We need to be there for NHS staff
Hard-working NHS staff were there for us when we needed them most.
They were the key workers we clapped for week after week during lockdown.
They were the workforce who saved lives and helped our community through the worst public health crisis in 100 years.
They were there for us in a time of crisis. Now we need to be there for them.
As the Express reported, elective operations have been cancelled at the RAH to help the hospital cope with covid admissions and an enormous backlog of cases.
Never before has there been so much pressure on health services at once.
Not just on one part of the NHS or another but on the entire health and social care system.
Delayed discharges are at an all-time high.
More people who are clinically cleared to leave hospital can’t because the social care system can’t cope.
There is an increasing danger of care packages in the community being curtailed or suspended as pressure mounts on carers.
The backlog means A&E waiting times are rising.
The ambulance service is in crisis too. The Health Secretary announced new plans to rationalise Scotland’s ambulances, including hiring taxis for non-urgent cases.
Primary care hasn’t geared back up to a pre-pandemic level of service, with many GP appointments still online.
And what should concern us all is that people are putting off getting treatment or tests because they do not want to burden the system.
Those delays can be harmful and can lead to patients presenting at hospitals with more serious conditions as time without treatment passes.
Delays that can put pressure on A&E. I recently met with frontline NHS workers in Paisley who told me about their experiences over the past few months.
Throughout the whole system, health and social care staff have been working flat out to provide people with essential care.
From the PPE shortages of the first lockdown to the ‘pingdemic’ to the unprecedented numbers they have been dealing with who have tested positive, they have been through a hugely challenging time.
Like many patients, they are worried about what the impact of cancelling elective procedures will be.
Especially if people have to support themselves at home, with the social care system under strain.
They have been vulnerable to the virus too.
They have feared taking covid home after seeing how cruel and how deadly the virus can be.
Their numbers have been diminished by covid cases, self-isolation and burnout.
The other illnesses the NHS has to deal with, like seasonal flu, have not and will not go away.
I have nothing but admiration for the key workers who sustained our health and social care system throughout the crisis.
We, as a country, need to provide them with better support.
The Scottish Government’s NHS Recovery Plan is not delivering the restoration of vital health services that was promised.
They have to listen to clinicians and frontline staff and address their concerns.
To support the RAH and the NHS as a whole through the difficult months ahead, it is more important than ever before that the Health Secretary delivers fair pay for frontline workers and safe levels of staffing in our hospitals.
And he must make the well-being of staff battling this pandemic an urgent priority.