Non-urgent elective surgery returning?
MSP pays tribute to paper
NHS Lanarkshire hopes to reintroduce non-urgent elective procedures at the beginning of next month if Covid-19 hospital admissions continue to decrease.
The decision was taken last month to temporarily postpone all non-urgent elective procedures and a targeted range of outpatient appointments for an initial period of four weeks.
This has been extended for a further three weeks. A number of clinically urgent and priority procedures are not affected.
This allows NHS Lanarkshire to focus acute service delivery on Covid-19 inpatients and emergency care. Treatments for urgent cancer care remained in place and all three acute sites continue to operate an emergency service for theatres and diagnostics.
The majority of outpatient appointments continue to be stood down in order to redeploy nurses to support the delivery on urgent and emergency inpatient care.
The number of patients being treated in Lanarkshire hospitals with Covid-19 peaked at around 350 during the second half of January but has gradually decreased this month, with 235 Covid cases in hospital last week.
Covid-19 numbers currently in ICU remain high, peaking at 25 in late January and currently standing at 21.
Judith Park, NHS Lanarkshire director of acute services, said:“The number of Covid-19 patients in our hospitals has stabilised and is showing signs of falling, albeit gradually. However, ICU numbers remain high and there is still continued pressure on our resources.
“To ensure our services operate as safely as possible, we have taken the decision to extend the postponement of non-urgent outpatient appointments and planned procedures at all our acute sites for a further three weeks.
“However, we are optimistic we will be able to reintroduce these procedures from the first week of March if the numbers in our hospitals continue to fall.
“The safety of our patients is always our top priority. Winter is always a difficult time for the NHS and the current pandemic has had an additional impact on our services.
“The decision to postpone any appointment is not one that we take lightly and I apologise for the impact this will have on patients.
“Most patients will receive a text message confirming the postponement of their appointment.
“A small number of appointments will still go ahead as scheduled. Appointments will be prioritised based on clinical need and those patients who are deemed clinically urgent will be rebooked.
“Patients will receive a letter, text message or voice message giving details of their new appointment.”
Maternity and neonatal clinics will continue as normal in the meantime. Appointments for urgent referrals, including cancer referrals, will also continue.
Due to continued pressure on the whole system as a result of increasing cases of Covid-19, GP practices were also asked to manage their delivery of service by prioritising urgent care.
Ms Park added: “Our staff are battling to save lives every day and I am immensely proud of them. Every single Lanarkshire resident can help save lives by following government guidance and staying at home.”
Patients with any concerns can contact the dedicated helpline number 0300 303 0446.
A Glasgow MSP who grew up in Rutherglen has called for a local newspaper like the Reformer for his east end constituency.
Speaking during a Holyrood debate in which opposition parties demanded the SNP extends business rates relief for newspapers into the next financial year, Glasgow Shettleston MSP John Mason said he’d “dearly love” for a title similar to the Reformer to serve his constituents.
While the SNP administration plans to extend 100 per cent rates relief for retail, hospitality, leisure and aviation for at least three months from April, cross-party opposition MSPs insist this should also apply to newspapers.
Speaking in support of extending rates relieftothenewspaper sector, John Mason MSP said: “If we assume that The Herald is a national newspaper and the Glasgow Times is regional, perhaps serving some 15 constituencies in and around Glasgow, my constituency has no local newspaper.
“We used to have a couple, but they died out some years ago. Why did that happen? Presumably because, in a less affluent area, there has not been sufficient advertising revenue to go around. I am not arguing that only richer areas have local newspapers. The neighbouring constituency to mine is Rutherglen, where I grew up. It is quite a mixed area and it still has the Rutherglen
Reformer. I would dearly love to see a paper like that in the east end of Glasgow.”
Central Scotland Conservative MSP Graham Simpson, who led last week’s debate, said the local press had been “vital” in keeping the public informed during the pandemic and called for rates relief for newspapers to continue into 2021/22 .
He said a vibrant newspaper sector was “essential for local democracy” and warned the Scottish Government’s plans would mean the rates relief support would come to an end next month.
MSPs defeated the Scottish Government by one vote over their plans to sideline the issue as part of the ongoing budget process.
Simpson said: “For democracy to thrive it needs checks and balances. That debate is very much live here in
Scotland right now.
“A vibrant press is one of those checks and we must all be prepared to be subject to the full glare of publicity, good and bad.”
He said an independent media is “central to a strong democracy” and local newspapers are particularly important in holding power to account.
Liberal Democrat MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Throughout this pandemic, local news sources have been some of the most valuable and trusted sources of information across our communities.
“In a world of fake news and misinformation, local press stands true.”