A GENERAL hospital which has been blighted with staffing problems has recruited a new consultant in response to concerns over the loss of consultant-led children's services.

The Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, was downgraded to a midwife-run maternity unit and had its consultant-led children’s services removed in October last year - but a short-stay paediatric unit was introduced to reassure patients after public outcry.

The hospital was criticised earlier this year after a six month trial of the 10am to 10pm service was cut by 20 hours after just three months.

The South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Friarage, has announced a new consultant will enable the short-stay paediatric assessment unit opening times to be increased on weekends and bank holidays.

From May 23, the unit will be open from 10am to 5pm to 10am to 7pm every Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday. Weekday opening hours will remain at 10am to 8pm.

However there are fears the future of even the midwife-led unit could be in doubt after figures revealed numbers of women giving birth there are below the minimum required.

There have been 131 deliveries since it opened nearly seven months ago - about nine every fortnight – but NHS chiefs warned it would be unsustainable if there were fewer than 300 deliveries annually.

The trust said the paediatric service required a rota of seven full-time paediatric consultants but a shortfall of staff due to vacancies and long-term sickness meant the opening hours had to be cut.

The appointment of a new consultant, who will join the paediatric team later this year, plus two members of staff returning to work from ill-health, has meant the trust can review the opening hours.

Chief executive Professor Tricia Hart said: “The trust still has three vacant consultant posts on the paediatric rota, which covers services at both the Friarage Hospital and The James Cook University Hospital.

“We will continue to make every effort to fill these posts but it is unlikely we will be able to move to 12-hour opening before September.

“However the consultant team are committed to providing this service at the Friarage and have agreed to cover extra hours on weekends and Bank Holidays and I’d like to thank them for their on-going support.”

NHS Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby Clinical Commissioning Group said a six-month review of the maternity unit will be published in four weeks but said it was committed to the midwifery-led unit.