A Moray hospital’s children’s ward will now be closed at weekends as the health service’s recruitment woes continue to affect services.
The maternity unit at Dr Gray’s in Elgin has already been downgraded, causing all medium and high-risk births to be transferred elsewhere, due to staff shortages.
And yesterday the on-call service for paediatrics was withdrawn from the hospital by NHS Grampian in response to the realisation rotas had become unworkable.
Just two dedicated consultants have been manning the service since two colleagues resigned a year ago – putting a burden assessed as “high risk” on those that remained.
Four unsuccessful recruitment efforts have been made by the NHS over the past two years. A fresh effort is underway.
Moray MSP Richard Lochhead said urgent efforts needed to be made to source housing to entice staff to the region.
He said: “Trainee and junior doctors have told me it’s really difficult to find somewhere to live in Moray, for say six months or so, and this can put folk off moving to the area for training.
“This must surely be something the authorities can sort out and quickly.”
Louise Laing, chairwoman of Moray Council’s communities committee, added: “I’m discussing the issues around key workers with council officials to see what can be done quickly to meet the needs of doctors and others.”
The stoppage of the on-call service means the children’s ward at the hospital will no longer be open seven days a week.
Instead, children can only be seen between 8am and 10pm from Monday to Friday.
Outside of those hours, youngsters will be seen by GPs and GMED – the out of hours GP service – or staff in the emergency department.
Clinical support from specialists in Aberdeen will be available during these times.
Overnight stays have been suspended for several months with children only admitted for procedures that can be completed within a day.
NHS Grampian said the changes had been made after much thought and should no affect the level of care available.
A spokesman said: “The alteration to the local emergency paediatrician on-call rota should not result in a noticeable change for patients attending at the hospital.
“This is an internal staffing change brought about by the fact that two paediatricians at Dr Gray’s have provided a 24 hour, 7 day a week rota over the last year.
“While we remain hugely grateful for their dedication, clearly that type of commitment is unsustainable for only two people and we have a duty to look after the safety of our staff and our patients.
“We would also like to reassure people that Dr Gray’s has a well established protocol to call upon all available staff to provide life saving intervention at the hospital.”
