest, it remains extremely challenging, and it's going to take us a number of years to recover from where we we've been during the pandemic."
'Our workforce remain under significant pressure due to staff turnover and high levels of vacancy, which in turn manifests in both absence and increased risk to patient safety' - report
The health board's meeting in Galashiels on Thursday is the first in a series to be held at different venues in the local community - with another planned in Peebles in June.
It's also the first time NHS Borders has met since Mr Roberts revealed the health board is facing a £22 million overspend next year.
He added: "Ultimately, we are accountable to the Borders public so we were keen to get out into the community and make it more accessible to see the board in operation. And we hope over time people will come and have an opportunity to talk to board members around the beginning and end of the meeting, and hear us do our business."
NHS Borders is holding a recruitment open day for various nursing positions at the Education Centre, Borders General Hospital, on Monday, April 3rd, from 8am to 2pm.
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