BABIES have been moved from an intensive care unit at a Glasgow hospital after a leak was found in the roof.

Some infants in the neonatal unit at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital have been moved to other areas of the department and the main Royal Hospital for Children building.

It comes after an issue with the roof in the neonatal unit, which can care for up to 40 patients, was discovered during scheduled maintenance work.

The problem resulted in water getting into several rooms.

An inspection has been carried out and repair work is underway.

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (NHSGGC) said it is working to “minimise any impact on patient care” but it could not put a timescale on how long repair work will take to complete.

The health board said that the move has had some impact on capacity but that it continues to play its full part as one of Scotland’s national specialist care centres.

The unit provides complex care to babies from across Scotland with a range of conditions.

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It is also one of the few centres in the UK that can provide Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) life support for infants.

NHSGGC has apologised to families for ‘any distress’ this incident has caused them.

A spokesperson said: “Our teams are keeping them fully informed of any changes we need to make to ensure continuity of service.

"We would like to make clear this is not linked to any infection control issue, nor is it linked to the water supply at the hospital.”

Repair work will be reviewed daily and families and staff are being assured that they will be updated as soon as a completion date is confirmed.

The neonatal unit was built in 2009 and was designed to be able to provide intensive care in any of its cot spaces.