Praise for heroes who rallied in snow
Staff and volunteers helped keep services going
Health, social care staff and volunteers in Wishaw area who rallied to the cause during the recent winter illness and bad weather challenges have been praised.
Staff across NHS Lanarkshire, Health and Social Care North Lana r k s h i re and Sou t h Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership pulled out all the stops as pressure on services mounted due to flu and injuries caused by icy conditions.
NHS Lanarkshire chair Neena Mahal said: “Staff across acute and community services have worked incredibly hard and many of those who are office-based volunteered to help their clinical colleagues when we were particularly busy.
“When the heavy snow arrived, several staff answered our call for owners of 4x4 cars to volunteer to drive colleagues to see patients.
“We also had 4x4s provided by the fantastic volunteers from the Strathclyde 4x4 Response Group and Lifesavers Scotland.
“Meanwhile, a large number of GP practices have been opening on Saturdays this month and will do so again this weekend.
“I’d like to pay tribute to everyone involved in helping in these different ways.”
NHS Lanarkshire chief executive Calum Campbell echoed the praise for staff at acute hospitals and added that he had written to the chief executives of North and South Lanarkshire Councils to acknowledge the work of the two health and social care partnerships through the winter health challenges.
Mr Campbell said: “I would like to put on record my thanks and in particular for the hard work, dedication and willingness to go above and beyond demonstrated by social care staff during the recent unprecedented pressures.”
Strathclyde 4x4 Response is a charity providing vehicles and drivers to support the emergency services, health boards and local authorities in the west of Scotland.
Chairman Ron Cowan said: “We assisted NHS Lanarkshire from Wednesday, January 17 through to Saturday, January 20 and also remained on standby until the Sunday evening.
“We worked from 6am through to 11pm each day, transporting staff to and from University Hospital Wishaw, University Hospital Monklands and University Hospital Hairmyres.
“In addition, we provided cover for the community nurses on their night shifts on Wednesday and Friday nights and did patient transfers which were not otherwise possible owing to the road conditions.”
Lifesavers Scotland, a charity which normally takes donor organs and everyday equipment to NHS Lanarkshire hospitals, also helped staff to travel in the bad weather.
A spokesman said: “We had three 4x4 volunteer vehicles out as well as a 4x4 response car.
“We moved prescriptions, equipment and samples as normal and also assisted in moving essential staff.
“We helped through the night, assisting community nurses, and went back later to free them when they were stuck in the snow in their own car.”
As the challenge of winter continues, NHS Lanarkshire is encouraging people to keep an eye out for older family members, friends and neighbours to ensure that they stay well. Helpful information and advice can be found on the websites of NHS Inform and Age Concern Scotland.