Covid in Scotland: Essential visiting only at Wishaw hospital

Only essential visiting will be allowed at University Hospital Wishaw from Saturday, as Covid cases rise.

NHS Lanarkshire said the decision had been difficult but it had to keep patients and staff as safe as possible.

Only patients who would be distressed or suffer by not seeing a family member will be allowed visits.

Patients at University Hospital Monklands and University Hospital Hairmyres will continue to be allowed one visit per day by one person.

There will be no change to visiting in the mental health and maternity wards at Wishaw.

The health board said the situation at all three hospitals would be reviewed daily.

NHS Lanarkshire said the number of Covid patients in their hospitals had doubled in the last week, and a number of staff were off sick too, some of whom have Covid.

Eddie Docherty, of NHS Lanarkshire, said: "We understand that patients in hospital are having a challenging time and want to have their family and friends around them for support.

"Unfortunately, it is our priority to protect our patients and staff as much as is possible and this is why we have made the difficult decision to limit visiting at this time.

"However, this is being reviewed daily and as soon as it is safe to do so, we will be expanding visiting by prioritising access for those closest to the patient."

He added that anyone with questions about visiting should speak to the nurse in charge of the ward. He also urged visitors to carry out lateral flow tests before seeing patients.

"We hope everyone will understand that this decision has been made in the best interests of patients, other visitors and our staff," he said.