Concern has been raised that NHS Tayside is unable to provide a timetable for the return of a local mental health facility to Angus.
The Mulberry Unit at Stracathro Hospital is temporarily closed on safety grounds due to a shortage of junior doctors but question marks remain over its future as NHS Tayside reviews its three mental health bases in Perth, Dundee and near Brechin.
The health board has said the relocation of the Mulberry Unit back to Stracathro Hospital will depend on the availability of junior doctors in the area.
NHS Tayside chief executive Lesley McLay said that a redesign of services for people with mental illness and learning disabilities is ongoing and that a number of options, still being evaluated, will be put to a three-month public consultation.
In a letter to North East Scotland Conservative MSP Liam Kerr, the chief executive said: “The contingency plan which saw the transfer of the Mulberry Unit to Carseview Centre was invoked because of a national shortage of trainee psychiatrists and changes to the number of junior doctors available to NHS Tayside.
“The length of this interim move will depend on the availability of junior doctors at each future rotation and, specifically, the numbers available to work in Tayside.”
She continued: “It is worth highlighting that mental health and learning disability services are provided in people’s homes, in the communities in which they live and, when necessary, in hospital.
“Our priority is to provide safe and effective services and specifically to make sure those who have the most complex health requirements have access to high quality care when it is required.”
It is now unlikely that a decision will be made before June.
Mr Kerr has campaigned on this issue for several months and has spoken out regularly about the financial difficulties facing NHS Tayside.
In February, the most senior NHS official in Scotland also told MSPs that NHS Tayside would have to “consolidate assets”, which was viewed as a signal that the closure could be made permanent.
Mr Kerr said: “I have been in contact with the health board on this issue for some time, as the loss of this facility has caused a great deal of worry in the local area.
“I am concerned that there is no timetable for the relocation of the Mulberry Unit back to Stracathro.
“This will do nothing to address the concerns of residents who suspect that the closure will be made permanent.
“If the return of the facility to the local area is dependent on the availability of junior doctors, then, with the best will in the world, that could be some time away.
“The workforce planning aspect of this is not the fault of the health board, that is the responsibility of the SNP government in Edinburgh, which has been in charge of the Scottish NHS for a decade.
“But the reality is that this is a very important facility, built very recently, that has now been taken out of the local area.
“That means families and friends are having to travel more than 30 miles to visit their loved ones.
“I think people deserve clarity on the future of this service, and they should not have to wait any longer.”
Lib Dem MSP Mike Rumbles added: “I have previously raised concerns with the Scottish Ministers regarding the future of services at Stracathro Hospital and the Mulberry Unit, and I will continue to do so.
“The under-funding of mental health services continues to be a major issue right across the North East, for which the SNP government are entirely responsible.”
