Covid in Scotland: Former maternity wards in Dumfries reopen amid 'spike'
- Published
Non-Covid patients will be treated in two wards opened at the old maternity unit
Two wards have been opened in a former maternity unit in Dumfries to deal with non-Covid patients amid a "spike" in cases in southern Scotland.
NHS Dumfries and Galloway said the facility in the old Cresswell building would help to ease pressure elsewhere.
It said contingency plans had been in place since the earliest stages of the pandemic for such arrangements.
The region has seen a record number of Covid hospital admissions recently driven by a new strain of the virus.
The health board said an increase in the number of people needing urgent treatment had triggered its contingency plans.
Chief Operating Officer Julie White said services had been under pressure since the pandemic began but this had grown in recent weeks.
'Precarious situation'
"The number of newly identified Covid cases in the region has seen a slight decrease in recent days, but the situation remains precarious," she said.
"The delay in time between someone developing Covid and potentially becoming extremely unwell means that many of the people currently being admitted to hospital became positive before local cases had reached their record high.
"In order to ensure that we are able to continue to provide urgent care to those most in need and to ensure that we have the resources where we need them, we have now enacted some of our contingency planning."
She said the move to open the wards would help ease the pressure on the system - particularly at Dumfries Infirmary.
"Doing this helps ensure we retain capacity in our system not just to manage Covid, but also to meet the many other urgent and emergency health requirements within our region."
She urged people to follow guidelines in order to help reduce the risk of transmission.
