Surge of Covid-19 positive cases force East Lothian Hospital to close wards

East Lothian Community Hospital has been forced to close two wards due to a significant number of Covid-19 positive cases at the Haddington centre.

Let us know what you think and join the conversation at the bottom of this article.

East Lothian Health and Social Care partnership (ELHSCP) has confirmed that two wards at the community hospital have closed due to the rising number of Covid-19 positive cases.

Director of the partnership Alison Macdonald said the closure of wards is standard procedure to prevent further spreading of the virus.

East Lothian Community Hospital has been forced to close two wards due to a significant number of Covid-19 positive cases.

Ms Macdonald went on to say that she expects both wards to reopen as soon as it is safe to do so.

She said: “There are currently two wards closed to new admissions and visitors in East Lothian Community Hospital due to a small number of Covid-19 cases.

“However this is a normal procedure to prevent further infection and both wards will reopen as soon as it is safe to do so.”

The closure follows the shock relocation of all staff and services at Edington Hospital to the East Lothian Community Hospital.

GPs, nurses, clinical care staff, patients and their families at Edington Hospital were all given less than two weeks’ notice of the move, which is being cited by ELHSCP as a temporary response to staffing shortages combined with unprecedented levels of demand. A review of the situation is planned for December.

Since the closure more than 8,000 people have signed a petition to reopen the hospital and five MSPs - Jackie Baillie, Sue Webber, Paul McLennan, Craig Hoy and Martin Whitfield - have publicly supported reopening the hospital immediately.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.