Mothers demand kids’ ward action
And MSP joins fight
Three mums have joined forces with Almond Valley MSP Angela Constance to relaunch their campaign for the restoration of a 24/7 service in the children’s ward at St John’s hospital.
Coady Dorman’s son Matthew was born at the hospital prematurely and she has had to use the 24-hour ward intermittently ever since.
She also volunteers at the hospital, supporting parents with premature babies, and will spearhead this new offensive alongside two other mums, who wish to remain anonymous.
The campaign began last year but the four women are resuming their fight.
They are due to meet health secretary Jeane Freeman next week after it was revealed in the Courier that the ward will not reopen its 24/7 service as originally planned.
The out-of-hours paediatric ward at St John’s shut due to staffing pressures in July 2017 but reopened for four nights a week in March of this year. It was supposed to be fully operational again by October.
Coady said: “I already met Jeane Freeman last year but we are going along again to try and get a new timeline.
“We have the statistics to back up that this would be a used service so it is very frustrating.
“In my voluntary role almost all of the parents have been very supportive. Our wee ones are vulnerable to respiratory issues and things like croup and pneumonia so we really do need a 24- hour service.”
NHS Lothian said last month that the delay to reopening the service was caused by an unexpected drop in staffing levels.
Coady said: “All of the nurses are amazing at the hospital but they are massively overworked. It just seems like St John’s doesn’t get equal treatment.
“After the 24- hour ward is restored Angela Constance and I want to push on and get extra services brought to the hospital too.
“It sometimes feels like St John’s gets bypassed for the bigger hospitals.”
Angela Constance said: “Campaigning for our children’s ward to return to a full 24/7 service is both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do.
“Our growing community needs and deserves a 24/ 7 children’s service and this has been backed up twice by the Royal College of Paediatricians.
“In advocating for a 24/7 service it’s imperative that we remain positive and focus on the merits of our case because the return of a 24/ 7 children’s ward will help provide better services for children across the Lothians by alleviating pressures in Edinburgh.
“In addition to fully reopening the children’s ward I’ve long argued that there should be more services provided locally.
“An important step forward was taken with the return of inpatient services Monday to Thursday but we need to complete the journey.”
It just seems like St John’s doesn’t get equal treatment