Contingency arrangements in Western Isles Hospital

Contingency arrangements to ensure Western Isles Hospital can remain open to new admissions have been put in place, after a small number of cases of COVID-19 were identified within Surgical Ward on Tuesday.

This follows a number of cases associated with Medical Ward 2 being identified on Saturday. 

All patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 have been transferred to the Stornoway hospital’s COVID Ward. All other patients on Medical Ward 2 and Surgical Ward who were contacts of patients who had tested positive, are now being cared for in Medical Ward 2. 

Surgical Ward remains open for any new hospital admissions.

Both Medical Ward 2 and Surgical Ward are now operating restricted visiting arrangements. We would ask that anyone intending on visiting keeps the number of visits to a minimum and anyone who feels unwell or has COVID symptoms is requested not to visit.

An Incident Management Group is meeting daily to ensure all necessary measures are in place to prevent further spread of the virus.   

All visitors to the hospital are reminded to hand sanitise on entry to the hospital and again when entering/leaving a clinical area and to wear a surgical mask (provided) for the duration of your visit (unless you are unable to do so for medical reasons).

NHS Western Isles Chief Executive, Gordon Jamieson, said: “Unfortunately COVID-19 has not gone away and we are seeing a number of positive cases in different parts of the Western Isles. Despite having strict Infection Prevention and Control measures in place across all our services and sites, the virus can get through our defences. When that happens we have to act swiftly to protect our vulnerable patients.

“I would like to apologise to patients for any interruption or delays they may experience, and reassure them that we have all necessary protective measures in place. I also wish to thank our staff for their excellent response to contain and prevent further spread, and for ensuring that necessary staffing is in place to manage the new arrangements.”