THE head of the NHS workers’ union in Scotland has accused a Labour politician of 'reckless political posturing' after he suggested Glasgow’s NHS Louisa Jordan hospital should be used to drive down surgical waiting lists, rather than private providers at a cost of millions.

Neil Findlay MSP had been responding to reports that the Scottish Government has allocated around £13 million of contracts to hospitals including Glasgow’s Nuffield Hospital to reduce patient waits as the health service begins to re-focus efforts from Covid-19 to elective care.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has said previously that the £43m emergency hospital could be used to help tackle a backlog of outpatient appointments. At the height of the pandemic, Labour suggested the hospital could be used to house the most vulnerable care home residents.

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Matt Mclaughlin, Unison Scotland’s Head of Health, said widespread use of the Louisa Jordan would rely on borrowing staff from already depleted health boards and claimed the hospital was not “clinically fit” to deliver more general NHS care going as far as to suggest it could harm patients.

He said: “To give the money to the private sector who will use NHS doctors, working in second jobs is criminal when we have wards mothballed due to cuts across Scotland. 

“However one MSP’s calls to use the Louisa Jordan is reckless political posturing. 

The Herald:

“NHSLJ has no staff of its own. To provide any kind of services staff will need to be ‘borrowed” from existing NHS Boards, boards that are already short staffed and will have to gear up to cut into elective surgery waiting lists (and we are only a few months away from normal winter flu season) 

“But worse, the suggestion that we use NHSLJ ignores that it’s not clinically fit for purpose. It has insufficient toilets, wash hand basins and much more. 
“It was designed for a very specific purpose. To demand its use for general care will kill patients.”

In response the Scottish Government said any suggestion the hospital could harm patients was “irresponsible and incorrect” and said it is still considering how it can be used effectively.

READ MORE: First Minister says NHS Louisa Jordan could be used to help clear NHS case backlog 

Labour’s health spokeswoman Monica Lennon said it was unfair to characterise questions about use of Louisa Jordan as posturing and called on the government to work with clinicians to devise a plan for the hospital.

She said: “Unison’s staffing concerns are legitimate as the workforce crisis that plagued the NHS before COVID-19 hasn’t been cured. It’s the Scottish Government’s responsibility to ensure there are safe staffing levels across the NHS, including at the Louisa Jordan.

"It’s good that the Scottish Government is considering whether outpatient, diagnostic and elective treatment can be safely carried out at the NHS Louisa Jordan and a decision should be reached soon so that patients and staff know where they stand.”

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A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The NHS Louisa Jordan has not been required to treat Covid-19 patients as we have been able to retain capacity in NHS Scotland thanks to continued collective effort to tackle this pandemic. 

“It is absolutely fit for purpose and we commend the hard work that brought it into use to scale up our capacity and resources to treat a potentially unknown number of Covid-19 patients during an unprecedented global pandemic.  To say otherwise or suggest it would actually harm patients is both irresponsible and incorrect.

“As part of the NHS re-mobilisation plans, we are considering whether we could use effectively and safely NHS Louisa Jordan for outpatient, diagnostic and elective treatment, while ensuring our NHS retains capacity to deal with any increase in Covid cases.”

The clinical lead for orthopaedics at the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank last week warned it could be “years” before NHS waiting lists recover from the impact of the crisis.

The hospital has been carrying out more cancer surgery, including bladder and colon, which would normally take place in major acute hospitals.

Although the hospital admitted some Covid patients to its intensive care wards early in the outbreak as beds ran out in neighbouring health boards, it is now considered to be a ‘Covid-free’ space.

Some cancer patients requiring less complex surgery, such as breast and skin cancer, have also been sent by the NHS to private hospitals, where there are no Covid patients.