Oban hospital staff pledge first-class COVID care
A viral specialist, volunteer junior doctors and staff giving up retirement are among the hospital team pulling together to get Oban through the coronavirus crisis.
Lorn and Islands Hospital has put out a reassuring and confident message to the community it serves, saying its staff can cope with the COVID-19 challenge and anyone needing its help will get ‘first-class’ treatment.
Treatment areas and wards have effectively been split into two, red for COVID and green for patients not showing symptoms of the virus.
Measures to keep patients and staff safe are in place and working, says the message, which gives out practical guidance on what to do if you, your family or neighbours need hospital help and what to expect.
Hardworking staff are also making a heartfelt plea to people to keep showing front line workers support by heeding COVID-blocking advice and stay safe at home.
And a huge thank you has gone out to all the well-wishers, individuals, organisations and businesses sending in gifts and donations, from fish suppers to Easter eggs, protective kit and handcream, to stop hands drying out from antibacterial gel.
Under the lead of Dr Colin Millar, who is in charge of Oban’s COVID-19 clinical team, usual staff numbers have been bolstered.
A new consultant anaesthetists who has worked abroad with Ebola patients has arrived and two military officers with logistical expertise have also been assigned to NHS Highland, visiting the hospital in Oban to give specialist input and advice.
Nursing staff are ‘working hard in difficult circumstances but are rising to the challenge and are a credit to their profession’, says the message.
Other services that have been stepped up include extra cover in the labs and X-ray departments, with two radiographers on call 24/7.
Because the usual day-today work in the hospital has changed dramatically over the past few weeks, some staff have been redeployed to other departments facing more pressure.
Emergency operations are still going ahead but other procedures such as endoscopies have been postponed so theatre nurses have taken charge of distributing supplies of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), with supplies arriving regularly.
The hospital’s Senior Management Team is leading the entire strategy to make sure care at Lorn and Islands Hospital ‘will be available, should you need it and will be of the highest standard’, said the message.
Porters, domestics, staff in catering, laundry and supplies, clerks and IT workers are all part of the team effort.
Major changes have been made inside the hospital to keep patients confirmed or suspected to have the virus separate from people who still need to be seen and treated with other conditions.
The accident and emergency and outpatients departments
Continued from page one have been combined into one unit, but divided into COVID and non-COVID areas. Wards have also been changed.
Masks, gloves and aprons are being worn by staff during all clinical situations and that is now the new normal.
To help alleviate some people’s concerns and put minds at ease, the message sets out what people coming to the hospital can expect and what they need to do.
Although most out-patient appointments have been postponed, ultrasounds, CT scans and some chemotherapy treatments are still going ahead. Anyone coming for an appointment will be asked to phone the department when they arrive and stay in their car or outside until they get a return call to come in through the outpatients entrance where they will be asked to use alcohol gel on their hands and wear a mask before being escorted to their appointment.
Accident and emergency is open 24/7 for all non-COVID urgent cases. If you have symptoms of coronavirus, please ring NHS111 first and they will advise whether you need to come to the hospital and, if required, give you details of when to attend the special assessment area.
COVID patients who need more intensive treatment will go to Glasgow, but if a patient’s condition deteriorates quickly they can be looked after and ventilated at Oban until safe transfer can happen.
‘In these unusual times, we can be reassured that staff at Lorn and Islands Hospital are pulling together as a team with a binding and united sense of purpose to make sure care is maintained at the highest standard locally. We can have confidence they are doing everything they can to provide appropriate treatment for the community they serve,’ ends the message. By Tuesday this week there were 168 positive cases confirmed across NHS Highland, which includes Oban and Lorn. Lorn and Islands Hospital is not sanctioned to give out numbers of cases it has confirmed, treated or transferred for intensive care help.