Children's ward at St John's Hospital "should stay open"
That's according to a review.
A children's ward which has been closed as a result of staff shortages should be kept open, an expert review has concluded.
There has been a question mark over the future of the paediatric ward at St John's Hospital in Livingston after two temporary closures to new inpatients resulted in NHS Lothian bosses commissioning an independent examination of services.
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) study has now recommended the children's ward at the West Lothian hospital is retained.
It stated: The review team's overarching view is that the population, activity and demand for a full obstetric service in West Lothian merits the retention of inpatient paediatrics at St John's.''
The RCPCH has also recommended additional paediatric consultants should be recruited for the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (RHSC) in Edinburgh.
A report, to be discussed by the NHS Lothian board on June 22, states significant investment'' will be needed to do this and to implement the RCPCH's proposals for staffing at St John's.
Jim Crombie, chief officer of acute services for NHS Lothian, said: The college has made a number of recommendations following an extensive review of the service and, following agreement from the board, we will discuss these with our staff to establish how they are best implemented.
We are grateful to the college for their expertise and their in-depth knowledge, which allows us to see how other systems across the UK operate.''
NHS Lothian board papers highlighted the long-standing challenges in sustaining the paediatric medical workforce at St John's Hospital'', which resulted in the children's ward temporarily closing to inpatients in July 2012 and July to August 2015.
In addition, the steady rise year-on-year in the number of admissions to the acute medical receiving unit at RHSC has been putting increasing pressure on the medical workforce there which has needed to be addressed''.
It is recommended St John's move to a system which would see consultants resident in the hospital at night, with each consultant required to do occasional overnight shifts, backed up by on-call consultant staff at home.
This model has already been put in place at other hospitals across the UK to support paediatric inpatient services and it would take an estimated two years to implement in full.
In the interim, the RCPCH has suggested St John's operates a 24-hour low acuity'' unit which does not admit children between 8pm and 8am when consultants are not present.
The report of the health board recommended NHS Lothian should accept the advice of the RCPCH as a UK expert body in this field'' and should thereforevigorously pursue'' a move to the resident consultant model of care.
In total, the report made 31 recommendations for inpatient children's services in NHS Lothian.
Mr Crombie added: As we fully expected, the review team reflected the concerns and aspirations shared by staff and have been able to identify areas where we can make improvements to ensure we continue to deliver high quality person-centred care.
We have a number of recommendations, in relation to recruitment, changing working patterns and fostering closer relations between departments, and we now need to discuss these with our staff, who are pivotal in moving forward.''