Surgical services in Edinburgh for babies born with a cleft lip and palate will close and move to a single site in Glasgow, the Scottish Government has announced.

The existing facilities in the two cities will begin merging early next year and will become a single surgical team within six months.

The move is subject to several conditions being met, including that the team ensures a consistent Scotland-wide approach with no deterioration in service and that the number of outreach clinics across the country will not be cut.

Further conditions include Scotland becoming a more active participant in the Cleft UK Audit and for the National Services Division to monitor the merger.

Parents protested the move to close the Edinburgh facility and presented a 6,200-signature petition to Holyrood calling for a rethink of moving all cleft lip and palate surgery to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

About 100 babies are born in Scotland each year with the condition and surgery can help them talk and eat.

NHS board chief executives recommended the merger following a review of the current two facilities.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: "I have accepted this recommendation from the expert group who have advised that consolidating these procedures will deliver a more sustainable service and improve equity in outcomes for patients, which is our main aim when making any decision.

"We have been careful to ensure that there are a number of conditions in place to aid a smooth transition for both staff and patients.

"This decision relates to cleft surgery only. The wider teams involved in cleft care including speech and language therapy, orthodontists, ear, nose and throat surgeons and paediatric dentistry, as well as local outreach clinics, will continue to be delivered locally as they are now, across Scotland.

"We will have cleft surgeons working alongside one another and sharing best practice and knowledge, with an even distribution of surgical procedures, which means patients will get the treatment they need when they need it.

"In any scenario like this it's important to spend time listening to patients, families, stakeholders and experts, which is what I have done, so we can come to a fully-informed decision that is in the best interests of cleft patients."

Lothian MSP and Scottish Conservative mental health spokesman Miles Briggs criticised the move.

He said: "This is one of the worst decisions regarding our health service this SNP Government has taken, and a bitter blow to thousands of patients and their families up and down eastern Scotland.

"Ministers have completely failed to listen to the views of clinicians, patients and campaigners and have made the wrong decision.

"The Edinburgh surgical unit is led by an internationally renowned surgeon and the audited outcomes it achieves for babies and children are among the best, if not the best, in the whole of the UK. The Health Secretary's decision now risks the loss of all of this.

"Instead of closing the Edinburgh service, the Health Secretary should have listened and delivered a single service, two-site model with surgery being offered in both Edinburgh and Glasgow.

"This model works extremely well in other parts of the UK and there is no reason it would not be sustainable here in Scotland."

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton said: "The decision by the Cabinet Secretary for Health to centralise cleft surgery services to Glasgow will come as a bitter blow to campaigners who have tirelessly worked to make the case for a continuing service in Edinburgh.

"Dr (Felicity) Mehendale has led a world-class unit providing care and surgery to children affected by cleft palette issues and I know will share the disappointment of campaigners in this outcome.

"Just because something looks to make sense financially doesn't mean that it outweighs the very real impact on patients on the east coast who will now be deprived of a local and world-leading centre of excellence in this field."

A spokesman for the Cleft Lip and Palate Association (CLAPA) said: "CLAPA is pleased to hear that a decision has finally been made with regard to the delivery of cleft surgery in Scotland.

"This has followed a considerable period of uncertainty which has weighed heavily on many parents and patients who use the service.

"Whilst we welcome the news that all other aspects of cleft care will continue to be delivered locally, with a pledge to strengthen the current local outpatients and outreach services, we are aware that the decision to centralise some surgical services will elicit a mixed response.

"Many people have valid concerns about what these changes might mean for them and their families, and it is important that these are addressed directly.

"We urge NHS Scotland to work with CLAPA and the cleft community to ensure that everyone impacted by this change is well supported, both during the transition period and beyond, and that their voices are taken into account now just as they were throughout the lengthy consultation process."