NHS Highland decision to relocate Raigmore Hospital mailroom to Inverness’s Longman area sparks concern about risk to deliveries of in-house tests and results
Relocating Raigmore Hospital’s mailroom to a site in the city’s Longman is “hard to justify” and “robust steps must be taken” to prevent it impacting vital medical tests and results, an MSP has insisted.
Rhoda Grant made the call after NHS Highland confirmed its in-house mailroom’s move in response to a query from The Inverness Courier this week.
The paper had reached out to the health board for comment after a concerned member of the public sounded the alarm, claiming the decision to relocate the mailroom to Stadium Road is “so bad on every level and could mean letters [and] urgent parcels taking longer to get to department.”
They fear the relocation of mailroom services could slow inter-department mail, including results and tests.
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Responding to those concerns, NHS Highland confirmed that the mailroom is moving to Stadium Road in Inverness and said this was part of wider work to “optimise space and services” within Raigmore, and claimed if will be more efficient.
A spokesperson added that they would carry out “new site processes” to “ensure there is no disruption to clinical services” and that it will work with its various staff teams to address any concerns arising from the flit.
But Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant has voiced her concerns over the move, warning that it will make the hospital’s mail services less accessible for staff and patients, and risked hitting the delivery of important results and tests unless “robust” measures are in place to prevent that from happening.
She said: “Accessibility for both workers and patients will be harder following this move. It is hard to stand by the justification given by the NHS on relocating the mailroom off hospital grounds. The plain fact is that it will be more challenging to get to for all, especially those that face mobility issues, as well as having a negative effect on efficiency on mail delivery to and from the hospital estate. It will also increase the carbon footprint of the hospital and one would imagine an increase in costs.
“Robust steps must be taken to ensure that important tests, results, documents, and internal mail are not going to be negatively impacted and delayed.”
A spokesperson for NHS Highland said: “The mailroom at Raigmore Hospital will be moving to Stadium Road in Inverness. This move is part of our ongoing efforts to optimise space and services within Raigmore Hospital and also enables us to align the mailroom with other supply chain and logistic services allowing it to be more efficient.
“New site processes will be implemented once the mailroom moves to ensure there is no disruption to clinical services and we are focused on maintaining the high level of service that the mailroom currently has.
“Mailroom staff have been informed and involved throughout this process in line with our organisational change policy and we will continue to engage with key clinical and hospital based teams to address any specific requirements and concerns.”
