NHS Tayside cancels surgeries as COVID-19 cases continue to rise
The health board is the latest in Scotland to cancel some surgeries as coronavirus hospital admissions rise to their highest since February.
Last updated 9th Jul 2021
NHS Tayside has become the latest health board to halt operations due to a continuing rise in coronavirus cases.
The admission spike has meant around 15 orthopeadic operations over the next week will no longer go ahead at Perth Royal Infirmary.
This comes as some health boards are currently operating at capacity - including NHS Grampian who say staff having to isolate as close contacts is stretching resources further. Aberdeen Royal Infimary is currently operating at code black - which is capacity.
In Tayside, an "exceptionally serious message" has been put out by the health board, taking aim in young people in particular. With hose aged between 18-29 being urged people are being urged to get vaccinated and continue to follow the government guidance.
In a video posted on social media, Dr Emma Fletcher said: “I expect everyone has heard that we have the highest rates of Covid infection in Scotland here in Tayside, and in particular in Dundee.
Dr Emma Fletcher revealed the seriousness of the situation, with Tayside’s infection rate per 100,000 population “more than 10 times what it was just a few weeks ago”.
Cases in the region have been rising steadily over the last month, which saw hospital number double overnight in July. Admissions to hospital with coronavirus are now at their highest since the 12th of February.
There are over 60 people in hospital, with 11 people in specialist care units, and young people being treated in intensive care.
"Having high numbers of cases in the community has a big knock-on effect on our hospitals."
Dr Fletcher continued: “One of the biggest reasons I am this concerned is that having high numbers of cases in the community has a big knock-on effect on our hospitals, as it inevitably results in more people requiring hospital care.”
Last Tayside was named Europe's coronavirus hotspot according to figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO), with the highest number of cases per 100,000 in the continent.
It was only April that NHS Tayside were reporting there were zero patients in hospital with coronavirus.
Dr Fletcher said they're seeing an increasing number of young people needing hospital treatment: “Unfortunately, there are young people right now with Covid in Ninewells — not only in our general wards, but also in our intensive care unit and our high dependency unit.
In a statement posted to the health board's Facebook page, NHS Tayside Operational Medical Director, Dr Pamela Johnston said: “Today there are 61 COVID-19 patients in Ninewells, including 11 patients who require more specialist care in our critical care unit.
"This is the highest number of patients we have seen for some weeks and we expect that this number may rise further over the coming days."
“As we did in the previous two spikes of COVID-19 when we created a hospital within a hospital, our clinical teams have been changing the footprint of Ninewells to ensure we can continue to provide safe and effective care for the people of Tayside.
“Similar to the last peak of the virus earlier this year, our approach is to monitor on a daily and weekly basis the impact of COVID-19 in our hospitals. We look at COVID admissions, emergency admissions for other conditions and our staffing situation. Being flexible in this way allows our clinical teams to keep as many services running as possible.
“Please get vaccinated, get tested and continue to follow the guidance.”
“I would ask everyone in Tayside to support our clinical teams in hospitals and out in the community by doing everything they can to make it harder for this virus to spread. Please get vaccinated, get tested and continue to follow the guidance."
In her video plea, Dr Emma Fletcher added: “Covid-19 has not gone away and is still having serious impact in Tayside. So we need all of your support more than ever.
“Please get vaccinated, get tested regularly and, if you develop symptoms, isolate immediately and get a PCR test.”
You can watch Dr Fletcher's message here.