Arbroath community campaigners have reacted with fury after another healthcare blow for the town.
They have been given the news that the 15-bed Inchcape dementia unit at Arbroath Infirmary is to be axed just weeks after what has been labelled the “carbon copy” closure of the town’s Little Cairnie Hospital.
NHS Tayside has confirmed staff from the unit will be redeployed once the remaining two patients in the unit are discharged in the “near future”.
The health authority has defended the closure, saying it is part of a move away from “traditional hospital-based inpatient units … to more person-centred local care”.
Arbroath councillor David Fairweather condemned the news as an “unacceptable” additional stress on patients and their families.
Leading figures from the League of Friends of Arbroath Infirmary and Little Cairnie also spoke of their shock and disappointment and are now set for a showdown meeting with health chiefs next week after claiming the dementia facility has been “run down under the nose of the community” for some time.
The Inchcape unit closure comes after a bitter local row over Little Cairnie, which closed its doors in February.
NHS Tayside said the Inchcape facility is one of three dementia units in Angus.
A spokesperson said: “Ward staff are currently caring for two patients from the Angus area in the unit and these patients already have discharges and transfers planned to more appropriate healthcare environments in Angus to manage their ongoing needs.
“This means that it is likely, given that there are no patients waiting to be admitted to Inchcape, that there will be a situation in the near future that there will be no patients to care for on the ward.
“In this case, Inchcape staff would be redeployed in line with the clinical need and care requirements of patients in Angus.
“This is part of the day-to-day management of all our units across Tayside to ensure person-centred, safe and effective care for everyone.
“There are ongoing discussions with ward staff at Inchcape who are aware of this situation, as are our staff side representatives,” added the spokesperson.
Councillor Fairweather said: “This news that the Inchcape unit is to close so soon after Little Cairnie became non-operational should have alarm bells ringing in the local community.
“All this is happening when it would seem that the new palliative care beds that were promised at the infirmary are still not operational and soundbites that Little Cairnie would remain open as required are just a smokescreen for closures.
“I don’t believe the closure of this unit is an option for NHS Tayside. Arbroath is the biggest burgh in Angus and any closure would leave vulnerable patients and their families with extra stress and burdens. That is just not acceptable nor desirable for all concerned.”
League of Friends chairwoman Jacqueline Cargill said the group had provided more than £7,000 of support to the Inchcape unit alone in the past few years.
“The word ‘transparency’ has been bandied about a lot in relation to Arbroath but this has again taken us by surprise we had no notion that the Inchcape unit was going to close,” she said. “This has certainly not been transparent.
“In addition to our fundraising and other support, part of our remit is to be the link between the locality and the hospitals and I feel the community are not being kept informed.”
Friends colleague Carol Shand said: “This is a carbon copy of Little Cairnie.
“It is absolutely shocking that we find out again in this way that Arbroath is to suffer and yet it’s been suggested that the unit has been running down for the past three years.
“Families with very ill relatives are being asked to spend hundreds of pounds going to hospitals like Ninewells to visit, and terminally ill people are now being sent home under these new arrangements.”