The Scottish Government has escalated NHS Grampian to stage 4 of NHS Scotland’s Support and Intervention Framework, due to significant concerns over the board’s financial management, leadership, and governance.
This move follows ongoing financial difficulties, including a projected overspend of nearly £70 million this year, and signals that previous support and interventions have not delivered the necessary improvements.
At stage 4, NHS Grampian will be subject to enhanced scrutiny, with senior external support and monitoring provided by the government, including the establishment of an Assurance Board chaired by the Scottish Government and the involvement of external consultants to conduct a comprehensive diagnostic review and help shape a tailored improvement plan.
This is the second-highest intervention level, just below direct statutory intervention, and reflects the government’s assessment that there are “significant risks to delivery” of health services in the region, requiring urgent and sustained improvement to ensure the continued provision of high-quality care.
Scottish Conservative North East MSP Tess White said: “The escalation of NHS Grampian to stage 4 for finance, leadership and governance is hugely concerning and underlines the deepening crisis facing the health board.
“Grampian’s National Treatment Centre has been shelved, ambulance stacking at ARI and Dr Gray’s remains at its worst, and performance in areas such as A&E, cancer, and mental health have hit record lows as more staff are now leaving the service than joining it.
“NHS Grampian has been placed on life support due to years of mismanagement by the SNP government that has created an enormous black hole in the health board’s finances.
“Successive SNP health secretaries have failed to get a grip of this crisis at NHS Grampian for far too long, which has left the health board at breaking point.
“The Scottish Government must now take steps to put patients and staff first by ensuring urgent measures are in place to lift NHS Grampian out of this dire predicament.”
