NHS Lanarkshire has delayed the reintroduction of non-urgent elective procedures due to continuing high numbers in intensive care.
The decision was taken in January to temporarily postpone all non-urgent elective procedures and a targeted range of outpatient appointments, although a number urgent and priority procedures including cancer and emergency procedures continued.
The number of patients being treated in Lanarkshire hospitals with Covid-19 have now dropped to 102 as of yesterday, falling from a high of around 350 during the second half of January.
However, Covid ICU numbers remain high, peaking at 25 in late January and currently sitting at 10 as of yesterday.
Once non-Covid patients are included, 25 ICU beds are currently occupied, with 21 of these level-three patients who require advanced respiratory support and monitoring.
Judith Park, NHS Lanarkshire director of acute services, said: “The number of Covid-19 patients in our hospitals is falling.
"However, ICU numbers remain stubbornly high for both Covid and non-Covid patients and there is still continued pressure on our resources.
"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.”
Dr Rory Mackenzie, University Hospital Monklands chief of medical services, added: “One of the reasons ICU numbers aren’t falling as quickly as overall hospital numbers is because of a lag with the numbers due to patients spending a substantial amount of time in ICU.
"The length of stay is far greater than pre-Covid levels so beds are occupied for longer. As numbers fall, patients will still need to come to ICU.
“One of our patients recently spent 67 days in ICU – 61 of them on a ventilator – at University Hospital Hairmyres.”
NHS boards yesterday reported 50 recently confirmed patients in ICU (for 28 days or less), a decrease of nine from the day before.
This compares with around 220 in ICU at the peak in April 2020.
In addition, NHS boards reported 28 long stay Covid-19 patients in ICU (for more than 28 days), a decrease of one from the day before.
This is 35.9% of all Covid-19 patients in ICU.
Ms Park apologised for the impact cancellation would have on patients but said the decision "is not one that we take lightly".
She added: “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 measures 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."
"ost patients will receive a text message confirming the postponement of their appointment, although a small number of appointments will go ahead as scheduled based on clinical priority.
Maternity and neonatal clinics will continue as normal in the meantime. Appointments for urgent referrals, including cancer referrals, will also continue.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel