NHS Grampian is an

NHS board The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

which forms one of the fourteen regional health boards of

NHS Scotland NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the publicly funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland, ...

. It is responsible for proving health and social care services to a population of over 500,000 people living in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area inclu ...

and

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland (council area), ...

. NHS Grampian is also very closely linked with both the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

and

The Robert Gordon University , mottoeng = Now by all your mastered arts , established = 1992 (origins mid-18th century) , type = Public , endowment = £1.9 million (2015) , budget = £103 million (2014) , chancellor = Dame Evelyn Glennie , principal = Professor St ...

, especially in the fields of research,

workforce planning The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic re ...

and training.

History

The health board was formed on 1 April 2004 by the amalgamation of Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust, Grampian Primary Care NHS Trust and Grampian Health Board. The health board's headquarters are located at Summerfield House in the

Summerhill Summerhill or Summer Hill may refer to the following places: Australia *Summer Hill, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Summerhill, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston * Summerhill (Mount Duneed), a prefabricated iron cottage in Victoria Canada * ...

area of

. NHS Grampian consists of acute services, corporate services and three

Community Health Partnership Community Health Partnerships, known as CHPs (pronounced ''Chips'') were subdivisions of Health Boards in Scotland, from 2005 to 2015, after which their functions were fully taken over by Health and Social Care Partnerships in April 2015. CHPs h ...

s and works closely with the local authorities. Chief executive Richard Carey announced he was to take early retirement in November 2014. Dr Izhar Khan, chairman of the area medical committee, and Mr Norman Binnie, chairman of the consultants’ sub-committee, issued a statement claiming that loss of confidence in the executive of the board was widely held among senior clinicians. Medical director Roelf Dijkhuizen announced his intention to retire in Autumn 2014 shortly after a preliminary HIS investigation confirmed a full investigation into Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. The board chairman Bill Howatson stepped down in Autumn 2014.The Deputy Chief Executive, Dr Pauline Strachan and the Director of Nursing both retired following the publication of the HIS report in November 2014. A number of clinicians called on other executives to consider their positions. In 2018, following Malcolm Wright’s resignation as chief executive, NHS Grampian appointed Amanda Croft on an interim basis, who was then confirmed as new chief executive in April 2019. In June 2020 Croft announced her intention to retire at the end of 2020. She was succeeded by Caroline Hiscox, who had been a director since 2015, taking over the position in November 2020. In April 2021, NHS Grampian invested £3.5m in three surgical robots to assist general surgery at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and hip replacement surgery at Woodend Hospital. Robotic-assisted surgery was first introduced to Grampian NHS in 2015.

Healthcare in community settings

In 2007 the board stated their ambition to deliver care in local communities wherever possible. To achieve this the preferred choice would be to treat patients in primary or community settings (GP practices, health centres and community hospitals). The health board is served by 89 GP Practices There are various other specialist care teams that work in community settings. There are 17

community hospital A community hospital can be purely a nominal designation or have a more specific meaning. When specific, it refers to a hospital that is accessible to the general public, and provides a general or specific medical care which is usually short-term, ...

s across Grampian where care is provided including a large urban facility, the

Aberdeen Community Health and Care Village Aberdeen Community Health and Care Village also known as The Health Village is a community hospital located in the centre of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Grampian. History Plans for the complex were announced in 2010. The facility, ...

, which opened in 2013. Of all the health boards in Scotland, Grampian has the highest concentration of community hospitals, although they all differ in the type of services that they offer.

Specialist acute hospitals

There are several specialist acute hospitals in the NHS Grampian region, the largest being

Aberdeen Royal Infirmary Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI) is the largest hospital in the Grampian area, located on the Foresterhill site in Aberdeen, Scotland. ARI is a teaching hospital with around 900 inpatient beds, offering tertiary care for a population of over 600, ...

, located on the Foresterhill Health Campus.

Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital The Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital or RACH is a children's hospital in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is situated on the Foresterhill site, with the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Aberdeen Maternity Hospital and provides services to children across t ...

and

Aberdeen Maternity Hospital Aberdeen Maternity Hospital (AMH) is a specialist maternity hospital in Aberdeen, Scotland. Between 4,000 and 5,000 babies are born at AMH each year. The hospital is located in the Foresterhill area of Aberdeen and serves the region of Grampian ...

are also located at Foresterhill. Also located within Aberdeen are

Woodend Hospital Woodend Hospital is a health facility located in the Woodend area of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Grampian. History The hospital, which was designed by Brown & Watt, opened as the Old Mill Poorhouse and Infirmary in May 1907. It beca ...

, a general hospital which houses the Department of Medicine for the Elderly among other services;

Royal Cornhill Hospital Royal Cornhill Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Westburn Road, Aberdeen, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Grampian. History The hospital was founded as the Aberdeen Lunatic Asylum in 1800. The city's dancing master, Francis Peacock, donated ...

, a

psychiatric Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psy ...

hospital; and City Hospital, the location of the specialist Links Unit and several out-patient clinics.

Dr Gray's Hospital Dr. Gray's Hospital is a district general hospital in Elgin, Moray, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Grampian. History The hospital was founded as a result of a bequest by Alexander Gray (d. 1807), who was born in Elgin but worked as a surgeon ...

is located in

Elgin, Moray Elgin (; sco, Ailgin; gd, Eilginn, ) is a town (former cathedral city) and formerly a Royal Burgh in Moray, Scotland. It is the administrative and commercial centre for Moray. The town originated to the south of the River Lossie on the higher ...

and is the main district hospital for that area. Also located in Elgin is The Oaks, a palliative care

day hospital A day hospital is an outpatient facility where patients attend for assessment, treatment or rehabilitation during the day and then return home or spend the night at a different facility. Day hospitals are becoming a new trend in healthcare. The numb ...

. About 3% of the hospital activity in Grampian is providing treatment for people who live outwith the Grampian area.

Performance

Between April 2014 and February 2015 the board paid out almost £3 million to private hospitals for the treatment of more than 1000 patients in order to meet waiting time targets. In October 2021 Grampian NHS was the third NHS board to apply for support from the Army, preferentially with healthcare staff.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Organisations based in Aberdeen 2004 establishments in Scotland