Health board cancels operations due to staff sickness

The Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick. 

Planned operations have been cancelled due to staff sickness – following reports that Covid is rife in the community once again.

NHS Shetland said patients may also have to wait longer to access other services.

The announcement follows widespread reports in the community of people becoming ill with Covid-19 after attending Up-Helly-A’.

Director of nursing and acute services Kathleen Carolan said the cancelled operations would be rescheduled as soon as possible and all patients had been informed.

“This is part of our business continuity plan and means we will still be able to respond if there is a surgical emergency,” she said.

“We have considered the need to do this very carefully as we are aware of the impact that it will have on patients who were expecting to have an operation this week, which have been cancelled at short notice.

“We would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the limitations to our planned care service this week.

“We will be keeping all services under review until staff start to return to work and we will provide regular updates on our Facebook page. “

Mrs Carolan asked patients seeking advice to use NHS Inform or NHS 24

The Gilbert Bain Hospital’s emergency department remains available 24/7 for medical emergencies.