Staffing Shortage Forces Children's Ward At St John's to Close At Night
Health chiefs say the overnight closure of the children's ward at St John's Hospital is the best way to ensure patient safety after the unit was hit by a staffing shortage.
In recent months, the ward has been kept going around the clock with the help of staff working extra shifts and locum doctors being brought in.
Bosses have being running a nationwide recruitment campaign but key nursing jobs remain unfilled.
They say it's best to introduce a planned closure rather than having to do it at the last minute.
The new measures start on Friday and will last for at least six weeks.
The ward will be shut between 8pm and 8am.
If doctors decide a young patient needs to be kept in, they'll have to be taken to the sick kids hospital in Edinburgh.
Jim Crombie, Chief Officer of Acute Services, NHS Lothian, said: “We have not taken this decision lightly.
"The safety of children must be our top priority and all our services must be appropriately staffed. “If we don’t make changes now to the operating hours of the children’s ward, we run the risk of having to make an unplanned closure at a few hours notice.
“We must have a reliable and safe way of treating patients without that unacceptable risk of last-minute closure".
The ward was previously scaled back in 2012, for the same reason.
Leader of West Lothian Council John McGinty hit out at the latest closure.
He said, “It is unacceptable that West Lothian families are being forced to accept a cut in services at the Children’s Ward at St John’s.
“We understand that NHS Lothian will shortly start a consultation on the provision of paediatric services across Lothians and this is planned to start in August 2015.
"But remarkably, given the gravity of the situation at St John’s, we have been advised that the consultation is likely to take up to a year to complete and will not report back on its findings until after the Scottish Government elections in 2016."