Hospital staff fear jobs are in danger

a great wee hospital to work in.

“The staff think it’s not going to last much longer. We all think it’s closing but have been told nothing.

“What is going on? We ask and we ask. We don’t get told anything.

“There’s a lot of jobs and livelihoods at risk.

“We can’t believe in a year no one has picked up on this. There are massive issues.”

Eddie Fraser, director of East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, said: “Services within East Ayrshire Community Hospital ( EACH) continue to be a very important element of our model of care and are valued greatly by the local community who have been and will continue to be fully involved in our ongoing development and planning of the wide range of services, including inpatient care.

“In 2018 we invested in a new clinical nurse manager for EACH to bring focus to the modernisation work.

“The hospital team will be further complemented by a senior advanced nurse practitioner, which will enable many more people to benefit from these services locally instead of in a district general hospital.

“This will provide the opportunity to optimise our inpatient bed usage.

“Due to the conclusion of the EACH contract in 2025 we have a wonderful opportunity to shape with our communities the way we deliver care in the next five to ten years and beyond.

“A steering group is currently being established to identify our requirements, which will include inpatient services.

“As part of our transformation programme and our own health and social care partnership planning we will continue to work closely with our staff, colleagues, locality planning groups and the wider community to influence and participate in designing the services for the Cumnock area, of which EACH will be central.”