Nicola Sturgeon warns hospitals in Scotland are 'almost full' as NHS faces 'worst winter ever'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Nicola Sturgeon has warned hospitals in Scotland are "almost completely full" as the NHS endures its "worst winter ever". The First Minister faced questions at a press conference in Edinburgh today on the crisis in the health service that has seen waiting times rocket.The SNP leader said "more does need to be done now" to reduce unnecessary attendance in hospitals as well as tackling delayed discharges.

The health service is struggling to deal with a rising number of winter flu cases as well as a backlog in treatments caused by the coronavirus pandemic.Hospital beds across the country were at 95 per cent capacity last week - compared to 87 per cent during the same week in 2020.

But Sturgeon praised the efforts of NHS staff and pointed to actions already being taken to reduce demand.She confirmed NHS 24 staffing will increase further and there is a new app coming, as well as extensive self-help guides.

The First Minister said: "In addition to Covid, the country has been experiencing extraordinary levels of winter flu - more than 1,000 patients were admitted to hospital with flu during each of the last two weeks."As a result, Sturgeon warned "hospitals right now are currently almost completely full".She continued: "Last Wednesday hospital bed occupancy across Scotland exceeded 95 per cent.