Dr Gray’s inpatient mental health ward under threat as Health Secretary says ‘more appropriate service’ needed

Health Secretary Neil Gray has said he “can’t give any firm commitments” about stopping the closure of Elgin’s under-threat mental health ward.

The comments came after a document, presented at a Moray Integration Joint Board (MIJB) meeting, revealed that “Ward 4 at Dr Gray’s Hospital can no longer be maintained as an inpatient service”.

The report, which provides details of an ongoing review of mental health provision across NHS Grampian, suggested that patients requiring inpatient mental health care could be sent to Royal Cornhill Hospital in Aberdeen.

It adds that the review will have to consider the “number of beds at RCH that will be required to accommodate Moray patients”, along with “the development of a community response in Moray”.

A meeting of the MIJB in March 2024 heard that safety inspectors could “lose their patience” and sanction NHS Grampian over the risk of self-harm posed by patients in Ward 4.

Plans to improve the safety of the mental health unit had previously been agreed, as part of a Scottish Government-funded project which would also see Dr Gray’s Hospital receive a new MRI scanner.

However, improvements on Ward 4 have been stalled since January 2024 - after the Scottish Government indefinitely pulled funding for both bundled projects.

Committee minutes confirm that NHS Grampian, which currently has the highest deficit of any Scottish health board, could not find the cash to complete improvements without government support.

During his visit to Dr Gray’s Hospital, the Health Secretary was given a tour of Ward 4 and confirmed he had discussed the “concerns” about the unit with nurses and senior staff.

He argued that a lack of funding from Westminster posed “challenges” to Holyrood’s capital budgets, and NHS Grampian needed to consider “what options there are to remove those concerns” at Ward 4.

“The challenges, in a capital sense, remain in terms of how our budgets are affected by decisions that are taken at Westminster,” Mr Gray added.

“However, I'm keen to take the responsibility that I have - and that Grampian has - to make sure that we have facilities that meet the needs of the patients that they are here to serve.

“So we did have a conversation around Ward 4, around the concerns that have been raised, and there is further work to be done by Grampian to look at what options there are to remove those concerns.

“To see a more appropriate service being delivered going forward.

“And I have given a commitment to continue to work with Grampian on ensuring that is the case.”

Asked whether NHS Grampian will be given more money to keep Ward 4 open, or whether services will instead be moved to Aberdeen, the Health Secretary said he could not make any “firm commitments”.

“Everybody recognises the fiscal situation that we're in, the financial position that we're in as a Scottish Government, so I can't give any firm commitments about additional resource,” he said.

“What I can do is continue to support Grampian in looking at what options there are.

“And we will always consider potential resource investment off the back of a business case, or on the back of an evidence-based approach to service delivery.

“I can't give a commitment that will result in additional resource.

“Or how they design their services to ensure that patients can continue to be served well here in Moray, which is obviously the primary concern and the primary concern that I was discussing with nursing as well as senior staff in Ward 4.”