Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Airdrie Covid hub being wound up
Facility moving to Hamilton as NHS faces‘ new normal’
Airdrie’s community assessment hub for Covid-19 is being stood down from this week as NHS Lanarkshire moves to concentrate the service at one facility in Hamilton.
The health board’s triage service, where medical staff deal with patient phone calls referred by NHS 24 and determine when a face-to-face appointment is needed, will remain at Airdrie community health centre at present, but will later switch to the South Lanarkshire location.
NHS Lanarkshire’s two Covid -19 community assessment centres were established three months ago and have since triaged 10,382 calls referred by NHS24 – with 3350 patients invited to attend the two assessment centres and 834 then attending Monklands, Wishaw or Hairmyres Hospitals.
The health board announced today: “As the peak of Covid-19 has passed, we are moving on to the recovery and redesign phase.
“Over recent weeks we have seen a consistent decrease in the number of patients at every point in the [community assessment] pathway and an increase in demand for other NHS services.
“In line with other [health] boards, we have taken the decision to reduce the capacity of the pathway, while still providing a clinically safe and effective service.”
Douglas Street clinic in Hamilton has been chosen to host the single Lanarkshire hub as the building layout allows the assessment centre to remain separate from the rest of the services.
NHS Lanarkshire added: “This also means that all staff are located in one area which will provide consistency and easy access to clinical expertise; the triage hub will remain in Airdrie, but the plan is to move this to Hamilton when infrastructure allows.
“When assessment is moved out of Airdrie community health centre, this area can then be reinstated as services and patients start to return [and] staff deployed to these areas will return to their day-to-day roles and places of work – this is all moving towards returning the NHS to its ‘new normal’.
“The service recovery plan takes into account the need to increase the capacity of the service in the event of a second peak of Covid-19; a system is in place to ensure this will happen as soon as possible.”
Dr Linda Findlay, medical director of South Lanarkshire health and social care partnership, praised dedicated workers running the centres, saying: “The response from staff to set up and deliver this service has been extraordinary.
“The triage hub and community assessment centres were set up in little more than a week and have significantly reduced the number of patients attending GP practices, and ensured we could care for and treat patients in the community, avoiding unnecessary demand on our emergency departments. We would like to thank Lanarkshire residents for adhering to advice and staying at home as much as possible, as this allowed us to manage our services and continue to provide safe and effective care for those who need it most.
“It also means we can start to move forward and plan what services will look like in the future.
“How we deliver services will change and we ask for your continued patience and understanding as we begin to stand services back up.”
Meanwhile, home births are now available once again for pregnant women in Monklands. NHS Lanarkshire had suspended the service at the start of lockdown, but it has now been reinstated by the health board “as services begin to recover from Covid-19”.
Mums-to-be are still currently being asked to attend alone for scans and antenatal and maternity appointments, but medics say these restrictions will be lifted when it’s possible.
Chief midwife Cheryl Clark said: “As we move forward more of our services will begin to return – the first is being able to offer home births again, and mums-to-be can discuss birthing options with their midwife.
“We are continuing to ask pregnant women to attend ultrasound scans, appointments in our maternity day bed unit, antenatal clinics and maternity triage on their own; these restrictions will be lifted as soon as it’s safe to do so.”
She told expectant parents: “We would like to thank you for your continued patience and we hope to bring you more information about services being reinstated in the coming weeks.
“We urge all pregnant women who are self-isolating to contact their community midwife to discuss their antenatal care, and to contact maternity triage in emergency situations such as abdominal pain or concerns with your baby’s movement.”
NHS Lanarkshire’s maternity services webpage at www.nhslanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk/services/maternity-services/ has more information.