Threat of closure lifted from ward at Ashludie Hospital
NHS Tayside has onfirmed that controversial plans for a ward closure at Ashludie Hospital in Monifieth have been scrapped — but fears remain over the future of the site.
- By David Clegg
- Published in the Courier : 25.08.10
- Published online : 25.08.10 @ 11.39am
The proposal to merge wards one and seven had led to concerns over the standard of care that would be provided to the elderly and infirm patients treated at the hospital.
Ward one was to be closed because of its rundown state and the nine patients housed there temporarily moved to ward seven, a secure unit for people with mental illnesses.
Now NHS bosses have decided not to go ahead with the plans after meeting patients and staff opposed to the move. They said one of the key concerns raised by staff and families was the issue of patients possibly having to move twice in a short space of time — once when wards one and seven merged and again if the remaining patients at Ashludie were to be resettled within alternative accommodation.
Dundee Community Health Partnership general manager David Lynch said, "We would like to thank everyone who participated in the Ashludie meetings for their valuable input to the discussions around the proposed merger of wards one and seven.
"We said we would listen to staff and families and always take into account their views, and that is exactly what we have done here. We are still in the process of looking at possible options available to us to provide a more suitable environment to care for our patients at Ashludie."
Mr Lynch added that a paper detailing future options would go before the NHS Tayside finance and resources committee next month for consideration.
The redesign of older people's services has been ongoing for some years and the transfer of services from the Ashludie site to more appropriate accommodation in Dundee has been a part of that strategy. There are now only a few remaining wards at the hospital and some staff have expressed fears for their futures.
Monifieth Landward Partnership chairwoman Dr Andrina McCormack welcomes the decision not to go ahead with the merger — but warns that the future of the hospital is still uncertain.
"On the surface of it that sounds like a good decision for the patients and the families," she said, "but the decision about the mid and long-term future is still hanging like a sword of Damocles over their heads.
"If you think about the fact these patients are very elderly and many of their families are also elderly, a move to somewhere like Montrose or Dundee could seem like a trip to the moon.
"As a psychologist I know that elderly patients don't take well to being moved and many can actually die as a result of being transported."
The Monifieth Landward Partnership is hoping to help build a sensory garden within the hospital grounds but that proposal has been put on hold while the future of Ashludie is debated.
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