Intensive Therapy Unit

We are aware of information circulating on social media about the capacity of our Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU) at the BGH.

Whilst we appreciate that the sentiment behind the message is urging people to follow the instruction to stay at home, which of course we fully support, we also know that the information is causing significant anxiety within our community.

So we want to reassure the people of the Borders that we have been preparing for the potential impact of COVID-19 for many weeks now.

We have rearranged the wards and departments within  the Borders General Hospital in order to increase the number of beds we have available to treat people, and this includes a significant increase in our ITU capacity. We are also training lots of clinical staff so that they can undertake additional duties as the number of people we are treating for COVID-19 increases.

We know that it is an anxious time for everyone, including those of us who work for the NHS. However please make sure that the information you read comes from verified sources such as www.nhsborders.scot.nhs.uk/ and www.nhsinform.scot/ as well as our Facebook and Twitter feeds.

And most important of all protect yourself and others:

• stay at home
• only go outside for essential food, health and work reasons
• stay 2 metres (6 feet) away from other people
• wash your hands regularly                                                              
• wash your hands as soon as you get home