Edinburgh Royal Infirmary cancels non-urgent procedures to focus on Covid cases

Patients due to undergo the procedures have been contacted to say they have been postponed.

In a move first revealed by Edinburgh Live, NHS Lothian said that 37 individual treatments had been temporarily halted to deal with the “ongoing Covid-19 pandemic”.

These procedures were elective and not urgent, and may have been surgical or non-surgical.

NHS Lothian apologised for the “upset and frustration” caused to patients, and said that alternative arrangements would be made for the operations.

Jacquie Campbell, Chief Officer, Acute Services at NHS Lothian said, “In response to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the need to safely manage capacity and balance risk within our sites, 37 non-urgent elective procedures at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh were recently postponed.

"This was required to ensure that we can continue to provide care and treatment to the sickest of patients who need to be in hospital at this time.

"We understand how upsetting and frustrating this can be for patients, and we apologise to those who have been impacted as a result. We would like to offer our assurance that alternative appointments will be provided as soon as possible."

NHS Lothian confirmed that all other elective procedures are still going ahead, and that if patients have not been notified to say their appointment has been postponed they should assume it will not be affected.

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