THURSDAY, 9 JANUARY, 2025

Immediate release

Incredible response by healthcare staff in Tayside over the festive holidays

Teams across NHS Tayside and the three local Health and Social Care Partnerships have pulled together over a busy festive period to deliver care to people across Tayside.

Health and care teams across the system saw a rise in patients presenting with flu-like and seasonal illnesses, which led to more admissions into our hospitals over the Christmas and New Year break.

Despite these challenges, our teams have worked tirelessly to deliver care and treatment for thousands of people in our hospitals and in the community during Christmas and New Year and ensure that services continue to run smoothly.

The GP and Primary Care Out of Hours service had more than 5570 contacts with patients through face-to-face appointments, home visits and advice calls, with 2905 during the Christmas week (24-29 Dec) and 2670 over New Year (31 December – 5 January). This was a 57% increase in patient contacts over the Christmas period and a 40% increase over the New Year period compared to 2023/24.

It was also an extremely busy time for our staff in the Emergency Departments and Acute Medical Unit, as well as across all our inpatient wards in Ninewells and Perth Royal Infirmary over the same periods.

More than 2700 people attended the Emergency Departments during these dates, and there were 1922 emergency inpatient admissions.

The Health and Social Care Partnerships in Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross played a key role during this busy time by providing care in the community and making sure patients were safely discharged home or to an appropriate community setting when they were assessed as ready to leave hospital.

NHS Tayside Executive Nurse Director Simon Dunn praised the efforts of staff throughout the festive period.

Simon said, “Our incredible teams have worked extremely hard and I would like to sincerely thank all of our amazing staff in NHS Tayside, the Health and Social Care partnerships in Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross, and colleagues in the Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS 24. They have all stepped up and played a vital role to help us deliver care and treatment for the people of Tayside.

“Our whole system Winter Plan is working well to respond to any increase in demand and as we face the ongoing pressures of winter in the coming weeks, our dedicated teams will continue to work together to ensure health and care services are available when they are needed for patients and their families.

“Members of the public can continue to support our teams by knowing the right place to go for different health needs. You can visit www.keepwellinwinter.scot.nhs.uk for lots of useful advice on how to look after you and your family’s health this winter and where to get the right care in the right place.”

Contact:

Debbie Huband

NHS Tayside Communications

(01382) 740134