A Scottish health board has asked families to take home patients if they are no longer receiving treatment to ease pressures on hospitals as the Omicron variant surges.

NHS Lanarkshire, which runs University Hospitals Monklands, Wishaw and Hairmyres, has asked families who are in a position to do so where appropriate, to bring their relatives home.

A statement posted by NHS Lanarkshire described its hospitals as “exceptionally busy”. 

The full statement, posted on Twitter read: “Our hospitals are exceptionally busy. We recognise that not all families will be in a position to do this, but we are asking families with relatives in hospital who are no longer receiving treatment to consider bringing them home where appropriate to help ease current pressures.”

In October 2021, the health board raised its risk level to ‘code black’ as pressure on their services mounted.

During that time, cancer procedures were cancelled and members of the army were urgently called in to provide support.

 

In an earlier statement today, NHS Lanarkshire urged the public to “ensure they access the right help at the right time”, reiterating that in non-emergency situations NHS24 should be contacted using the number 111.

The plea comes as cases of coronavirus in Scotland have reached an all time high with more than 20,000 positive cases reported on Monday.

A total of 1,147 people are currently in hospital who recently contracted Covid with 42 patients who have contracted the virus currently in intensive care across the country.