No plans to close Ayr hospital despite rumours of shut down
NHS Ayrshire and Arran have been asked to be more clear about the future of the facility
NHS Ayrshire and Arran are being urged to provide more clarity on the future of University Hospital Ayr amid rumours of its closure.
Despite there being no plans to shut down the facility, MSP Brian Whittle is warning the continued uncertainty is making it difficult to hire and maintain staff.
The health board recently moved Ayr’s level 3 ICU bed provision to Crosshouse to avoid spreading specialist staff too thinly across the two hospitals, however Ayr still has a Level 2 High Dependency Unit.
The South of Scotland MSP has expressed frustration with the situation, saying: “Rumours about Ayr Hospital’s future are nothing new, but in recent months there seems to be an endless supply and I’m worried they’re becoming corrosive.”
"Self-fulfilling prophecy"
He added: “It’s almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
“The reports I’m hearing is that because of these rumours, because of consistent reports, staff are leaving, and it’s difficult to recruit.
So, you’re not getting enough staff to staff both hospitals, so we’ve got to be really careful here how we deal with this.”
Mr Whittle is adamant both Ayr and Crosshouse must have a future, and Ayr should retain its Accident and Emergency department.
However, he’s warning there needs to be better communication between health board and the public.
"No long term plans to downgrade or close University Hospital Ayr"
He said: “Ultimately, we all want to see a better future for our health service and the best way to achieve that is by the health board and communities working together.
I want to see how we can improve communication between NHS Ayrshire & Arran, community councils and other groups and get us all focussed on solving problems, not waste time and energy feeding the rumour mill.”
NHS Ayrshire and Arran chief executive, Claire Burden clarified there are “no long term plans to downgrade or close University Hospital Ayr”.
She added: “We do recognise that some of our teams and services have workforce gaps, and we have escalated recruitment to address this issue.
“Where we have gaps in our clinical teams, we are planning and looking to test interim solutions, which are anchored in patient safety and aimed at ensuring ongoing accessibility to services.”
She stressed: “Community support means a lot to our staff, and we are eager to put to rest the rumours that University Ayr Hospital is planned for closure.
“This is definitely not true.”