Concern as non-emergency ops axed
Ayrshire and Arran is facing a healthcare ‘ticking time bomb’ after the impact of COVID-19 forced the cancellation this month of some elective surgical procedures.
That’s the view of South Scotland Labour List MSP Colin Smyth who has raised concerns over the long-term impact of Covid on NHS services.
NHS Ayrshire and Arran a took the recent decision to cancel some planned procedures until the end of August.
Mr Smyth said: “Our NHS and care staff have been working round the clock for nearly two years, dealing with this pandemic but we don’t have enough of them. The consequence of cancelling these operations is that waiting times, which had already risen due to the focus on Covid, will continue to go up.
“We know this doesn’t just affect operations - other services such as cancer screening has been scaled back. I fear we are creating a real ticking time bomb when it comes to other health conditions because NHS staff are so stretched.”
Dr Crawford McGuffie, Medical Director at NHS Ayrshire and Arran, said: “We apologise to any patients who experience a delay in their surgery. This decision will be kept under constant review. All efforts will be made to minimise these delays.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said:“We are in daily contact with boards facing the greatest challenges and are monitoring the situation closely . The remobilisation of the NHS is one of our number one priorities and we will publish a national recovery plan for the NHS.”