Staff left to work 'unpaid hours' in Forth Valley over concerns about impact of waiting times

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Staff at the region’s under pressure health board have been working extra hours in their free time due to concerns for patients facing long waiting times.The revelation was made by an MSP on Holyrood’s health, social care and sport committee as they grilled NHS Forth Valley chief executive Cathie Cowan on a range of issues including staff culture, mental health services and turnover rates.The meeting was part of the committee’s go-round with all of the chief executives of Scotland’s NHS boards – with Forth Valley facing scrutiny after being escalated to stage four of the Scottish Government’s national performance framework in November.It followed concerns related to governance, leadership and culture – as well as poor performance in areas such as out-of-hours care and waiting times.Central Scotland Green MSP Gillian Mackay grilled Ms Cowan on the improvements made since the escalation, quoting the resignation of five respiratory consultants over a “toxic culture” at the flagship Forth Valley Royal Hospital.Ms Mackay also raised the case of members of psychological therapy staff, who she claimed had been in touch in the 24 hours leading up to Tuesday’s meeting to say they were working unpaid hours due to concerns for patients over “two-year waits” in the system.In her response, Ms Cowan said: “We have been able to recruit additional staff in psychological therapies, in which we previously had below the national average.

The fact is that being below the national average has an impact on performance.”She added in a later answer: “As for the member of staff who spoke to Gillian Mackay, I will absolutely follow that up.“We would not expect anyone to work unpaid hours in order to address waiting times.