Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 16 December 2021
Local health services are a vital part of local communities. That is why it is an honour to open this debate. The Edington hospital is at the heart of North Berwick, one of the communities that I am proud to represent. However, the cottage hospital’s in-patient beds and its minor injuries clinic are currently closed.
From the outset, I stress that I understand the pressures that our national health service is under. In fairness, however, we need to understand that those pressures are not new and that not all of them are Covid related. Healthcare staff across NHS Lothian and the East Lothian health and social care partnership are dedicated, but they are overstretched. They want to do the right thing by patients, and I thank them for everything that they do.
Across Scotland, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to local healthcare provision. The Edington hospital is a well-used and well-loved service at the heart of our community. For more than 100 years it has served the people of North Berwick and East Lothian. The hospital, which was constructed thanks to a bequest by Miss Elizabeth Edington, is operated by NHS Lothian and is supported by the Friends of the Edington Hospital. Prior to Covid and the hospital’s closure, it had nine beds and provided medical care for a range of chronic conditions, mobility problems, respite and end-of-life care. The hospital was staffed by 10 nursing staff, eight clinical support staff and four domestic staff.
Fundamentally, the voice of patients must be heard, even during a pandemic. On 1 September this year, with no local consultation, NHS Lothian announced the closure of the Edington, due to staffing constraints at other facilities. Only last week, it was announced that those services will stay closed for at least another month, with every possibility of its closure being extended further.
Six in-patient beds, and the staff who supported them, have been temporarily relocated from the Edington to the East Lothian community hospital in Haddington. NHS Lothian says that that has provided additional nursing capacity and allowed it to keep 14 beds open at the community hospital in Haddington, but that does not tell the whole story. Writing in The Scotsman, a local community practice general practitioner, Claire Doldon, said that the Edington
“was a mainstay of local patient care”.
She added that it
“allowed us to manage patients close to home, without ... admission to an already stretched hospital sector.”
After the hospital closed, I took the decision to undertake a community survey to gauge the views of local residents. I secured the views of 1,929 people, 77 per cent of whom said that they had personal experience with the hospital. Of those who were surveyed, 97 per cent were opposed to the closure. The community voice is clear: they want the hospital services reopened. I hope that the cabinet secretary will, today, add the Government’s voice to that call.
The value of the Edington hospital cannot be measured, by national health service managers or by ministers, on spreadsheets.