Paediatric heart surgery paused due to staff shortage at Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Children

Paediatric cardiac surgery at Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Children has been temporarily suspended due to staffing shortages.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) said the pause was the result of a “short-term staffing gap” caused by sickness absence and vacancies in a specialist service.

During this period, a small number of young patients will have their heart surgery carried out at other “carefully chosen sites” in the UK.

NHSGGC stressed that the pause is temporary and that the paediatric cardiac surgery programme is expected to be fully reinstated within the coming weeks.

The health board said all transport, accommodation and living costs for affected children and their families would be covered while they are away from home.

“Due to a short-term staffing gap caused by sickness absence and vacancies in a specialist service, we have paused paediatric cardiac surgery at the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow”, a spokesperson said.

“We envisage this to last no more than a few weeks.

“A small number of patients will have their surgery undertaken in another UK Centre. We have well-established pathways with carefully chosen UK expert sites for doing this.

“All transport, accommodation and living costs for the child and their family will be covered while they are away from home.

“The temporary arrangement has been made in close conjunction and agreement with the National Services Division, who commission the service.”

Following surgery, patients will either be discharged directly home with follow-up care arranged by their cardiologist or may return to the Royal Hospital for Children for further treatment before discharge.

A dedicated cardiac nurse specialist will act as a point of contact for families, helping to coordinate care between teams and provide support while patients are treated away from Glasgow.

The Royal Hospital for Children is part of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and is a 256-bed facility that cares for children and young people up to the age of 16.