Winter isn’t even over but NHS Lanarkshire has already been put to the test.

Bad weather, increased flu and respiratory illness and the festive holidays all created unprecedented demand on services.

But staff rose to the challenge and worked tirelessly to make sure patients were seen and treated as quickly as possible.

Chair of NHS Lanarkshire Neena Mahal said: “I would like to thank all our amazing staff who worked incredibly hard to make sure our patients get the care they need.

“The response from everyone was fantastic and I was very proud of the team spirit our staff showed during some very busy and pressured days”.

Chief Executive Calum Campbell said: “Winter is always a challenging time for the NHS but I think we all recognise that the demand on our services this year has been exceptionally high.

“The dedication and commitment of our staff is never in doubt but I was extremely impressed with the extra efforts of all our staff during January and December.”

Fantastic work by teams to meet trauma cases

The number of patients treated by NHS Lanarkshire for broken or dislocated wrists, ankles and hips nearly trebled when treacherous icy conditions hit before Christmas.

There were so many trauma cases due to falls, including unusually complex fractures, that dedicated staff carried out a week-and-a half’s work in just three days.

NHS Lanarkshire service manager for trauma and orthopaedics Stephen Peebles said: “The number of trauma cases is typically around 50 a week at this time of year. But we carried out an unprecedented total of 124 operations from December 15 to 21.

“We successfully managed this extremely large number of procedures because our fantastic staff really pulled together across University Hospital Hairmyres, University Hospital Monklands and University Hospital Wishaw.

“A total of 70 of the trauma cases were done in just three days – from the Monday to the Wednesday, at our inpatient sites for orthopaedics at Wishaw and Hairmyres.

“Additional capacity, over and above our standard weekend trauma operating theatres, was also in place at Wishaw on the Sunday.”

Among the clinical staff who rose to meet the challenge was orthopaedic consultant Mr David Howie, trauma lead at University Hospital Wishaw.

Speaking at the time, he said: “The sheer volume of trauma generated by the recent ice has been remarkable, and it has caused a mixture of relatively standard hip, ankle and wrist fractures, but also a significant number of more complex fractures which take considerably longer time in theatre to fix, and often require a surgeon with a specific skillset (shoulder surgeon, hand surgeon, hip surgeon etc).

“This increased volume has had a significant impact on everyone involved in looking after these patients; the emergency departments, radiographers, radiologists, and on-call junior doctors at the coal face; trauma liaison nurses co-ordinating the admissions; nursing and auxiliary staff on the wards, in theatres, and in clinics managing the care of the patients; care of the elderly staff optimising the elderly and planning onward care; physiotherapists and occupational therapists working to get those fixed mobilising and back home safely; secretarial and support staff dealing with the increased fracture clinic attendances; management and admin staff shuffling elective lists and managing theatres; and the surgeons.

“The team are already hard working, and there is no ‘spare time’ to offset this increased activity level, which has unfortunately meant many have been working later, coming in earlier, or have given up doing other things, just to manage these extra trauma cases. So far the team have done a great job, but the winter is not yet over.”

To create the additional capacity for the extra emergency operations, orthopaedic elective procedures were postponed for three days and rescheduled as soon as possible.

NHS Lanarkshire director of acute services Heather Knox said: “I’d like to pay tribute to all of the staff who showed exemplary teamwork in managing the increased pressure within emergency departments and the rise in trauma cases.

“I’d also like to thank those patients who had their planned procedures cancelled for their patience and understanding in these unprecedented circumstances.”

Office staff volunteer to help hospital colleagues

Office staff across NHS Lanarkshire volunteered to support hospital staff and GP practices who were working flat-out dealing with the volume of patients suffering from winter illnesses.

A&E departments at Lanarkshire’s three hospital sites at Hairmyres, Wishaw and Monklands were inundated with patients over the festive period.

To help their colleagues cope with demand, staff who are normally office based volunteered to be re-deployed at hospitals and GP practices in supporting roles including administrative work and cleaning duties.

Praise for health and social care staff

Thanks have gone to health and social care staff and the many people who volunteered to support their work amid the winter challenges.

Staff across NHS Lanarkshire, Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership pulled out all the stops as pressure on services rose.

As snow hit, staff made strenuous efforts to get to their workplaces and some were taken to visit patients by volunteer 4×4 drivers.

A large number of GP practices also opened on Saturdays throughout January to help meet the increased need for GP appointments.

Staff in the headlines

The heroic efforts of staff across NHS Lanarkshire was highlighted in both local and national media.

Newspapers praised all staff for pulling together under pressure.

Here is a selection of the headlines that appeared:

• NHS office staff deployed to help with A&E demand (Evening Times, Thursday 4 January 2018)
• NHS office staff asked to clean hospitals (Scottish Daily Mail, Thursday 4 January 2018)
• Health board office staff switched to A&E as demand for services soars (The i), Thursday 4 January 2018)
• Three times more patients treated after falling on ice (Hamilton Advertise, Thursday 4 January 2018)
• Pulling together under pressure (Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser, Wednesday 17 January 2018)
• GPs offer Saturday appointments to cope with huge level of demand (The Herald, Saturday 6 January 2018)
• GPs open Saturday surgeries for patients (Daily Record, Saturday 6 January 2018)