Forth Valley Royal Hospital battles rising absences as staff isolate

Forth Valley Royal Hospital is having to cope with rising absences due to positive COVID test results and staff self isolating.
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There are currently 230 staff off - and while that equates to less than one per cent of the total workforce, the majority are nursing and other frontline staff.

And that is putting pressure on services across the hospital.

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A spokesperson for NHS Forth Valley said: “Like many organisations, we have seen a recent increase in the number of absences due to staff testing positive for Covid-19 or self-isolating while they wait for a PCR test result or because they are a close or household contact of someone who has tested positive.”

Picture Michael Gillen.Picture Michael Gillen.
Picture Michael Gillen.
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She said absences vary on a daily basis, and added: We are doing everything possible to maintain adequate staffing levels. This is being closely monitored to ensure we support the service areas most affected.”

The absences come as the region continues to face rising COVID cases and more instances of the highly transmissible omicron variant.

The latest Scottish Government data shows that 292 new people across the Falkirk postcode area had a confirmed positive COVID test result reported on December 31.

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Between December 25-31, 2,454 people had a confirmed positive test result. - an increase of 101.0% compared to the previous seven days.

There were no deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported on January 4.

A total of 129,495 people had their first vaccine by December 30, and 119,486 ad their second. Just over 91,000 have had a booster or third dose.

Figures published on January 5, show there are now 1063 confirmed cases of omicron.

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That is a near ten-fold rise since the 150 reported cases on Christmas Eve.

The pandemic, combined with higher than usual levels of patients experiencing delays in being discharged from local hospitals, placed unprecedented pressures on local health services heading into the festive period.

Health officials said the emergency department at Forth Valley Royal Hospital was seeing exceptionally high numbers.

They stressed it was there to treat patients with serious illnesses and injuries.

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Anyone with a non-life-threatening condition, who requires urgent healthcare, should call NHS 24 on 111.

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