Commenting on the announcement that the Edington Hospital in North Berwick is to temporarily close to inpatients and new admissions, Martin Whitfield MSP said:

“Staff at the Edington do brilliant work and I would certainly want to see it back fully open again as soon as possible.

“However, this situation is a local manifestation of wider NHS funding and staffing problems that have been stored up over many years. NHS Lothian has identified a cumulative shortfall in increases in its funding totalling £100m over the last five years.

“Despite frequent warnings from public audit bodies and professional organisations, Ministers have failed to adequately plan for the future needs of the NHS workforce. Along with the added pressures caused by the pandemic, we are now seeing the local impact of this neglect by the Scottish Government.

“NHS Lothian urgently needs additional resources to address the funding inequality it has suffered and support the recruitment of extra staff.”