• Why couldn’t the Trust use Nurses from Doncaster RI to keep the Paediatrics Ward staffed for overnight stays?
• The stated reason  for the Closure was lack of qualified staff, so why are there no jobs for Paediatric Nurses on the Trust website to help fill those places?

Here is Mr Singh’s response:

Dear Mr Duveen

There is a national shortage of trained paediatric nurses.  We have been tried to recruit but been unsuccessful.  The next tranche of nurses who will complete their paediatric training come off the training scheme in October and we intend to time our next recruitment drive with when they become available.  On the DRI site, we have just sufficient trained paediatric nurses for the children’s assessment unit and ward but struggle to provide support for other areas such as when children attend the emergency department.  If we were to move trained staff from Doncaster to Bassetlaw, we would then have safety concerns at Doncaster.

In addition to the above, we also have unfilled junior doctor posts at Bassetlaw, which further exacerbates the problem at Bassetlaw.

The service that has been put in place will mean more consultant delivered care up until 8 pm in the evening which should lead to a decrease in the need to admit overnight.  On a background where the number of children admitted overnight is small, one would expect that access will largely be maintained whilst care quality is likely to be improved.

I hope I have addressed your enquiry.  If you have further questions, I would be happy to meet to discuss these with you.

Sewa Singh MD FRCSEd

Vascular Surgeon & Medical Director

Doncaster & Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

I hope this is helpful to everyone