Latest news with #hospitalclosure
CTV News
24-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Lillooet emergency room closed for the weekend, its 31st closure of the year
From May 20: The hospital in the community of Lillooet, B.C., has been closed 30 times so far this year leaving residents frightened and frustrated.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Patients not 'turfed out' in ward closures at Haslemere Hospital
A Surrey hospital has said it is not "turfing anyone out" after the announcement that two wards will close on the NHS trust has said it is looking at providing for the "future needs of the local population", reports the Local Democracy Reporting Community Hospital is temporarily closing two inpatient wards after a nearby GP surgery announced it could no longer provide doctors to staff them. The two wards for rehabilitation, made up of 16 beds and largely used by frail adults with complex needs, are being "paused" until replacement medical cover is found. Dr Bill Jewsbury, medical director at the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, said they had been "urgently working to explore alternative options", but had not been able to "identify robust medical cover in the timescale".Dr Jewsbury said the trust was still working to find an alternative provider, speaking to all doctor surgeries in Waverley and Guildford borough. Hospital staff have reduced the number of people on the ward to ensure no patient is put on the ward and then has to be moved."We're not turfing anyone out," a spokesperson from the trust said. "We're not admitting new patients so we can really focus on looking after the people that are in those beds now well, and getting them home." Instead of the inpatient ward, residents could now stay at the Royal Surrey Hospital, go to one of the extra beds at the Milford community hospital or return home and receive treatment over the overall running of Haslemere Community Hospital, what it would look like in the future and what the needs of the population are have been ongoing."We should get a really much more exciting community hospital," Dr Jewsbury said, "less around beds and much more around services".These could include outpatient support, maternity and potentially dental minor injuries unit could become an urgent treatment centre to provide a broader range of treatment.
CTV News
22-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
B.C. Interior hospital shuttering pediatric ward for 6 weeks due to ‘limited physician availability'
Kelowna General Hospital is seen in this file photo. (CTV) A major hospital in B.C.'s Interior is shutting down its general pediatrics unit for 'at least six weeks' starting on Monday. The 10-bed inpatient unit at Kelowna General Hospital will close May 26 'due to limited physician availability,' said Dr. Hussam Azzam, Interior Health's executive medical director of community and maternity, in a statement Wednesday night. The change is intended to be temporary and to 'help address gaps in scheduling,' Azzam said. 'For patient safety, IH will be proceeding with a service disruption to the 10-bed inpatient general pediatrics unit starting May 26 and continuing for at least six weeks,' the statement reads. 'We are reallocating current pediatricians to support the neonatal intensive care unit and high-risk deliveries.' All critical care services for children will remain open during the closure, according to Azzam. That includes the emergency department and the neonatal intensive care unit. The service interruption only affects children who would – under normal circumstances – be admitted to the general pediatric unit. 'Individuals requiring care for a child should still visit Kelowna General Hospital, where they will be assessed by an emergency room physician,' Azzam said. 'We appreciate this temporary change is concerning and want to assure parents and patients that this difficult decision was made to support appropriate and safe care for all pediatric patients.' Azzam said Interior Health is working with local physicians and community partners to recruit additional pediatricians to Kelowna, with recruiting efforts happening through both 'national and international channels.' 'We have incentives in place for locum (visiting specialists) and for permanent positions at KGH and are looking at additional changes to current compensation models to make positions in Kelowna more attractive to interested pediatricians,' Azzam's statement reads. 'There is one new pediatrician starting this summer.'
