Longer grass a sign of NHS efforts to save

LONGER grass at local NHS sites is not just a sign of summer – it is a visible result of tough choices being made by the health board to protect vital health services in the face of an unprecedented financial challenge. To help deliver £23.1 million in savings, NHS Dumfries and Galloway has reduced grounds maintenance across its entire estate as part of a wider effort to prioritise and protect patient care. Interim chief operating officer Nicole Hamlet said: “Our preference would of course be for very neat, well-maintained grounds at our NHS sites, but grass-cutting comes at a cost – and it has to be paid for out of the same pot of money which funds all of our services, from surgeries to prescriptions. “Every pound we spend is a pound that’s not available for something else, at a time when we have to achieve unprecedented financial savings. “We appreciate the desire to see well-kept grounds, and discussions are taking place around how this can be achieved, but it is hoped that people appreciate the need to prioritise services which immediately benefit people within the region.” Discussions are currently taking place around alternate arrangements for grounds maintenance, with the hope that this could come at lower cost to the board.