Hospital pauses all planned paediatric surgery after care concerns

NHS Grampian has suspended all planned paediatric surgery at Dr Gray's Hospital in Elgin after concerns were raised about the quality and safety of care for children.

The health board said emergency paediatric surgery had already been paused in June, with some exceptions, after concerns were identified about surgical services.

It has now extended the suspension to include all planned procedures, including elective dental and ear, nose and throat (ENT) operations.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) carried out an unannounced inspection at the hospital in April and later raised concerns about paediatric care.

Dr Hugh Farrow-Bishop, NHS Grampian medical director, said the regulator had sought assurances about the number of available staff at the hospital with advanced paediatric life support training.

He said the health board had reviewed staffing rotas and existing procedures and introduced changes to ensure appropriately trained staff were available on site in the event of emergencies.

Training records have also been checked, with refresher training being arranged where required.

Dr Farrow-Bishop said: "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.

"After the review and renewal of required training, we will determine the profile of paediatric surgery that can safely be delivered on the Dr Gray's site, alongside our colleagues at HIS."

The medical director said he expected that process to be finished by the end of the year.

Outpatient paediatric care is continuing as normal and families have been advised to attend scheduled appointments.

All other inpatient and outpatient services at Dr Gray's Hospital remain unaffected.

The group Keep Mum has been campaigning for improved local health services.

Keep Mum member Kirsty Watson told BBC Scotland News said she was "really disappointed" by the suspended surgeries.

"I think that there needs to be an overhaul in the way that Moray is treated, and Dr Gray's is treated, from NHS Grampian, because it just appears that it's one stumbling block after another," she said.

She described the situation as "extremely frustrating".

Moray MSP Laura Mitchell said she was "deeply concerned" by the issues identified.

She said: "The safety of children in Moray and across Grampian is paramount, so I understand NHS Grampian must take urgent action to ensure our service in Elgin is safe and delivering a high quality of care for patients."

A spokesperson for Healthcare Improvement Scotland said: "Concerns were identified about paediatric surgery at Dr Gray's Hospital.

"NHS Grampian has taken steps to address the concerns, and we continue to engage with them in the interests of patient safety."