CONCERN has been raised for the Edington Cottage Hospital's reopening after a review last week saw the North Berwick facility remain closed.
Staff at the hospital were moved to East Lothian Community Hospital (ELCH) in Haddington last September, resulting in the Edington’s temporary closure.
Health chiefs said the move was to consolidate staffing as it predicted a difficult winter due to Covid-19; they said the decision would be reviewed every three months.
In a list of criteria released by NHS Lothian in December, and repeated at last month’s review, the organisation prioritised bed capacity, “staffing resource and nursing leadership” as key criteria for returning services to the Edington in the future.
But last week's review report scored the hospital in the lowest possible category for reopening viability.
The next review is set to take place at the end of March.
When the closure of the Edington was announced last September, it was for an initial 12 weeks; however, the hospital will have been been closed for over six months by the time of the next review.
Judy Lockhart-Hunter, chairperson of North Berwick Community Council, said: "It is coming up for six months since the closure of the Edington and we are still on the lowest possible score that we can be against the reopening criteria.
"North Berwick Community Council didn't expect the hospital to be reopened tomorrow but we certainly did not expect this.
"The hospital was initially closed for 12 weeks subject to review. "
"To be six months down the line and still be on the lowest score suggests that the 12-week figure was dishonest."
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