Marches that are licensed for up to 100,000 climate change activists could place the “biggest demand” on Glasgow’s hospitals during the COP26 summit, according to a report.

Official documents state that additional staff are being sought by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde for accident and emergency units ahead of marches on November 5 and 6.

Extra staff are also being drafted into mental health assessment units and the police custody service.

The report also reveals that NHS staff have been given training in "chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence".

Greta Thunberg has said she will join the November 5 march, which will follow a route from Kelvingrove Park in the city’s west end to George Square, starting at 11am and is aimed at young activists.

It has been organised by Fridays for Future (FFF) Scotland — the Scottish branch of an international youth movement founded by the Swedish environmental activist.

The second march, which will travel from Kelvingrove to Glasgow Green from noon, has been organised by the COP26 Coalition and is expected to be much larger.

More than 20 other protests are planned across the world on the same day.

Glasgow's health board said information from other COP events and from the recent G7 summit found there was limited demand for hospital admission and “as such no specific provision has been made for additional inpatient capacity”.

However, there have been warnings that the summit could trigger a fresh spike in Covid cases, piling pressure on an already overstretched NHS.

The SEC will have its own medical treatment centre, staffed by doctors and advanced paramedics to deal with minor ailments and injuries and direct delegates to pharmacy services.

Daily attendance at the summit has been capped at 14,000 delegates a day due to social distancing requirements, the equivalent to the capacity of the Hydro.

The board papers state: “By way of contrast the three main football stadiums have daily capacity of over 50,000.

“Many delegates are not staying in hotels in Glasgow but will be travelling daily into the city.

“It is likely that the biggest demand for healthcare will be from activists who will be attending the event and the 2 activist marches on 5th and 6th of November.

“The march on 6th November has been licensed for up 100,000 people. Additional staffing is being sought for the emergency departments.”

All GPs and relevant hospital managers have been sent the postcode data of areas where patients might need emergency access to hospital such as pregnant women.

It comes after the Herald told how hundreds of patients in Glasgow are having face-to-face hospital appointments cancelled or rescheduled in a bid to reduce road traffic during COP26.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said it would be increasing the number of virtual consultations and moving some face-to-face consultations to different times of the day in order to accommodate a “temporary increase in population” in the city over the two-week climate summit.

Patients began receiving letters over the past week notifying them of changes to their appointments.

The health board said a”small number” of patients due to attend the West of Scotland Ambulatory Care Hospital on Monday November 1 have had appointments rescheduled or relocated to alternative sites.

The outpatient facility, located in the former children’s hospital building in Yorkhill, also operates a minor injuries unit.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said all urgent appointments and those for cancer patients will go ahead as planned.

A spokesman for NHS GGC said: “Ahead of COP26 we are working closely with partners to ensure robust plans are in place to enable us to respond to demands for healthcare during the conference, which includes responding to the temporary increase in population.

“All of our hospital facilities will remain open and operational throughout the conference.
“Any additional staff resource required for our departments will be drawn from existing resources or our Staff Bank."