Non-covid procedures postponed in Tayside

Hospitals nearing capacity as second wave worsens

Health bosses are postponing non- Covid procedures at Tayside hospitals as the Scottish Government admits the NHS is at risk of being “overwhelmed” due to the new coronavirus strain.

In Tayside, Covid-19 wards are running at 90% capacity, with 174 patients for 193 beds, most of them at Ninewells. Managers are looking to add a further 68 beds as they move into the next phase of a plan to deal with a second wave of the virus.

NHS Tayside operational medical director Dr Pamela Johnston said staff were continuing to deliver all emergency and unscheduled care, including cancer care.

However, she warned: “Given the reality of the situation we are now facing, if the time comes that we must move to the next stage of our plan, this will impact on our ability to deal with lower priority, planned care patients in a safe way.”

The number of people in Scottish hospitals increased by 25% in the last week, with 107 new Covid-19 patients admitted to ICU compared to 84 a week earlier. The peak, in April, was 160.

Announcing a tightening of restrictions, Nicola Sturgeon said: “With the number of people being infected every day remaining as high as it is, the pressure on the NHS is likely to increase further and continue for some time.”

Tayside health bosses h av e started to p o s t p o n e procedures as staff respond to a large surge in Covid-19 cases.

There are currently 174 patients in the region’s Covid-19 wards, which have space for 193 people, meaning the health board is using around 90% of its capacity.

Managers are looking to add a further 68 beds as they move into the next phase of their plan to deal with the second wave.

Decisions on postponing procedures are being taken on a case- by- case basis, depending on how urgently the treatment is required.

T h e m a j o r i ty of the region’s Covid-19 patients are in Ninewells.

NHS Tayside operational medical director Dr Pamela Johnston said staff were continuing to deliver all emergency and unscheduled care, including cancer and some comple x elec tive care, despite increasing numbers of Covid-19 cases.

She said: “We have seen an increase in community prevalence of Covid-19 which has resulted in an increase in admissions to our hospitals over the last two weeks.

“However, we still have a number of Covid-19 beds available before we have to move to the next phase, which will provide a further 68 beds.”

She said clinical teams had been planning for the current scenario for many months.

“Our plans are working well. So far, we have only had to stand down a small number of patients,” she said.

“This is down to the immense efforts of staff and their absolute commitment to their patients alongside a determination to keep as many services running as possible. However, given the reality of the situation we are now facing, if the time comes that we must move to the next stage of our plan, this will impact on our ability to deal with lower priority, planned care patients in a safe way.

“If this happens, our clinical teams are determined to restart these services once the numbers of Covid-19 patients begins to decrease.

“The public should be reassured that from the outset of the pandemic our priority has always been to make sure everything we do is safe for patients and safe for our staff.”

The health board is not stepping down entire areas of care in the same way as it did during the first lockdown.

An NHS Ta y s i d e spokeswoman said she was not in a position to identify the specific areas of care affected to date, due to the risk of identifying the small number of patients involved.

Health boards in other parts of Scotland are responding differently. NHS Lanarkshire, for example, has temporarily postponed all non-urgent elective procedures and a targeted range of outpatient appointments.