Assault investigation

Two men were arrested following an alleged serious assault.

Police were called just after midnight on Monday, March 15, to attend a property in Greenhill Court after reports of a serious assault.

A 27-year-old male was inside with two men when he was allegedl y assaulted resulting in serious injury.

The victim was uncooperative but CCTV provided information leading to the arrest of two suspects.

Police believe it was a targeted attack and are following a positive line of enquiry.

The reintroduction of nonurgent elective procedures is being delayed because of the continuing high numbers of patients in intensive care.

In January, NHS Lanarkshire temporarily postponed all non-urgent elective procedures and a targeted range of outpatient appointments.

This allowed the health board 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.

Last week, the number of patients being treated in Lanarkshire hospitals with Covid dropped to 102, from a high of around 350 during the second half of January.

Despite this, Covid ICU numbers remain high, peaking at 25 in late January and currently sitting at 10.

Judith Park, NHS Lanarkshire director of acute services, said: “There are challenges to overcome before we are able to reintroduce non-urgent outpatient appointments and planned procedures, but we will continue to review this on a weekly basis.

“There are other challenges to consider such as availability and wellbeing of critical care staff, some of whom are redeployed, and we continue to have strict control measures in place such as physical distancing which impacts on ward space.

“We are also busy caring for patients who don’t have Covid, as highlighted in the high number of non-Covid patients we currently have in ICU.

“The safety of our patients and staff is of paramount importance and we continue to take all necessary action to ensure safe and effective patient care.

“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.”

Maternity and neonatal clinics will continue as normal in the meantime, along with appointments for urgent referrals, including cancer referrals.