A SHORTAGE of doctors at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary is part of a national problem.

And the issues which have led to services being shut down in Huddersfield have been highlighted by top officials of the doctors' union at its annual conference.

British Medical Association chairman James Johnson said there had been shameful f exploitation throughout the NHS's history.

At the BMA conference in Llandudno he said: "We have relied on other countries to fill our NHS manpower gaps, both for nurses and doctors.

"As the fourth-largest economy in the world we are still doing so, still taking doctors from countries like South Africa and nurses from the Philippines - who need them more than we do."

Mr Johnson added: "Surely, after over half a century of the NHS we should be producing enough doctors to look after our patients."

The shortage of doctors in Huddersfield is leading to the temporary closure of the neonatal intensive care unit at the Royal Infirmary.

The unit, which treats premature and critically ill babies, will shut on August 1.

Emergency admissions of children at night will be suspended from the same date.

Instead, youngsters will be treated at the Calderdale Royal Hospital, Halifax.

There are not enough doctors at HRI to allow it to comply with the European Working Time Directive.

Colne Valley MP Kali Mountford said:

"Doctors should move, not patients. The NHS should be run for the benefit of patients, not doctors."