Non-urgent elective procedures on course to be reintroduced in March

Covid-19 hospital admissions in Lanarkshire continue to move in the right direction

The decision was taken last month to temporarily postpone all non-urgent elective procedures and a targeted range of outpatient appointments.

This allows NHS Lanarkshire to focus acute service delivery on Covid-19 inpatients and emergency care. Treatments for urgent cancer care remained in place and all three acute sites continue to operate an emergency service for theatres and diagnostics.

The majority of outpatient appointments continue to be stood down in order to redeploy nurses to support the delivery on urgent and emergency inpatient care.

The number of patients being treated in Lanarkshire hospitals with Covid-19 peaked at around 350 during the second half of January, but has gradually decreased this month.

Judith Park, director of acute services, said: “The number of Covid-19 patients in our hospitals has stabilised and is showing signs of falling, albeit gradually. However, ICU numbers remain high and there is still continued pressure on our resources.

“To ensure our services operate as safely as possible, we have taken the decision to extend the postponement of non-urgent outpatient appointments and planned procedures at all our acute sites.

"However, we are optimistic we will be able to reintroduce these procedures from the first week of March if the numbers in our hospitals continue to fall.”

Patients with concerns can call the dedicated helpline on 0300 303 0446.