NHS Lanarkshire initiative is praised by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon

A combination of Covid, flu, Strep A and other respiratory viruses has resulted in a significant demand for services across the country.

The First Minister outlined measures the government will be taking in the short term to combat pressures, mentioning NHS Lanarkshire in her speech.

She said: “I can confirm that NHS24 staffing will increase further in the coming weeks to further enhance its capacity to offer advice and care – and so reduce the need for intervention by other parts of the NHS, including hospitals.

“NHS24 will also be accelerating other strands of work planned for later this year – such as a new app and a range of self-help guides.

“Primary care is, of course, already working under intense pressure – however, we are working to support health boards to maximise primary care capacity including, for example, through the kind of initiative set out by NHS Lanarkshire to open GP practices on Saturdays.

“We will also take further, immediate steps to speed up discharge from hospitals.

"There are no easy solutions – given the scale of the challenges faced right now. But by enabling more people to get support and treatment out of hospital, by ensuring that care is in place for people able to leave hospital, we can make an impact in relieving some of the pressures our hospitals are facing.”

Meanwhile, NHS Lanarkshire has issued a new plea to readers: help us to help you.

Executive nurse director Eddie Docherty is asking the public to only attend the emergency department if they have life-threatening conditions or emergencies.

He said: “Our three acute hospitals have significant pressures within our emergency departments, with high levels of inpatients causing bed shortages and staffing challenges.

“Our staff are doing everything possible to assess, treat and care for patients with priority given to those who are most unwell. There are significantly longer waits at the emergency departments of each of our three hospitals, with our inpatient wards being extremely busy.

“We are also seeing an increasing number of respiratory viruses in our hospitals, with high flu and Covid-19 numbers contributing to the current pressures. There was an average of 170 patients in hospital with Covid-19 each day over the last week – around twice the numbers we had at the start of December. We are also experiencing high admission rates with patients suffering from flu.

“The last week has been incredibly difficult as we have been dealing with a high level of very unwell patients. This current demand means that waiting times are more challenging than ever.

“There are additional pressures being faced due to bed capacity and the lower discharges out of our hospitals means potential delays. We would ask that, where possible, families and friends support patients to return home as soon as they are medically well enough to be discharged. Please helps us to help you.”

You can call NHS 24 on 111, day or night, where you will be directed to the right NHS service. For health care advice, visit www.nhsinform.scot.