College supports new restrictions in Scotland to keep people safe and protect the NHS

17 Nov 2020

The President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow today declared the College’s support for the new restrictions announced by Scotland’s First Minister today (Tuesday 17th November) as a means to reduce community transmission of COVID-19, and in turn save lives and protect the NHS.

In a statement to the Scottish Parliament, the First Minister has announced that eleven local authority areas, including Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Stirling and parts of Ayrshire, will be subject to new “level 4” restrictions in order to reduce interactions between people from different households as much as possible in order to reduce transmission of COVID-19 as quickly as possible.

Speaking following the announcement in the Scottish parliament, Professor Jackie Taylor, President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow said:

“Doctors across the country will support today’s announcement as a means to reduce the spread of this deadly virus in our communities.

“Although the rate of increase of numbers of COVID-19 cases has slowed over the past few weeks, our membership continues to see high numbers of seriously ill patients in hospitals across the country. This causes great concern not only for this specific group of patients and their families, but because of the knock-on effect this has on other hospital care. We must reduce the number of people contracting COVID-19 if our health service is to be able to operate effectively for all patients.

“Our medical profession will continue to work with everyone in the NHS and play our part to provide the best possible care for patients, but the public’s role in combating this pandemic is also crucial. It’s only by following the rules and taking steps to reduce community transmission of this virus that we can ensure that we can save lives and protect our NHS.

“Our plea to the public is to please play your part, and follow these new rules. Only by working together can we overcome this second wave of cases”