STAFF shortages forced neonatal units in Scotland to close to new admissions an average of eight(?) times in a year, with one unit forced to shut more than 40(?) times, a report today reveals.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said the health service in Scotland requires between 84 and 110 new paediatric consultants to keep pace with demand as its census of neonatal units showed that 40 per cent had to shut their doors temporarily in the year to October 2015 because there were not enough doctors, nurses or both to staff the facility safely. One unit, which has not been identified, closed XX times. The average number of closures per unit per year in Scotland - eight? - is also double the UK average of 3.8.

A quarter of paediatric inpatient wards in Scotland were also forced to close to new admissions due to staff shortages over the same period, although that compares against more than 30 per cent for the UK as a whole.

The RCPCH report, published today, calls on the Scottish Government to fund an increase in the number of paediatric trainee places in order to expand the workforce by up to 35 per cent. Factoring for those working part-time staff, there are effectively 310 paediatric consultants to cover rotas on the NHS in Scotland.

Although Scotland is comparatively less reliant on medics from Europe and overseas than the rest of the UK and has increased its headcount of paediatric consultants much faster, the report warns that a failure to take into account higher instances of part-time working in the paediatric workforce - mainly due to childcare - is exacerbating rota gaps. For the first time, more than half of paediatric consultants are women and three quarters of trainee in the UK are also female.

RCPCH Officer for Scotland, Professor Steve Turner, said: “Service leads across Scotland identify recruitment as the main workforce pressure facing their units. Time and again we see rota gaps in paediatric services causing significant strain on the system and these figures show that staffing shortages are leading to service closures all too often. This can only be resolved by increasing the numbers coming into paediatrics."

It comes after a report by Bliss, the premature and sick baby charity, found that two thirds of neonatal units in Scotland do not have enough medical staff to meet standards, and also that three quarters of units have a shortage of neonatal nurses.

Caroline Lee-Davey, chief executive at Bliss Scotland said: “This report illustrates the desperate need for more medical staff at neonatal units across the country to ensure that every baby born premature or sick receives the best possible standard of care."

Scottish Government spokesman said: “Over the last decade this government has helped deliver record numbers of doctors, nurses and other staff across the NHS in Scotland.

“We work closely with Boards to support their efforts in staff recruitment. Since 2014 the paediatrics trainee establishment has increased by 8 per cent and fill rates for paediatrics are close to 100 per cent. Through our National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan we will continue to strengthen workforce planning practice to ensure a safe and high quality service.”