A health board has announced that it is cancelling all non-urgent surgery as rising covid-19 cases place hospitals under further pressure.

NHS Highland said it was seeing unprecedented levels of demand and Raigmore hospital in Inverness was now at code black status, the most severe alert, as it had “reached capacity”.

The seven-day average of positive cases in the Highland area now stands at 115 new cases a day, a fivefold increase since the start of June.

The health board is warning that the rapid rise in cases is affecting the most vulnerable, including care home residents.

Outpatient activity, with the exception of cancer, urgent care, Allied Health Professionals and diagnostics, has also been paused.

NHS Highland’s Medical Director Dr Boyd Peters warned the board was struggling to balance rising covid cases and routine work at a time when staff were off work due to sickness and planned leave:

“We are doing all we can to safeguard services but we have had to make the difficult decision to cancel non-urgent work which I know many will find upsetting and frustrating. We are very sorry that we have had to do this.

“Covid is on the increase again but what is different this time is that we are seeing more medical and surgical activity at the same time. We also have a high number of staff having to self-isolate.

“If you are accessing services please be advised that your wait may be longer than expected. We are doing everything we can to minimise that but the pressure on the system is significant.”

Scottish government figures released last week revealed sharp increases in covid-related staff absences in recent months.

Overall staff absences more than doubled from the beginning of May to the last week of June, with nearly 2,400 staff off work due to the virus.

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