Routine ops on hold for longer at Borders General Hospital

In a statement made last night, a spokesperson said: “While Covid-19 numbers have reduced in the community over the past few weeks, the demand on our hospital remains high.

“In order to properly care for the many sick people who are currently in the Borders General Hospital we will be pausing all scheduled routine operations for a further two weeks.

“All cancer treatment and urgent operations, as well as a proportion of our outpatient services are currently still going ahead.

“We will continue to closely monitor the situation and commence elective operations again as soon as we have the necessary capacity and it is safe to do so.”

Associate director of acute services, Gareth Clinkscale, pictured, said: “Our teams are continuing to work extremely hard to care for our patients in the BGH. Due to the sustained numbers of people we are treating, we have made the difficult decision to pause all scheduled routine operations for a further two weeks. Those patients who are affected will be contacted directly.

“This was not a decision that we have taken lightly and I would like to apologise for any distress and disappointment that this is inevitably causing.

“However the safety of our patients and staff is incredibly important to us and this decision was taken in order to ensure this.”