Government to have 'oversight' of NHS Forth Valley to due leadership concerns

The Scottish government will have "oversight" of NHS Forth Valley in a bid to tackle problems with out-of-hours services and unscheduled care.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said there were concerns about the ability of the health board's leadership to respond to issues effectively.

NHS Forth Valley said it welcomed the additional support.

The union Unison said the government needed to tackle a recruitment and staffing crisis.

Scottish Labour said the scale of the crisis in NHS Forth Valley was "symbolic of the wider crisis in our NHS".

It follows reports that five respiratory consultants resigned at Forth Valley Hospital in Larbert within two weeks of each other.

And an independent report published last year found that staff at that hospital failed to report mistakes under a "culture of fear".

Meanwhile, official A&E waiting times statistics regularly show that NHS Forth Valley is amongst the worst performers in Scotland.

For several weeks in September and October, more than 60% of its A&E patients waited more than four hours to be seen.

The health secretary said NHS Forth Valley had been escalated to stage four of NHS Scotland's national performance framework.

"Staff in NHS Forth Valley work tirelessly to deliver the high quality of care we expect," he said.

"However, there are continuing concerns about the ability of the leadership to effectively respond to issues when raised.

"We have been engaging with NHS Forth Valley for some time on a range of performance-related issues, including concerns around GP out-of-hours services and unscheduled care.

"The common barrier to improvement in these areas is governance, leadership and culture."

He said the escalation to stage four would bring "direct oversight" from the Scottish government.

"We will work with Forth Valley to ensure immediate improvement," he said. "Significant work is already under way to address the legitimate concerns raised and I will update parliament as progress is made."

A spokesperson for NHS Forth Valley said: "We welcome the additional support being provided and are committed to working closely with the Scottish government to deliver any changes or improvements recommended by the assurance board."

Unison said to would "work constructively" with the government's transformation team.

But a spokesperson added: "We will though be making clear to them that no improvement plan will solve the fundamental issues faced by patients and staff if it does not tackle the recruitment and staffing crisis we face.

"It is all very well for the Secretary of State to talk about holding managers' feet to the fire - but that is the sort of management culture we need to get away from.

"He would do well to consider how that attitude will impact on staff throughout the board who are already under immense pressure.

"Whatever issues there may exist with leadership and culture, tackling them will not deal with the fundamental issues of having too few staff to meet targets"

Meanwhile Scottish Labour's Jackie Baillie repeated her call for the resignation of the health secretary.

"Let me be clear, this is not an indictment of the fantastic staff that work tirelessly to keep this hospital running, it is an indictment of the SNP and their chronic inability to support the NHS," she added.

"The SNP has failed the staff and patients of this health board. A&E is overwhelmed and patients are put at risk due to a lack of nurses."

Dr Sandesh Gulhane, the Scottish Conservative's health spokesman said: "I welcome this decision, although it should have come last year when the allegations of toxic bullying emerged.

"We need a root-and-branch investigation to eradicate this culture and hold to account the people responsible.

"The fact that NHS Forth Valley is underperforming so badly is a reflection on Humza Yousaf's inadequate leadership of Scotland's NHS, rather than over-stretched, dedicated frontline staff."