KIDS’ WARD IS BACK 24/7
Full service will resume after three-year gap
The children’s ward at St John’s Hospital will be open round-the-clock from the autumn.
NHS Lothian will reinstate the service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from October, to enhance the care already provided to children in West Lothian. Staff shortages forced NHS Lothian bosses to suspend full-time care for youngsters in July 2017.
The details were agreed by NHS Lothian board members at their meeting last Wednesday (August 12). It means that inpatient paediatrics will be extended from functioning four nights a week to seven days and nights by October 19.
Dr Tracey Gillies, medical director, NHS Lothian, said the children’s ward was now in a position to fully re- open after a number of new staff were recruited to the team.
She said: “We are really pleased that we are able to fully reinstate children’s inpatient services 24/ 7 in St John’s Hospital. It is testament to the teams who have pulled together to make this happen.
“We have always said that we
could only restore the full service when it was safe and sustainable to do so and that has been our priority throughout.
“Parents and children will not have to do anything differently and many may not even notice a difference.
“However, it does mean that patients who require to remain in hospital over a weekend will be able to do so at St John’s instead of routinely being transferred to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.”
The news has been welcomed by politicians from across the spectrum.
Leader of West Lothian Council, Lawrence Fitzpatrick, said it had been “a long time coming”.
He continued: “The council has pressed for a full reopening of the children’s ward at St John’s Hospital for a very long time, as have many local people, and this will be warmly welcomed by the residents of West Lothian.”
Angela Constance, SNP MSP for Almond Valley, said: “It will be a great relief to many parents that the ward will resume full service before winter sets in.
“This is particularly important for children with long-term conditions.
“The children’s ward provides an invaluable service to a growing population and is much loved.
“I want to pay tribute to the dedicated ward staff and thank the Cabinet Secretary for Health and NHS Lothian for listening and working with parents and staff to enable the ward to fully re-open.
“This outcome is testimony to the tenacity of local parents who have tirelessly built a positive case for West Lothian to retain a 24/7 children’s service.”
Conservative Lothian list MSP Miles Briggs said: “This is excellent news for families in West Lothian who have campaigned long and hard to see 24/7 services returned.
“SNP Ministers have presided over the removal of services previously and must ensure that we never see children’s services shut again.”
And Labour Lothian list MSP Neil Findlay said: “This is very welcome news and a victory for campaigners who refused to accept that this ward would be downgraded.
“After six years of campaigning by many, many people across West Lothian, the service has been returned on a 24/7 basis – this is all we asked for all along.
“Campaigning by the community combined with parliamentary pressure has paid off and many families across West Lothian will be very relieved today.
“I want to thank all of those who supported the campaign.”
Two permanent consultants and one locum have been added to the team at St John’s following successful rounds of recruitment in June.
A small number of ward nurse vacancies are in the process of being filled, meaning that staffing in the unit will be further strengthened.
The availability of advanced paediatric nurse practitioners has also increased, giving added resilience to the staffing rota.
If children are very sick or require specialist intervention, they will continue to be admitted to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, in line with the normal protocols.