NHS plan for winter months

NHS Tayside has launched its winter plan to ensure health and social care services cope with increasing demands over the coming months.

The plan focuses on preventing illness and hospital admissions, rapid testing for respiratory conditions and managing emergency and urgent care.

Chief executive Grant Archibald commented:“We are already starting to see additional pressure on our services and therefore our winter plans are already live this year.

“There has been a huge amount of work undertaken by teams from across the whole system over a significant period of time to look at what we have learnt already from COVID-19, what the data is now telling us and anticipate as best we can what this unprecedented winter may have in store for us.

“The teams have prepared meticulously and we are now asking members of the public to help us and play their part to support our health services over the winter by knowing where to get the right care in the right place and sticking with the national guidance around travel and household mixing.”

Respiratory consultant Dr David Connell, who is clinical lead for winter planning, said,“Winter is always hard, particularly for our vulnerable and elderly populations, and planning has been even more complex this year due to the unprecedented demands of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“A new rapid testing process for suspected COVID-19 has been introduced with laboratory teams offering testing 24 hours a day.

“A new test will also soon be in place at Ninewells and Perth Royal Infirmary for both COVID-19 and flu with results available within two hours, which will help manage the flow of patients in hospitals.”