Non-urgent treatment could return as coronavirus admissions drop

Fewer than 5 patients are being treated in Dumfries & Galloway Credit: ITV News

A few weeks ago the intensive care unit at Dumfries & Galloway's Royal Infirmary was beyond capacity. Now it's caring for just one COVID-19 patient.

Figures from the Scottish Government show there are fewer than five coronavirus patients being treated here. In the Scottish Borders, that figure is 26 and across Cumbria, only a handful of people with the virus are in hospital.

Before the peak, all non-elective treatment was cancelled in order to free up beds but some fear that could have lead to a rise in the number of non-COVID-19 deaths.

Director of Public Health in Cumbria, Colin Cox said: ”There has been harm caused by coronavirus that has not been directly caused by coronavirus through people missing other operations and we know that there has been an excess mortality which has not been from COVID-19 positive deaths."

As many hospital wards remain quiet, and restrictions are eased in England, planned treatment could soon return.

Inside a COVID-19 ward Credit: ITV News

Mr Cox continued: ”Hospitals have to start looking carefully again at how they can start to put their mainstream business back in place, that bit of this jigsaw need to get put together now and we need to start ramping back up the NHS capacity to support people in their time of need."

In Scotland though, caution is the name of the game. Lockdown rules remain largely unchanged and a second wave is at the back of people's minds.

Dr Kenneth Donaldson, Medical Director for Dumfries and Galloway said: “I think we need to be cautious, whilst we obviously remain open to anything emergency or urgent issues that people still need to attend hospital, in the situation of a lockdown we can't go back to business as usual."

Dr Cliff Sharp, Medical Director for the Scottish Borders said: "We're taking a slightly more cautious approach in Scotland than England for good reasons because we want to make sure that our services don't get overwhelmed. This has not gone away, there will be a further surge no doubt as the lockdown measures ease we just need to do that slowly and carefully."

  • WATCH: Video report by Dumfries & Galloway reporter Lewis Warner

It's likely to be a matter of weeks before NHS Trusts are able to begin treating these cases again.

People are still being urged to seek medical advice if they have any worrying symptoms, not just for coronavirus.

As the fight against one killer begins to turn a corner, slowly, attention is returning to those that cause so much harm.

Coronavirus: Everything you need to know: