Ayrshire’s NHS has had to cancel operations because COVID-19 patients need the beds.

NHS Ayrshire and Arran revealed that ‘a small number of operations’ were cancelled due to ‘increasing pressure’ as a result of coronavirus.

Tragically, 32 people died from the virus in October, having tested positive within 28 days of their death.

Across Ayrshire, 2,674 people tested positive for COVID-19 last month.

Surgical beds in Ayrshire hospitals have been repurposed for patients infected with the virus, and extra capacity has been created in newly opened areas as well as the health board’s infectious disease ward.

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Part of the Day Surgery Unit has been repurposed to ‘enhance’ the board’s critical care capacity. The health board had also stopped serial testing of over 70s inpatients, based on guidance from the Chief Nursing Officer.

Dr Crawford McGuffie, NHS Ayrshire and Arran’s Medical Director, said: “Over the last week, in response to the increasing pressure on our hospitals as a result of COVID-19, it has been necessary to cancel a small number of operations.

“We are reviewing our operating schedule for the next few weeks in order to ensure that the high clinical priority operations continue, and to ensure that any other cancellation of operations is kept to a minimum.

He continued: “If this does happen, we will do all that we can to carefully co-ordinate this reduction to minimise the impact on patients and to prevent short-notice cancellations.”