STAFF STUNNED AS KIDS WARD IS AXED
Health worker accuses bosses of lying over rota shortage
A CHILDREN’S hospital ward is to close – just a year after an independent review recommended it stayed open.
The ward at St John’s Hospital in Livingston will stop admitting patients from July 7. And the closure has sparked fury from locals, who say sick kids will now have to travel over 20 miles to Edinburgh.
NHS Lothian bosses are blaming staffing issues for the axing of the ward, which admits more than 1000 children a year.
But one senior member of staff said: “The staff rota is covered for the whole of the summer months.
“This will force families to travel into Edinburgh with a sick child. The staff were happy to provide cover and it’s just lies to say the issue is staffing problems.”
Labour MSP for the Lothians Neil Findlay, who has been heavily involved in the campaign to keep the ward open, branded the decision “astonishing”.
Scottish Tory health spokesman Donald Cameron said: “This is another downgrade at a hospital the SNP Government used to say they were committed to.
“Campaigners and locals will be furious.”
Scottish Greens health spokeswoman Alison Johnstone called on Health Secretary Shona Robison to make the reopening of the unit a priority.
NHS Lothian chief officer of acute services Jacquie Campbell said the closure was the safest option, adding: “If we don’t make changes now, we run the risk of an unplanned closure at a few hours’ notice.
“We are committed to reinstating the full service as soon as possible after the summer.”