#Covid Pressures on Hospitals in Scotland Weekly Update

By theorkneynews on September 22, 2022 • ( Leave a comment )

Information from Public Health Scotland – in the latest week ending 18 September 2022, in Scotland there were:

254 new COVID-19 admissions to hospital
on average 631 patients in hospital with COVID-19, a 4.0% decrease from the previous week ending 11 September 2022 (657)
16 new admissions to intensive care units (ICUs) with a laboratory-confirmed test of COVID-19, an increase of 7 from the previous week (11 September 2022).

Out of the 477,294 patients waiting for a new outpatient appointment at 31 August 2022, there were 2,106 patients waiting longer than two years.

In the latest week ending 18 September 2022, for every 1,000 emergency admissions there were 24 COVID-19 admissions (2.4%) in all age groups. In the same week, the 70-74 age group had the highest rate of COVID-19 admissions (4.1%) and the 18-29 age group had the lowest rate (1.1%).

The number of COVID-19 patients in hospital is an indicative measure of the pressure on hospitals, as these patients still require isolation from other patients for infection control purposes.

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have a wider impact on health and care as a result of the lockdown, economic pressures and changes to health services.

COVID-19 vaccines protect most people against severe outcomes, but some people will still get sick because no vaccine is 100% effective

Hospital Waiting Times

The COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak has had a significant impact on elective care, and this is reflected in waiting times statistics. Early on in the outbreak many services were paused or reduced and there were also fewer referrals to services.

At 31 August 2022:
• Out of the 477,294 patients waiting for a new outpatient appointment, there were 2,106 patients waiting longer than two years.
• The specialty with most long waits was Gastroenterology, with 552 patients waiting over two years for a new outpatient appointment.
• The Boards that reported the highest number of waits over two years were NHS Ayrshire & Arran (1,293), followed by NHS Grampian (598) and NHS Tayside (137).
• Three territorial Boards reported no patients waiting longer than two years: NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, NHS Shetland, and NHS Western Isles.

Number of patients waiting longer than two years for a new outpatient appointment, by NHS Board, at 31 August 2022

View the COVID-19 Statistical Report

As we now move to living with the virus, the emphasis has shifted from containing the virus to managing the impact, including limiting severe disease and managing demands on the health system. As a result, we have moved away from community testing to targeting testing to specific groups.

Because of this, testing data have become increasingly difficult to interpret and do not reflect the burden of COVID-19 in the community.

from 22 September 2022, several measures will no longer be shown on the COVID-19 dashboard including; positive cases by episode of infection/test type, positive tests and cases by local neighbourhood. Instead, the ONS COVID Infection Survey information, which is currently the most robust measure of community COVID-19 prevalence in Scotland, is now included within our weekly report as the primary measure of prevalence.
Public Health Scotland

The cumulative total of Covid cases in Orkney is 6,184 with 6 new positive cases when last recorded.

In Scotland, in the week ending 5 September 2022, the estimated number of people testing positive for COVID-19 was 113,500 (95% credible interval: 93,900 to 136,000), equating to 2.16% of the population, or around 1 in 45 people (Source: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey, UK – Office for National Statistics)

Click on this link: Public Health Scotland COVID-19 Statistical Report