Cash strapped NHS board to cut nappies for newborns in bizarre bid to slash costs

Daily Mail​

a day ago

Bosses at a cash-strapped health board are to axe the free provision of disposable nappies in maternity wards – to save just £8,000 a year.
Executives at NHS Grampian decided parents of healthy newborns can foot the bill for the absorbents as they struggle to manage the board's budget.
The development comes despite the fact a study last month revealed the board had the highest-earning manager in Scotland's public health service.
Scottish Conservative MSP Tess White MSP said: 'It's a measure of the SNP 's chronic underfunding of NHS Grampian that they've axed the provision of nappies for newborns.
'With NHS Grampian paying a medical director a whopping £242k a year, making him the highest earning NHS manager in Scotland, new mums will rightly question whether huge wage bills at the top should be prioritised over the needs of patients.'
NHS Grampian needs to reduce a deficit of £23million but the anticipated savings form the nappies would amount to just 0.035 per cent of the total required.
Other planned belt-tightening proposals include the reduction of services over public holidays while spiritual care would also be scaled back.
Last month, it emerged that the health board has been escalated to stage four of NHS Scotland's National Performance Framework amid concerns over finances and governance.
Holyrood ministers decided to step up scrutiny at NHS Grampian after it needed a loan of more than £67million to tackle overspend.
Documents put before the board tomorrow (Thu) say about the nappies: 'This proposed saving relates to discontinuing the provision of disposable nappies for all well babies born in Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, Dr Grays Hospital, Inverurie Community Maternity Unit and Peterhead Community Maternity Unit.
'Note that a reusable nappies voucher is provided in the baby box supplied to all pregnant women in Scotland by the Scottish Government.'
It goes on to say the proposal has 'potential negative impacts' as it could be seen discriminatory against babies or pregnant women and it would impact those on lower incomes.
However, to mitigate the lack of kit in maternity wards it adds: 'It is intended that pregnant women will bring their own supply of nappies for their babies who are born well and not admitted to the neonatal unit.'
The paperwork clarifies the move would not affect babies who require special-sized nappies that are admitted to the neo-natal unit.
But the overall savings from the move are understood to be in the region of just £8,000 a year.
In 2024, NHS Grampian welcomed around 4,800 babies. On average each newborn needs up to 10 nappies a day putting the annual requirement for the health board to around 50,000 per year.
In January 2022 a consumer website said the average price of a nappy was 14.6p and allowing for inflation it could now be around 16p costing NHS Grampian the total of £8,000.
A recent study by the campaign group Taxpayers' Alliance (TPA) revealed the health board manager earning most in Scotland in 2023/24 was Paul Bachoo, acute medical director and portfolio lead (surgery and clinical support) at NHS Grampian, with a total remuneration of £242,500 – enough to pay for the nappy provision for the next 30 years.
A spokesman for the National Childbirth Trust, or NCT, warned of the impact on new parents and said: 'The early hours and days of having a newborn can be a challenging period for parents, and postnatally the NHS has a responsibility to support new babies.
'Parents may have arrived in hospital unexpectedly, following a traumatic birth, or may not have arrived with a packed birth bag with newborn nappies.
'Offering a supply of free to access nappies is an essential item in the immediate hours after birth, and giving parents a moment to catch their breath, and find the appropriate nappies for their baby upon discharge from hospital.'
Critics said the move to axe the free provision of nappies is just the latest example of the Scottish Government's failures over the National Health Service.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said: 'Health board budgets are facing the squeeze, but cruelly snatching away nappies that don't even cost much is hardly the way to deal with it.
'What's next? Cots and blankets?
'The Scottish Government should be working with health boards to devise a proper strategy to ease these budget pressures. But as usual, the SNP are failing to step up and deliver for our NHS.'
Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie added: 'Right across Scotland NHS boards are being forced to make difficult choices as pressure mounts on frontline services.
'The SNP has taken NHS Grampian into special measures so it is directly responsible for these cuts.
'This cut will take a toll on new families and barely make a dent on the board's eyewatering deficit.
'The SNP must work with Health Boards to ease the dangerous financial pressure on local services and protect patients.'
Shimeon Lee, policy analyst at the TaxPayers' Alliance said the plan to cut disposable nappies was a 'poorly targeted move which will save very little' when top bosses were paid such large amount.
He added: 'Recent TPA research found that the NHS wastes hundreds of millions on electricity and postage costs, highlighting where trusts could make better use of their resources.
'Instead of penny pinching from babies, the health bosses should focus on meaningful efficiencies to cut costs.'
The NHS Grampian paperwork also warns that any increases in costs would minimise the impact from the planned savings.
It adds: 'There are a number of risks associated with the financial recovery plan for 2025/26 which would leave NHS Grampian with no flexibility to manage any in year cost pressures that arise.'
A spokesman for NHS Grampian said the 'board is being asked to approve those savings at the meeting on Thursday'.
Health Secretary Neil Gray said: 'The Scottish Government has received the financial recovery plan from NHS Grampian and we will continue to work with them as they work towards a position of financial sustainability. Our expectation is that proposed savings are proportionate, while also protecting frontline services.
'As part of the escalation to Stage 4 of the NHS Scotland Support and Intervention Framework there is a programme of enhanced scrutiny and support from the Scottish Government. I am confident that, through these actions, we will soon have a clear plan to stabilise the system and set the right conditions for the necessary, longer term transformational work – with the key aim being to ensure the sustainable delivery of high quality healthcare services for the benefit of local people.'