Ronas Ward communication lacking
NHS SHETLAND has admitted it could have done more to explain the positives of the potential closure of Gilbert Bain Hospital’s Ronas Ward to the local community.
Chairman Ian Kinniburgh told a BBC Radio Shetland Speak Easy programme on Tuesday that more needs to be done to “convince” the public about the health board’s plans to develop community based rehabilitation services.
NHS Shetland confirmed in September that Ronas Ward, which contains six beds and is used for patient recuperation, could close as more people rehabilitate in their own homes or in care centres.
However, the integration joint board agreed last week that the plans should be postponed to allow more time to consider the details, with concerns raised over how patients in Shetland’s remote communities would be affected.
Kinniburgh said the proposals have been in the pipeline for nearly 12 months and they represented the “continuation of a very positive journey”.
The matter will next be discussed by the integration joint board in November, with NHS Shetland confident of getting full support for its plans.
“We think this is a logical continuation. We think we’ve proven that we’ve planned this through well and that it can work,” Kinniburgh said.
“What we needed to do and what we haven’t done so well is to convince the public that this is something that will work and will actually be better for people. This is very much about improving the way we deliver services to folk.”
The chairman stressed that the closure of Ronas Ward would only be a knock-on effect of lack of need after care was shifted out into the community.
“The plan isn’t to close Ronas,” he said. “The plan is to do something different around the service.”
The matter was discussed after NHS Shetland’s annual review on Tuesday evening, with one listener calling the health board “arrogant” over the potential closure of Ronas Ward and its lack of consultation over the plans.
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Nursing director Kathleen Carolan said NHS Shetland had spent the last six months speaking to staff and also public groups about the proposals.
She added that the team was “confident” there would be staff in place in areas outside of Lerwick.
Kinniburgh added that he thinks there is still “a degree of confusion” about the role Ronas Ward currently plays.
“I think Ronas Ward is very different to what Ronas Ward used to be in the old hospital,” he said.
“Perhaps we need to be better at describing how it currently operates and what we’re trying to shift from.”
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