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Protest at six month closure of Yeovil District's maternity unit
More than 200 people gathered outside a hospital to protest against the temporary closure of its birthing and special baby care closure of two units at Yeovil District Hospital, in Somerset, comes after it was served a warning notice by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for failing to meet staffing regulations in its paediatric the protesters were parents who have either had children at the unit or are expecting Atkins, whose daughter was born at the hospital four days ago, said "our outcome could have been very different" had she been to her next closest hospital 50 minutes away in Bath. Peter Lewis, chief executive for Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, said: "The Care Quality Commission raised concerns that we have been trying to resolve, but some of those we haven't been able to resolve."In the last week we have had sickness amongst our senior doctors in our paediatric service which has made it very fragile."He said the trust cannot run the maternity service without the special care baby Yeovil maternity staff will remain there to carry out antenatal appointments and screenings while others may relocate to Taunton's Musgrove Park, Bath or Dorchester hospitals during the closure the protesters with her husband Josh, Mrs Atkins said their daughter Dotty was "born within five minutes" of arriving at the hospital."We planned to have a home birth but unfortunately things started to go wrong, so we were blue-lighted to here in Yeovil." Megan and Kyle Williams told the BBC their baby arrived seven-and-a-half weeks early last year, and needed an emergency Williams said for them, the closest service is an hour away."What about in peak traffic? What if it all goes wrong and you have an hour, possibly more, stuck in traffic?" he said. Adam Dance, Yeovil MP, said: "It's absolutely amazing to have this many people turn up and hearing the stories. "I got into politics to fight for people and make our community better. This is not making our community better. "The leadership need to really wake up. The time is a huge important factor. "Trying to send people to Musgrove is going to be an absolute disaster. We need to get this unit open as soon as we can."Mr Lewis added: "There are clearly challenges with getting the right people in place and the right capacity in place so it's difficult to absolutely guarantee six months to the day, but that's what we're working on."
BBC News
16-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Yeovil maternity unit closure a 'shock' to pregnant woman
A pregnant woman says she is "gobsmacked" that the maternity unit where she was due to give birth is being closed for safety District Hospital is temporarily shutting its birthing units on Monday 19 May after failing to meet staffing regulations in its paediatrics who is 29 weeks into a high-risk pregnancy, said: "I am extremely nervous about giving birth as a first-time mum, so moving hospital is not ideal."I'm classed as high-risk due to the IVF and due to my previous complications, so I have to have a consultant. I can't do a home birth and really don't want to move to a hospital more than an hour away." The closure at Yeovil comes after it was served a warning notice by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), external for failing to meet staffing regulations in its paediatrics from Wincanton, added: "We live 10 miles from Yeovil – now our options are Taunton, Bath, Dorchester or Salisbury which are all over 30-35 miles away so we're looking at least an hour's journey to deliver the baby when I'm in labour."I cannot fault Yeovil for anything they've done. They've put my mind at rest and I'm gobsmacked at this news." 'Shortage of doctors' Dr Melanie Iles, chief medical officer at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, said it was "really hard to say whether it will only be six months, or not" as the hospital is struggling with a shortage of senior said: "I can't promise it will only be six months - we're working extremely hard to try and achieve that."The Care Quality Commission inspected paediatric services in January 2025 and issued a Section 29A warning notice because it assessed that the paediatric care at Yeovil District Hospital requires significant news of the birthing services closure comes a year after a critical report into maternity services at both hospitals in that were due to take place at Yeovil will now either be moved to Taunton's Musgrove Park, Bath's Royal United Hospital or Dorchester with the midwifery team contacting patients in the coming days. More than 1,200 babies were born at Yeovil District Hospital last year, with 3,000 births at Musgrove Park Hospital in maternity services, like antenatal appointments, are expected to continue at Yeovil during the six-month closure said she is in the process of transferring all care over to another hospital if she can and leave Yeovil said: "The last thing I want to do is have all my antenatal clinic appointments and consultant appointments at Yeovil and then have my baby at a different hospital with a different consultant." Hannah Francis gave birth at Yeovil District Hospital in October said her son was delivered via c-section and it was "so overcrowded" that there "were five new born babies in a tiny room"."It kind of felt like stepping back in time with the building," she said."The midwives were doing the best they could in the situation they are in but there was so little communication," she Francis said while she was "not medically ready to leave the hospital" she just "had to get out".The CQC report from 2024 acknowledged staff at the trust were "keen to improve the services and some of the problems were out of local leaders' control".
