NHS Ayrshire & Arran have said that there absolutely no plans to move services from Ayr Hospital.

It comes after MSP Sharon Dowey wrote to Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Humza Yousaf, about alleged closures of services at Ayr Hospital.

Her fears surrounded the potential closures of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Accident and Emergency (A&E) services, as well as the loss of the acute surgical services.

However, the health board and the Scottish Government have dismissed any talk that this could happen.

A Statement by Dr Crawford McGuffie, Medical Director said: "There are no plans to close the Emergency Department (ED) or to remove critical care services at University Hospital Ayr.

"It is important to acknowledge that there are staffing challenges across all of NHS Scotland and that NHS Ayrshire & Arran is no exception.

"The single acute vision, (one team over two sites), aims to offer more attractive teams to join. Cross site working can help take pressure off smaller teams. 

"Any core service change would require a public consultation. We can confirm that there are no consultations actively being prepared.

"There are historical ambitions for a new hospital. However, there is no timeline for this build programme. Our two main acute hospital sites will remain our primary acute provider sites for the foreseeable future."

Humza Yousaf also backed this up, by confirming that the Scottish Government had made no plans to make Crosshouse Hospital the only available A&E department in the area.

He added: “These reports are categorically untrue. As has been made clear by the health board there are absolutely no plans to move A&E or ICU services away from Ayr Hospital.”