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Children’s emergency service is suspended at Stafford hospital on safety grounds

BMJ 2016; 354 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i4686 (Published 26 August 2016) Cite this as: BMJ 2016;354:i4686
  1. Adrian O’Dowd
  1. London

A high profile NHS hospital trust has decided to close its emergency service for people aged 18 and under because of staff shortages that have made it clinically unsafe to treat people there.

The decision to temporarily close the emergency service for children at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust County Hospital in Stafford was taken on 25 August, but the emergency department remains operational for adults.

The BMJ was told that the children’s emergency service was unlikely to reopen for children for at least two months while a review is carried out by the trust and the West Midlands Quality Review Service, a collaborative venture by NHS organisations in the region to improve the quality of health services.

The hospital, under its former name Stafford Hospital, was the subject …

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