Covid Scotland: Staffing crisis means Linlithgow hospital will stay shut until next April

St Michael’s hospital in Linlithgow will remain closed until April as staff shortages show no sign of easing going into winter months.

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

Head of health Fiona Wilson told a meeting of the Integrated Joint Board (IJB) that staffing pressures were being monitored.

The IJB agreed in September to support an extension of the temporary closure of St Michael’s Hospital to the end of November acknowledging that, in view of the continued staffing pressure within the whole system, a definitive decision on the future reopening of the hospital was unlikely before 2022.

Staffing shortages meant patients from St Michael's were moved to another hospital.

Staff shortage forces NHS Lothian chiefs to shut hospital

IJB members agreed that St Micahels should remain closed until 31 March with the service continuing to operate from Tippethill Hospital near Armadale.

The West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership (WLHSCP) has continued to manage the demand for three community pathways; Hospital-based Complex Care, Palliative step-up and community rehabilitation within Baillie ward at Tippethill since August.

The demand for community beds has shown a reducing need with an audit of use in June showing occupancy by 85 people, compared with the position in September where only 70 beds were being used, a reduction of 18%.

Despite the reduction in use of community beds, there remains a relentless pressure on the whole system to manage urgent unscheduled care, reduce unnecessary hospital attendance and support people to go or stay at home.

READ MORE: Covid Scotland: West Lothian hospital will stay shut because of staff shortages

Delayed discharges have been rising over the past four months but this is as a result of lack of care at home supply and available care home beds rather than being related to reduced community hospital provision at St Michaels.

In a report to the board Jeanette Whiting, Strategic Programme Manager said: “Work is ongoing to improve care at home supply within West Lothian and a separate paper has been submitted to the IJB outlining the current position. It should be noted that inability to provide adequate levels of care at home in order to meet assessed needs both on discharge from hospital and in the community, poses a significant risk to flow through the health and social care system.”

The evolving policy is for people to remain at home for treatment where possible and the HSCP is working with NHS Lothian on a Home First strategy.

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.