Fifty children left waiting for treatment after a hospital closed a unit before alternative arrangements were put in place will be seen within the next four weeks, management have said.

The children affected had been due to receive ear, nose and throat (ENT) operations at the Victoria Infirmary in the south of Glasgow.

However, the hospital's Rainbow ward was closed before alternative arrangements to treat the children at the city's Yorkhill hospital had been put in place.

The South Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust has been ordered to explain how the situation arose.

The Victoria Infirmary ward has closed

Greater Glasgow NHS Board said it hopes to clear the backlog within the next four weeks but the Scottish Executive said it was urgently seeking answers from trust officials.

It wants to know why ENT treatment for children was ended at the Victoria before alternative arrangements were in place.

Under a reorganisation of services in the Glasgow area, children who currently attend the Victoria will eventually be treated at Yorkhill Children's Hospital.

However, the facility in the west of the city is not yet ready to receive the children.

In a statement the South Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust said "operational issues" had led to a delay in the new service.

The health board said talks on moving all children's services to Yorkhill had been "more protracted than expected" and expressed regret for the situation.

It is hoped that this will clear the backlog, which currently stands at around 50 cases, within the next four weeks

A health board spokesman

A spokesman said: "An agreement has been secured on clearing a relatively small backlog of child cases from the south side which will involve additional weekend theatre time at Yorkhill.

"It is hoped that this will clear the backlog, which currently stands at around 50 cases, within the next four weeks.

"Meanwhile, a solution will be reached soon to ensure a sustained ENT service to south side children in the longer term."

Campaigners against the closure of the Victoria Infirmary said this was further evidence that Greater Glasgow NHS Board's plans for centralising hospital care has been poorly thought out.

The �700m proposals have received the backing of the Scottish Parliament.

The Victoria Infirmary and Stobhill Hospital are set to lose their casualty departments and inpatient services.

Full accident and emergency units will be sited at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Southern General.

A �60m investment is planned at Victoria Infirmary and Stobhill Hospital to create two new Ambulatory Care Hospitals providing outpatient consultations and day care surgeries.