Larbert hospital still awaiting surge in virus patients

And while plans have been drawn up to expand the options for intensive care, admissions have stayed stable to such an extent that they are not yet needed.Andrew Murray, Forth Valley’s medical director, said things were very different in the hospital at the moment as NHS staff brace themselves for a surge they know could hit at any time.He said: “We’re in a high state of readiness and really well prepared for what’s potentially still to come.”Mr Murray confirmed there were enough ventilators to cover their expansion plan with more on order as part of a national plan.Mr Murray said the fact they are able to say they have capacity “in all the right places” is largely down the efforts of the community following NHS advice to stay inside as much as possible.He said: “We haven’t seen those surges that were reported several weeks ago in Italy and Spain and so on, and although one or two other health boards in Scotland are becoming pressurised that’s not the case with us and that’s testament to the community and how they are adhering to the guidance.”Dr Graham Foster, Forth Valley’s director of public health, also thanked people in this area for staying at home.He said: “It is very encouraging is that people in Forth Valley do seem to be following the stay at home guidelines which is really, really important.“The pressure that we’re seeing on the NHS has been fairly stable over the last week – the number has been well within our capacity and we’re in a really good position and I think that is huge credit to the people of Forth Valley for following the guidance and staying at home.”But both doctors emphasised how important it was for people to continue to follow the guidelines, no matter how difficult it gets at times.Dr Foster said: “We hope that people will see that it’s working and that they’ll want to keep going.“We need to be honest with people and we need to stress how important it is.“We absolutely need people to stay at home – the virus needs hosts and it has to jump from one person to another.“If we can stop providing hosts, we can stop the virus spreading.”As the numbers soar in some Scottish health boards – in particular Glasgow – and capacity is being stretched to breaking point in some UK cities, including London, the warnings are there about what could happen in Forth Valley at any time.So, while Dr Foster is happy that local people are heeding the advice he needs everyone to continue to do so.“We can’t stress enough the key message – stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives.”

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