Winter blast sees sharp rise in emergency patients

Snow and ice have caused widespread disruption in north east Scotland

NHS Grampian has said a recent blast of wintry weather led to a doubling in the number of patients they would normally treat for slips, trips and falls.

It said 157 people went to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Dr Gray's Hospital in Elgin over a three-day period last weekend, after suffering injuries due to snow and ice.

The figure would usually be about 80 for this time of the year.

NHS Grampian said about 30 patients were still awaiting surgery after falls.

Geraldine Fraser, chief officer for acute services, said: "Winter weather has a huge impact on our hospitals.

"We see more falls when the weather is like this, and they are worse than the typical presentations.

"That has consequences for the length of time that our staff need to spend with a patient – which in turn affects the time people wait to be seen and we apologise to everyone affected by that."

Emergency department consultant, Dr Catharina Hartman, said people often had not taken pain killers before arriving at hospital which was a "simple intervention" which could allow a "better evaluation" of what the injury was.

Last week, councils in north east Scotland carried out road and pavement gritting operations as snow and ice caused widespread disruption.

Dozens of schools were closed due to safety concerns for staff, parents and pupils.