Unprecedented demand on our NHS services

As we enter 2018, I hope that readers will have had an enjoyable festive break with family and friends. For most it will, hopefully, have been a restful time, but for some it may have been marked by illness.

With a severe cold snap just before Christmas and a virulent strain of flu doing the rounds, unfortunately, many people will have had to access NHS services over Christmas and New Year.

Indeed, the demand on our NHS services has been unprecedented in recent weeks. Calls to NHS 24 over the weekend prior to Christmas were almost double the same period in 2016.

Outbreaks of flu, respiratory illnesses and slips and trips have led to additional pressure on hospitals.

The Scottish Government has been working closely with health boards on the run up to, and during the festive period, providing additional funding to help tackle waiting times and delayed discharges.

Before Christmas the Health Secretary, Shona Robison, announced an additional £22.4 million to be invested across Scotland this year to ensure good patient flow in hospitals and in the community during this particularly busy spell.

This will help ensure additional staffing and capacity are being made available to build resilience across the whole system, and deal with the exceptional pressures being experienced.

Individual boards have responded to the pressures they are facing in line with their winter planning processes. While NHS England has cancelled all elective surgery until the end of January, people across Scotland can be reassured that there is no blanket cancellation of procedures for this month.

What remains a constant is the dedication of staff across Scotland’s healthcare system who should get the praise they rightly deserve for their hard work.

Our NHS and community health service do a fantastic job all year round and in Lanarkshire and Glasgow Health Board areas they have excelled themselves during this exceptionally busy winter period.

As a registered mental health nurse I have an unpaid honorary contract with the NHS and was able to witness the dedication of NHS staff first hand when I worked in the health service over the Christmas holidays.

We have heard heartening stories of office-based staff, including senior managers, rolling up their sleeves to help their colleagues cope with demand.

Many volunteered to be redeployed at hospitals and GP practices in supporting roles, including administrative work and cleaning duties.

Many staff at the NHS Lanarkshire’s Kirkland’s HQ in Uddingston are also qualified and experienced clinicians and used their skills to help treat patients.

NHS Lanarkshire have also announced that some GP surgeries will open on Saturday mornings until the end of January to help with the increased demand.

In my experience of the NHS it has always been the case that, at times of exceptional demand, everyone across the service works as a team to ensure the best outcome for patients.

It was good to see the efforts of NHS staff at this challenging time recognised by the Daily Record in articles earlier this month, which praised their dedication.

That was in stark contrast to the continuing actions of some opposition MSPS who have continually criticised the Scottish Health Service which, despite the understandable seasonal dip in targets met, remains the best performing NHS service in the UK.

Of course, some patients have experienced delays or discomfort because of the seasonal challenges, and both the Health Secretary and the First Minister have apologised unreservedly to those affected and have emphasised that the service will always strive to improve outcomes for all patients.

Whilst it is not perfect, and certainly under challenge, the vast majority of people would agree that our Scottish NHS is a service we can be proud of, with staff who work hard to deliver the best outcomes they can.

I would like to thank them once again for the dedication they have shown.