Ward closure at Scarborough’s Cross Lane Hospital due to “staffing pressures”

The 13-bed ward provides inpatient facilities for female patients from across Scarborough and the surrounding area.

The next nearest in-patient facilities are located at York’s Foss Park Hospital or Middlesbrough’s Roseberry Park Hospital, meaning Whitby, Scarborough and Ryedale patients may need to be treated a considerable distance from their homes.

Naomi Lonergan, director of operations for Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust in North Yorkshire, said: “We have taken the difficult decision to not accept any further admissions and temporarily close Esk ward at Cross Lane Hospital in Scarborough.

“This is an interim arrangement and is not a decision we have taken lightly.

“Despite demand and staffing pressures remaining high across the system, our priority is to ensure we can continue to provide safe, high quality care to our patients.

“We are working extremely hard to reopen the ward as soon as possible and we are also strengthening our community services to reduce the need for inpatient admissions in the future.

“We understand this may be worrying for our current patients and we have reassured them that we will continue to care for them until it’s the right time for them to leave the ward, where they will be discharged back into their homes or transferred to another hospital as close to home as possible.”