Non-urgent care to be scaled down as NHS prepares for ‘challenges’ ahead

Non-urgent operations are to be postponed to cope with coronavirus demand, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has said.

Ms Freeman has also asked Scottish health boards to detail their plans to increase hospital capacity as the NHS gets ready for the number of cases to soar.

NHS Tayside is already in the process of gradually reducing nonurgent care in the next fortnight to free up staff.

Professor James Chambers, respiratory physician at NHS Tayside and the British Lung Foundation’s chairman of respiratory research, provided assurances the health board would only be down-scaling appointments that did not have an impact on patient safety.

He said: “Gradually over the next week to two weeks the NHS is going to downgrade or reduce those things that can wait and move the frontline staff to dealing with what we expect to be a gradual increase in cases of coronavirus.

“We are moving non-urgent things, non-cancer appointments, where we think it’s going to be OK to move those appointments.

“But we’re trying to keep those urgent surgeries, those urgent medical procedures going because that’s very important that care for things other than coronavirus keeps going.

“We’ve reduced the number of visits that we have from people taking part in research studies so the doctors and nurses can focus on seeing people at the front door.”

Ms Freeman said: “We have been clear from the outset about the challenges our health service is going to face in the weeks and possibly months to come.

“With our focus very much on seeking to delay the spread to reduce the peak impact and protect the most vulnerable, planning around NHS capacity is vital.

“We need to free-up capacity in our hospital settings and increase where we can the capacity there and in the community.

“So over the next two to three weeks we will scale down non-urgent care, so non-urgent procedures are postponed.

“But patients have our assurance that all appointments will be rescheduled as quickly as possible as we get through the challenge to our NHS that Covid-19 presents.

“As we work to double our intensive care capacity, some lead time is needed to repurpose facilities and ensure staff receive the training they need.

“In all of this work our urgent and life-critical services such as cancer will be maintained.”

She added: “When I return to Parliament on Tuesday I will make a further statement on Covid-19 and give more detail on our preparations.”