Nicola Sturgeon chairs emergency meeting on NHS winter pressures
- Published
Nicola Sturgeon has chaired the Scottish government's resilience committee
Nicola Sturgeon has chaired a meeting of the Scottish government's resilience committee to address pressures on health and social care services.
The first minister and key cabinet ministers met NHS board chiefs, local authorities and the Scottish Ambulance Service on Friday.
The meeting took place as Covid rates soared and after hospital admissions for flu hit a five-year high.
Scottish Labour called for the Army to be drafted in to help the NHS.
The committee, which included Deputy First Minister John Swinney and Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, discussed the latest Covid-19 situation, the flu outbreak and increased demands on acute sites and social care which have been experienced over the festive period.
The NHS has come under unprecedented pressure in recent weeks.
Earlier this week leading clinician Dr John Paul Loughrey, of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said several of Scotland's A&E departments had asked for emergency measures to be brought in.
This followed concerns about patient safety and "inhumane" conditions due to high hospital occupancy rates.
Dr Loughrey said around 50 deaths per week were happening in Scotland as a result of delays to emergency care.
A modern browser with JavaScript and a stable internet connection are required to view this interactive.
Latest figures for A&E departments showed a record 1,925 Scots spent 12 hours or more waiting in the week leading up to Christmas.
There are also reports of lengthy waits to get through to helpline NHS 24 and difficulties getting a GP appointment.
On Friday, NHS Borders paused all routine operations until further notice.
The health board said Borders General Hospital was at capacity, with high staff absence due to illness and numerous wards and bays closed due to Norovirus outbreaks, Covid and flu.
Scottish Labour's health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie urged the Scottish government to ask for military assistance for ambulance services and accident and emergency departments.
'NHS chaos'
Ministers previously called in the Army to help during the pandemic, with soldiers being brought in to drive ambulances in 2021.
Ms Baillie said: "For months, Scottish Labour warned of potential winter NHS chaos and offered solutions that would support staff and patients - but Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon stuck their fingers in their ears and simply ignored everyone, including clinicians.
"The result of SNP inaction and incompetence is the lives of thousands of Scots being put in danger on a weekly basis."
The party wants A&E departments to be properly staffed and for action to be taken on delayed discharge - where patients who are medically well enough to leave hospital have to remain while they wait for care packages to be put in place.
'Everyone is getting frustrated'
Pharmcist Jannath Nilma tries to help patients who cannot see their GPs
Jannath Nilma is a pharmacy manager at Rosemount Pharmacy in Aberdeen.
Patients are being referred to pharmacies and she has been facing unprecedented demand from people with winter illnesses.
"It is quite tough because I think everybody is just getting frustrated," she said.
"When we can't help them, they say 'well we've been told to come to you guys, what else am I meant to do now?'
"So we are trying to get in touch with doctors for people if we need to refer them.
"We are trying to do as much as we can, but sometimes we struggle as well.
"A lot of people don't realise that we have the same number for GPs and hospital as they do, so we are in the same sort of queue.
"There has been a lot of frustration definitely with how busy it has been and we're trying to work through that."
The Scottish government said a number of measures were being taken to alleviate pressures on the system and make sure patients were getting care in the right places.
These include the use of flow navigation centres, the hospital at home service and ambulance staff providing treatment to help avoid admission to hospital.
The health secretary is to update parliament at the earliest opportunity and further resilience meetings will take place in the coming days.
'Incredibly grateful'
Ms Sturgeon said: "It is clear that health and social care is currently experiencing a period of intense and indeed unprecedented pressure.
"Staff are working exceptionally hard and have been doing so throughout the Christmas and New Year period. This comes after nearly three years of pandemic-related demands on the system, and we are all incredibly grateful to them for their efforts.
"I am clear that the Scottish government must and will do everything it can to support our health and care service throughout the next few weeks."
The first minister said there was "a huge amount of work being done" and that she would leave "no stone unturned" to explore and implement additional measures.
Ms Sturgeon also said plans included action to reduce unnecessary attendances at A&E and to improve discharge arrangements to reduce pressure on hospital occupancy.