Cancer patients are among those who have had operations cancelled at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Several patients have had their operations cancelled in the last couple of days, following a decision by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to classify the virus as a pandemic.
The health board today confirmed a “number” of operations have been cancelled while the hospital develops its “state of readiness” in response to the ongoing outbreak, stressing that any patients that have been cancelled will be prioritised and rebooked as “quickly as possible”.
Ruaraidh White, from Dingwall, said he and his mum have been left with an anxious wait after urgent surgery to remove a suspected cancerous mass from her stomach area was cancelled today, despite surgeons looking “visibly unhappy” at the decision not to operate.
The 23-year-old said: “We knew yesterday that Raigmore had been cancelling roughly half of their appointments and the surgeon stressed to the managers that it must go ahead.
“The reason they gave was the WHO declaring it as a pandemic. This decision was taken when it was confirmed there were zero cases in Highlands and when it’s not filled up with people coming in.”
The pair have been given “no word” on when the operation will go ahead and both have been left “worrying” about the situation.
Ruaraidh said: “We are just waiting for them to get back to us.
“We understand they need to take precautionary measures but it doesn’t seem other health boards have been doing this and they have confirmed cases.”
Meanwhile, Elaine Mackay, 58, from Dornoch, said her daughter had a gynaecological appointment cancelled yesterday and is awaiting a phone call next week to find out when it could be rescheduled.
She said: “Yesterday afternoon we got a phone call to say it had been cancelled because the WHO had declared a pandemic.
“So far there’s no cases at Raigmore. They could have waited for next week. The government hasn’t announced the cancellation of operations yet.”
There have so far been no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Highland although six cases have been reported in Shetland.
Raigmore Hospital in Inverness is among the sites where large “drive through” facilities have been installed so members of the public can quickly check if they have been infected.
Developed in recent weeks in Korea, the tents enable drivers to go through the entire testing process within a few minutes, without leaving their cars.
The decision to cancel any operation is not one that we take lightly and all efforts are made to ensure that any cancellations are kept to a minimum and we apologise to all patients that are affected.
NHS Highland’s head of acute services Katherine Sutton said: “There are a number of operations being rescheduled while the hospital is developing its state of readiness in response to the ongoing Covid-19 situation.
“The decision to cancel any operation is not one that we take lightly and all efforts are made to ensure that any cancellations are kept to a minimum and we apologise to all patients that are affected.
“Any patients that have been cancelled are prioritised and rebooked as quickly as possible.”
A blueprint created by NHS Highland previously revealed the contingency plans which would come into effect during a major pandemic, covering emergency services, transport, food distribution, pharmaceutical supplies, utilities and communications, management of mass casualties, maintenance of public order and the role of the police and armed forces.
The plans acknowledged there could be “delays” in dealing with other medical conditions and “probable cancellation” of elective admissions.
An NHS Grampian spokeswoman confirmed they have not postponed surgeries as a result of the outbreak.