Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin, Scotland, has paused all paediatric surgeries because of ongoing safety concerns relating to staff training levels.
NHS Grampian last week announced that it was pausing all planned paediatric surgical procedures at the hospital because of concerns over the quality and safety of paediatric surgical care.
“We want to apologise to those children – and their families – affected by this”
Hugh Farrow-Bishop
This latest move follows a decision in June this year to pause emergency paediatric surgery at the hospital, with defined exceptions.
The new announcement means that all paediatric surgery at the hospital has now been suspended, including planned dental, and ear nose and throat (ENT) procedures.
The decision to suspend all paediatric surgery at the Moray hospital was taken in light of concerns raised during a surprise inspection of the hospital from Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS).
The system regulator for Scotland’s healthcare providers, HIS, raised concerns around the number of staff available who had appropriate advanced paediatric life support training.
According to quality standards from the Resuscitation Council UK, which apply to all acute hospitals in the UK, at least one member of a team that might have to resuscitate children or newborns must have successfully completed an accredited national paediatric and/or newborn resuscitation course.
Some of these courses must be repeated every four years, such as the European Paediatric Advanced Life Support (EPALS) and the Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS) programmes.
NHS Grampian has confirmed that they have taken action to ensure that staff with the appropriate training are available on-site in the event of emergencies.
The health board is also carrying out a review of training records and ensuring that training is renewed ‘as a matter of urgency’.
NHS Grampian medical director Dr Hugh Farrow-Bishop said: “While this is underway – and with the safety of patients being our top priority – we have further paused planned paediatric surgical procedures at Dr Gray’s Hospital.
“The pause now comprises all planned (including elective dental and ear, nose and throat procedures) and emergency surgery, with defined exceptions,” Dr Farrow-Bishop said.
He added: “We want to apologise to those children – and their families – affected by this. We are committed to offering them new dates for their procedures as soon as possible.”
Dr Hugh Farrow-Bishop said that the future of paediatric surgery at Dr Gray’s Hospital should be decided by the end of the year.
He highlighted that other paediatric services provided at the hospital would continue as normal.
“Outpatient paediatric care is not affected by this, and families should continue to attend those appointments as usual,” Dr Farrow-Bishop said.
“In an emergency situation, parents or carers should continue to bring children to the emergency department.
“More generally, all other inpatient and outpatient care continues at Dr Gray’s Hospital as before,” he said.
In a statement issued on Friday, NHS Grampian chief executive Laura Skaife-Knight said: “I recognise the very real concerns and strength of feeling from our local community in Elgin.
“I spoke to the cabinet secretary [Angela Constance] and Laura Mitchell MSP yesterday to discuss this important matter,” she said, referring to the Scottish National Party member of Scottish parliament for Moray.
“Dr Gray’s Hospital is a vital part of NHS Grampian and our health system in the North East of Scotland,” she added.
“As a board, we are committed to restoring the current services as quickly as possible subject to assurance regarding current safety concerns being received and of course HIS confirming they are content also.”
A spokesperson for the HIS told Nursing Times that the inspection report for the hospital would be published later this year.
They confirmed that NHS Grampian had taken steps to address the relevant concerns, and that HIS continued to engage with them in the interests of patient safety.
Built in the early 19th century and named after Alexander Gray, Dr Gray’s Hospital is a Grade 1 listed building and a defining landmark of Elgin.
