Expert report says children’s ward should remain open out of hours

An expert report has found that a children’s ward that shut its doors in the summer should remain open out of hours.

The children’s ward at St John’s Hospital in Livingston has been closed to admissions since July due to a shortage of staff.

The latest staffing crisis forced it to close to inpatients for the third time in six years.

This has led to children and their families having to travel to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.

Now, a new report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has again concluded that the ward should stay open to out of hours admissions.

Labour MSP for the Lothian, Neil Findlay, said: “This report underlines what local people have been saying for months – the children’s ward at St John’s should stay open 24/7.

“The workforce crisis in our health service has meant the ward has now been closed to out of hours admissions since July. That is simply a disgrace with parents facing a 20-mile trip to Edinburgh with a sick child.

“The SNP government and Nicola Sturgeon as the previous health minister have overseen these problems and have done little or nothing about it.

“These problems have existed for a long time – we now need a clear plan of action from the SNP government.”