Senior management of NHS Borders were grilled by
councillors over plans to close the hydrotherapy pool at
Borders General Hospital.
It was at last week’s full session of Scottish Borders Council that senior managers from NHS Borders briefed councillors on an overview of the local health service.
Representing NHS Borders were board chairman John Raine, medical director Sheena MacDonald and chief executive Calum Campbell.
Unsurprisingly, the planned closure of the BGH pool and the recent premature announcement by NHS Borders of an alternative specialist pool at Jedburgh, elicited most interest.
Dr MacDonald said there were less than 1,400 hydrotherapy service users each year, of which at least 60 per cent could have water-based therapies delivered from a location nearer their homes.
She said the ongoing dialogue with pool authorities in Jedburgh over the possibility of a specialist hydrotherapy pool, was at “a very early stage of discussion.”
Mr Raine added that if the Jedburgh pool discussions failed to materialise into something definite, there would have to be further consultation.
Councillor Gavin Logan said that even if the Jedburgh arrangement went ahead, it would be two or three years before any new hydrotherapy pool was ready and it would not be in as central a location as the BGH.