NHS Lanarkshire is delighted to have the support of colleagues from North and South Lanarkshire councils to help staff across the three acute hospitals during these challenging times.
As pressures across the acute sites continues as a result of winter pressures, continued cases of the Omicron variant and workforce shortages caused by staff absences, NHS Lanarkshire is turning to council colleagues to help manage current workload over the next month.
A number of staff from the councils, third-sector partners and volunteers are also supporting Covid-19 testing and vaccination as well as providing Health and Social Care support.
NHS Lanarkshire chief executive Heather Knox said: “Our services across the whole system are experiencing more pressure that at any other point and the present demand on our hospitals is exceptional.
“The Omicron variant continues to have a negative impact on many of our health services and we continue to face staffing challenges across health services.
“We are delighted to welcome the support of council colleagues over the next month to help ensure our services can deliver effective patient care. We really appreciate their assistance as this time and I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our staff for their continuing hard work and dedication over this particularly busy time.”
Ten staff from South Lanarkshire Council have completed training and have already started supporting on the wards at University Hospital Wishaw and University Hospital Hairmyres. A further 12 staff from North Lanarkshire Council will be deployed in University Hospital Monklands and Wishaw next week.
Organisational development colleagues and practice development unit colleagues have been instrumental in supporting the swift deployment of staff.
Jackie Baird, senior nurse at University Hospital Hairmyres, said:
“We are thrilled to welcome colleagues from the council as we face severe challenges this winter. We have had three council colleagues joining us yesterday with another couple starting Monday. They have hit the ground running and been such a big help already. All the current staff have received a big lift and we can’t say how grateful we are for their help at this time.
“The staff will be providing a general role in the wards, with tasks including supporting the movement of patients and equipment, engaging with patients, supporting the management of patients and visitors through the sites and general housekeeping duties that will support departmental staff in the provision of patient care.
“All deployed staff will be suitably trained and fully supported by existing staff on site.”
Des Murray, chief executive of North Lanarkshire Council said: “It’s clear that Covid-19 has placed enormous pressure on some of our most crucial services such as health and social care, as well as acute services at NHS Lanarkshire, which is enhancing its patient capacity at hospitals.
“Our staff have shown remarkable resilience throughout the pandemic to support other council services when needed and that willingness has already been extended to our partners over the last 18 months with many working to support the delivery of the vaccination programme. The proven success of that combined effort continues as a remarkable cohort of staff in facility support roles will assist in acute settings at NHS Lanarkshire sites.
“Our priority is that the people in our communities who are the most vulnerable continue to receive the urgent care that they need and that critical services can be accessed.”
South Lanarkshire Council chief executive Cleland Sneddon said: “One positive aspect of Covid-19 has been the way public sector organisations have worked together to strengthen the collective effort against the pandemic. There are numerous examples of this, as indeed there are of community groups and volunteers stepping up to play their part too.
“I am pleased that, in this particular case, South Lanarkshire Council and South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture staff have volunteered to help our colleagues in the NHS continue to deliver much-needed hospital services. They have received training for this and we will continue to give them the support they deserve for their selfless efforts.”
