Calls to trial hotels in bid to ease NHS crisis

Rural hotels could help to ease the massive strain on the NHS due to delayed discharges and a lack of resources.

- 

Castle Douglas and Crocketford Councillor Pauline Drysdale, former chair of the region's social work committee, has called for a radical approach to tackling a long-standing problem which is getting worse.

She said this week: “The NHS is on its knees, and rural regions like Dumfries and Galloway are being pushed to the edge.

“We cannot keep pretending that urban solutions will work in remote areas with fundamentally different needs.”

Councillor Drysdale this week urged NHS Scotland, the Scottish Government, the Integration Joint Board, and the Care Quality Commission to urgently consider new ways of working to address the acute challenges facing health and social care in rural areas like Dumfries and Galloway.

In March this year, Dumfries and Galloway's delayed discharge rate hit its highest level for more than two years.