NHS Lothian has announced it has moved a step closer to reinstating the paediatric inpatient service in St John’s Hospital following the recruitment of three new members of staff.
Three new trainee Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANPs) have been appointed to paediatric services in Lothian and more posts will be advertised.
A multi-disciplinary team of consultants, nurses and a greater number of ANPs is being created, to provide a safe and sustainable staffing model.
Jim Crombie, Deputy Chief Executive, NHS Lothian, said: “We are delighted to announce that we have appointed three new members of staff to our team. These new posts show our commitment to restoring the service as quickly as possible and are a really exciting breakthrough.
“Our previous recruitment campaigns did not provide the numbers of medical staff necessary for the continuous out of hours cover that we need, so we have had to create smarter ways of delivering safe, effective and sustainable paediatric inpatient services for children in Lothian.
“The new recruits will take up full duties as soon as their rigorous training is complete.
“It is important to remember that in this last year, significant numbers of children have continued to be seen, assessed, had diagnostic tests and been treated then discharged home from our services which have been sustained at St John’s Hospital.”
Around 11,000 children have been seen in the emergency department in St John’s Hospital in the last year, in line with figures from previous years.
A total of 670 children have been transferred from St John’s Hospital and admitted into the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh since inpatients services were suspended in July 2017.
A further 2,800 children have been treated in the children’s ward in its capacity as a short stay assessment centre, while another 2,000 patients have undergone planned investigations.
The new ANPs will join two trainees who were recruited in September 2016.
It is anticipated that the three new trainees, who were appointed in August 2018, will be able to participate in the out of hours rota in late 2019 to early 2020, depending on progression through their training.
This latest update comes after the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) published a second review into the service and warned there was no “quick fix” to the fragile out of hours rota.
The expert body also endorsed NHS Lothian’s decision to temporarily suspend inpatient services in order to maintain safe facilities for children and it said the service should only resume once a safe and sustainable staffing model was in place.
The current arrangements for inpatient children’s services do not require parents to do anything differently. Most of the children who currently attend the unit will continue to be cared for as normal. They will either be referred by their GP for an urgent medical opinion or attend with a pre-arranged appointment for treatment, assessment, tests or minor day surgery.
Children will still be assessed and treated in the Emergency Department at St John’s Hospital at night and weekends as well as during the day. A paediatric consultant is available on-call 24/7. If a child needs to be admitted to hospital a transfer to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, will be arranged. Maternity and neonatal services at the hospital are unaffected.
Mr Crombie said: “We can and do assist with transport for any family who is travelling between West Lothian and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, including scheduled travel and taxis when needed. Staff are aware that they should discuss the return travel plans for families and offer help and advice, if required, and we have reminded them of the need to do so.
“We are aware of a family who experienced difficulty relating to transport and would like to reiterate our apology to them and we anticipate that the steps we have taken to remind staff of the importance of discussing travel plans ensure a similar situation does not recur.”
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