Scotland's largest health board has announced it is suspending non-urgent procedures as it prioritises urgent treatment and cancer care. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) released a statement on Wednesday, January 11, stating that elective surgeries will be paused due to the 'major pressures' that the health board is facing.
NHSGGC has said that the decision was "not being taken lightly" and have pledged to “make every possible effort to offer them an alternative date at the first opportunity”. NHS Ayrshire & Arran, Borders and Fife have confirmed that they are taking similar steps due to mounting pressure on frontline services.
It comes a day after Health Secretary Humza Yousaf announced extra social care funding in a desperate bid to free up hospital beds. Yousaf claimed 300 care beds would be purchased to address the “unprecedented” crisis afflicting the health service.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said in a statement: "We would like to thank staff across all of our services for their continued hard work and commitment in these challenging times. Our services, like the whole of NHS Scotland, are facing major pressures, including significant COVID, flu and norovirus cases, and our staff are doing all they can to meet this demand.
"To support our A&E departments, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has taken the decision to pause non-urgent elective procedures to prioritise urgent treatment and cancer care. This decision was not taken lightly and is under constant review.
“We would like to apologise to patients waiting for an elective procedure. We will make every possible effort to offer them an alternative date at the first opportunity. NHSGGC has also recently opened up additional winter capacity to provide more beds, with more to open in the coming weeks, and we are rolling out a new patient flow model to help improve movement through our hospitals.
"We are reminding all patients at this time not to attend A&E unless their condition is very urgent or life-threatening. Patients should consider utilising one of our other unscheduled care pathways instead such as local pharmacy, GPs, NHS Inform, or our virtual A&E service, which provides emergency consultations over the phone and through video and allows us to schedule face-to-face appointments at our Minor Injury Units (MIU).
"The virtual A&E can be accessed through NHS24 by calling 111."
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