As NHS trusts in England are instructed to resume routine services, the Scottish Government has said the current suspension of services must continue for now.  

At the start of the week NHS trusts in England were instructed by the UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock to resume services that had been scaled back as the NHS looked to free up capacity to deal with covid-19 patients.

Asked by healthandcare.scot whether the same instructions could be expected in Scotland in the coming days, the Scottish Government has said current reductions in services must continue but the resumption of routine services was being “actively considered”.

“Whilst the efforts and sacrifices of people across Scotland are now showing early promising results, we need to continue with the current situation whilst we also give active consideration as to whether and if so, when any reinstatement of currently ‘paused’ healthcare can be reinstated,” a Scottish Government spokesperson said.

On Thursday Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the UK had come through the peak of the virus.

Asked whether she believed the same thing the following day, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was more reserved in her summary of where Scotland was in the pandemic, instead stating there were “positive signs of progress” to be seen in a falling transmission rate and a downward trend in intensive care admissions.

Since the virus hit the UK, health services have seen drastic reductions in people seeking help for non-covid related ailments.

Scotland’s interim Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith has repeatedly urged members of the public to still seek help for any worrying symptoms.

A 72% reduction in urgent cancer referrals since the NHS in Scotland was moved to an emergency footing towards the end of March led Cancer Research UK to warn that leaving the investigation of so many suspected cancers until a later date could risk breaking ‘an already flooded NHS system’.

Last week Professor of Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, Linda Bauld, called for a rethink of current service provision after a rise of nearly 900 deaths in Scotland that were not linked to covid-19, including from heart disease and cancer.

The Scottish Government spokesperson continued: “In line with the Government’s Framework for Decision Making published last week, a careful balance needs to be achieved in managing our healthcare capacity.

“Understanding what we need to keep in reserve to deal with the existing priorities of covid-19 and urgent emergency and maternity care is paramount in establishing what capacity there is to safely restore more routine activity, including elective surgery. 

“Careful planning is required to keep the virus transmission rate under control to protect the NHS from being overwhelmed and save lives.”

“We continue to work closely with Health Boards and their partners to look at all options and to ensure there are robust plans in place to minimise the impact of covid-19 across the health system.”

Details about the Scottish Government’s longer-term approach to testing are expected next week as Nicola Sturgeon looks to move the country into the test, trace and isolate phase of responding to the pandemic, which the First Minister said would play an important part in ‘helping us gradually emerge from lockdown’.

 

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