19 November 2004
Scotland's biggest health board has announced plans for a major reorganisation, aimed at improving services.
NHS Greater Glasgow said the changes included the merging of three acute divisions – North, South and Yorkhill. It will be responsible for day-to-day services, driving down waiting times and winter bed planning.
The new division will include an acute planning team, which will oversee the current programme of modernisation, including a new £100m children's hospital, the £80m new Beatson centre for cancer treatment, two new hospitals and the reorganisation of services.
The board has said there will be no compulsory redundancies as a result of the shake-up, which is due to be considered in December and implemented next April.
Chief executive Tom Divers said: 'By reorganising, we aim to make better use of our resources to improve services for patients, devolve more decision-making to staff, increase consistency of service and reduce duplication.'
Health boards in Scotland have been under pressure to increase their efficiency. The planned reorganisation of hospital services has led to major public protests over the closure and contraction of facilities.
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