Additional reporting by Evanna Holland

Patients in West Lothian will be forced to continue to travel to Edinburgh as a children's ward will remain closed out of hours.

The health secretary Jeane Freeman said at Holyrood on Thursday that St John's Hospital in Livingston would continue its partial closure.

The hospital has been operating with a part-time pediatrics ward since July 2017, after staffing issues meant the service could not be operated 24/7.

It has meant sick children have been forced to travel 20 miles to the nearest hospital in Edinburgh for treatment out of hours.

The minister said NHS Lothian was working on delivering a 24/7 service which is "safe and sustainable".

Numerous MSPs responded to the health secretary's statement about the hospital, with Conservative MSP Miles Briggs claiming 700 families have been forced "to go through the stress and inconvenience" of having to travel to Edinburgh for care for their children and babies.

Labour MSP Anas Sawar sought a target opening date for reopening the ward, which the health minister said she hoped to have in January.

The minister also agreed to meet with families affected by the partial closure as raised by SNP MSP Angela Constance.

Ms Freeman says the aim is to return the service to a 24/7 and that the board had set targets for recruitment and training of staff to achieve this.

The health secretary said she will receive a report in January and will update MSPs on the progress of the plans.

For the MacKenzie family, the partial closure of St John's children's ward meant they were left stranded with a sick baby after travelling to Edinburgh from their home in Breich, West Calder.

Mum Mary says her 11-month-old son had a severe cough on September 5 and after trying to get a doctor's appointment, decided to take him to A&E at St John's Hospital.

Doctors said he had a high temperature and his heart rate had soared to 211.

But as the hospital's children's ward was closed, the family were forced to take him to Edinburgh some 20 miles away.

"Right away the doctor said we'll take him up to Sick Kids, the safest thing was to take him to Sick Kids because he might need more tests done," Mary says.

But after phoning for an ambulance, the family would face a three hour wait to transfer them to the Edinburgh children's hospital.

Arriving at 10.30pm, baby Kenzie was checked over by medics and given the all clear to travel home.

However, the family felt stranded and eventually arrived home around 1am having to rely on buses and a taxi.

"It was about 11pm when we got out and we had to walk from Sick Kids down to Princes Street in the dark and you don't know who is about," Mary says.

"We were concerned about our safety as well as the wee one, and especially taking Kenzie home the way he was out in the cold so late at night.

"It's totally unacceptable."

Now Mary alongside husband Kenneth are calling for the children's ward at St John's to reopen full time to help other families in the area, setting up a petition for people in the area to sign.

"It would have made a whole lot of difference [to have the children's ward open], 20 minutes you're only talking a taxi away, whereas I had to get on a bus late at night," Mary adds.

On Thursday, the health secetary said that the MacKenzie family would receive a full apology and be reimbursed, adding that their treatment was "unacceptable and must not be repeated".