NHS Grampian U-turn over scrapping free nappies
NHS Grampian has the highest forecasted financial overspend across NHS Scotland for the year ahead - that is despite getting a Scottish government loan of more than £67m to tackle the issue.The maximum overspend permitted by the Scottish government is £45m.It requested the board come up with a recovery plan to reduce the deficit.Among the savings proposed was stopping the provision of disposable nappies for the majority of babies born in hospitals and maternity units.The cut in provision was not to apply babies requiring specialist care.
The board's chairwoman, Allison Evison said: ''I think it's really important that we are really aware of the needs of the people we serve in Grampian and the people who are coming in to our hospital. "It did not meet with our priorities around trying to eradicate child poverty. "Obviously there are lots of people who will come in to hospital with their own nappies, but I think it is really important that we provide for the people that come to our hospital that need our support as well. ''Last month, NHS Grampian was escalated to stage four of NHS Scotland's National Performance Framework over concerns about governance and finances.An external review is currently being conducted by KPMG to identify how the board can make further savings.This review is expected to be completed by the end of June.
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