HOSPITALS TAKE NEW MEASURES
Elderly patient is first in Scotland to die as a result of coronavirus – as health staff call for more action
TOTAL CASES NOW IN GREATER GLASGOW: 21
VISITING at Scotland’s biggest hospital is to be restricted to parents and partners only for patients who are acutely unwell, Glasgow’s health board has said.
Visitors to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) will be restricted to “those who are essential only”, such as parents of children or an adult patient’s partner or main carer.
The changes will apply to patients in areas including intensive care, high dependency, emergency departments, neonatal units and cancer wards.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said children will also be restricted and visitors may be required to wear protective clothing.
NHS Lanarkshire is to limit visiting hours in all its hospitals to two hours per day with relatives being advised to visit only if it is “absolutely essential”.
Staff at the QEUH have suggested NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGCC) go even further than Lanarkshire by suspending all visitors at the adult hospital, which is continuing to treat children with cancer.
A QEUH hospital source said wards and staff were coping well with the emerging Covid-19 crisis, but added: “Most staff are questioning why visiting hasn’t yet been suspended, we’re having people visiting that shouldn’t be.”
Visitors continuing to sit on patient beds is also said to be a source of concern for staff.
Another health source claimed that two people being treated for the virus at the QEUH were allowed to have visitors.
It came as the first death of a patient was confirmed by the Scottish Government.
Chief Medical Officer Catherine Calderwood said the elderly patient was from the Lothian area and had underlying health conditions.
As of yesterday, NHSGCC had the highest number of cases at 21, with 20 in Lothian and 11 in Grampian.
Children being treated for cancer are continuing to be treated in the adult hospital.
The mum of one child undergoing treatment said she was supportive of restrictions.
A total of 85 people in Scotland have tested positive for coronavirus, according to the latest Scottish Government figures.
The number is up 25 from Thursday, and overall 3314 tests have taken place.
Shetland, Tayside, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Arran, Forth Valley, Fife, and the Borders health boards also have cases.
The Scottish Government said it was up to individual health boards to decide on visiting policy.
NHS Lanarkshire was advising relatives of those in critical care or those receiving end-of-life care to speak to senior nurses in charge of wards.
The latest daily figures show 3314 Scottish tests have been carried out, with 3229 proving negative.
As of yesterday, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said no elective surgery had been cancelled but it was a “fast-moving situation”.
It is understood that some clinics were cancelled at Stobhill hospital.
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has asked health boards to detail their plans to increase capacity in hospitals ahead of the expected rise in cases of the virus.
She said non-urgent care was being scaled down with non-urgent procedures postponed, but all urgent and “life-critical” services such as cancer treatment would be maintained.
A spokeswoman for NHSGGC said some cancer patients may be advised to defer treatment due to the risks of Covid-19.
The Beatson Cancer Charity said visits to its Wellbeing Centre would be limited to inpatients only “for the foreseeable future”.
Meanwhile, Crookston Medical Practice, on Glasgow’s South Side, was closed yesterday afternoon after a patient tested positive for the virus. All patients were being contacted and told to self-isolate.
At Gartnavel Hospital, a library used by doctors was being prepared to be set up as a new testing centre.