Intensive care beds at Ayr Hospital are to close as part of a radical shake-up in the local health system.
The unit currently providing round the clock care will move to Crosshouse, Ayrshire Live can reveal.
NHS bosses today admitted it is "becoming increasingly difficult to sustain the current critical care service model on the University Hospital Ayr site."
It's understood the move has sparked a furious reaction among senior figures, who received the news at a meeting yesterday afternoon.
Those receiving Level 3 intensive care at Ayr - patients on ventilators for organ support - will now be transferred to Kilmarnock for care.
One senior source said: "It's shocking. A patient comes out of theatre vetilated and is going to be put in the back of an ambulance and transferred to ICU at Crosshouse.
"If a patient in Ayr becomes unwell and needs ventilated overnight they will be transferred to Crosshouse - but it hasn't been decided who will do the transfer of this sick patient.
"It will have implications on all areas, there probably won't be any emergency threatre at Ayr as a result.
"The bosses were asked if A&E would remain open out of hours and they couldn't answer that question."
It comes just two months after Scottish Health Secretary, Humza Yousaf, said there were "absolutely no plans" to move ICU services away from Ayr.
Sharon Dowey, Conservative MSP for South Scotland, said: “These changes must be done carefully, with patient care and safety the highest priority.
“I will be seeking reassurances that the number of beds and overall capacity across both hospitals will remain the same, with no reductions in the future.
"It would be unforgivable if the A&E departments across Ayrshire were downgraded in any way, shape or form.
“After I wrote to him, Humza Yousaf promised me there would be no reduction in service at Ayrshire hospitals. Local people will be furious if he breaks that commitment.”
Joanne Edwards, Director of Acute Services at NHS Ayrshire & Arran, said: "Within NHS Ayrshire & Arran, critical care services are currently provided from both University Hospitals Ayr and Crosshouse, with an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and High Dependency Unit (HDU) in each.
"However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain the current critical care service model on the University Hospital Ayr site.
"To maintain the safety and sustainability of critical care services across the organisation, we need to make changes to how the service operates.
"While critical care services will continue to be provided from both University Hospitals Ayr and Crosshouse, the three current level 3 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds in University Hospital Ayr will transfer to Crosshouse on an interim basis.
"It is important to note that we are not ‘losing’ any beds. The three ICU beds in Ayr will be added to the existing ICU bed footprint in Crosshouse.
"Transferring these beds to Crosshouse will ensure safe and sustainable critical care services in both University Hospitals Ayr and Crosshouse.
"Patients with the highest acuity clinical needs will have access to an Intensive Care Medicine (ICM) Consultant 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
"This will also reduce the burden on anaesthetic colleagues in University Hospital Ayr.
"We will also enhance the current level 2 high dependency bed provision in Ayr, through the input of consultant intensivists to these beds during core weekday hours."
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