Skip to content

Hospital closed during Covid 'surplus to requirements'

Robbie BoyleBBC Scotland news
BBC Six protesters with a white banner which has red text. It says "Protect Local Rural Healthcare". BBC
Campaigners protested ahead of a meeting at Aberdeenshire Council's Woodhill House

A hospital - which closed temporarily at the start of the Covid pandemic and has not reopened since - has been declared surplus to requirements.

Members of Aberdeenshire's Integration Joint Board (IJB) voted to go ahead with the move to close Insch War Memorial Hospital for good, despite local concerns.

A meeting of the IJB heard from officers who said reopening the site would not represent an effective, sustainable or financially responsible use of public resources.

A group of protestors gathered outside Aberdeenshire Council's headquarters ahead of the meeting and said the impact to the community had not been properly assessed.

The hospital was established in 1922 as a memorial to local people who lost their lives in World War One.

It was closed temporarily in 2020 as a Covid measure and has not provided inpatient care since then.

The report which went before members said: "Reinstating the inpatient beds and nurse-led services at Insch War Memorial Hospital, is not a realistic or sustainable option."

Anne Stirling, who chairs the IJB, admitted it was a "difficult process" and praised local campaigners for their efforts but said the hospital was not suitable going forward.

She added: "We heard quite clearly about the difficulties with the building when it does not meet the national standard for clinical care.

"So, the building itself was the key issue and how that was progressed, so it quite clearly is not suitable for clinical provision.

"Members had a really, really difficult task today."

Anne Stirling smiling in front of a wall. She is wearing a black and white shirt.
Anne Stirling, who chairs the IJB board, admitted it had been a difficult decision

More than half of respondents in a recent consultation said the permanent closure of inpatient services at the hospital would have a very big impact.

The report admitted the decision was "not aligned" with the preferences of many respondents.

Campaigners, who gathered outside before the meeting and watched the discussion take place, told BBC Scotland News they were "hugely disappointed and sad" with the outcome.

"The focus today was so much on the building," said Allison Grant from Friends of Insch Hospital.

"We accepted the issues with the building and had offered to build a ward extension to accommodate 13 to 16 patients and there was no mention of that today.

"We are really disappointed that was not mentioned."

Grant added that the people who responded to the survey felt their voices had not been heard.

She said: "Those impacts have not been properly accounted for; they have not had enough time to properly analyse the impacts.

"The survey closed on 31 July, and the papers were prepared for the 26 August, how much time is that to properly and responsibly analyse those impacts?".