Tayside’s out-of-hours staff — who take over when GP surgeries close — saw almost 30% more patients over the Ne’erday weekend than they did on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
A total of 1305 people sought help from the out-of-hours (OOH) staff on New Year’s Day and on January 2, compared to 1015 the previous weekend.
While the numbers were significantly increased, NHS Tayside’s OOH medical director, Dr Joyce Meikle, insisted staff were not overwhelmed.
Dr Meikle, also a part-time GP at Downfield Surgery in Dundee, said “It was a busy weekend in terms of numbers, but it was quite comfortable to work because it was nicely spread out.
“We didn’t have big peaks and troughs of people coming in, which can cause a bit more of a problem. Because the work was spread out, we coped very well with the numbers.”
She believes the diarrhoea and vomiting bug, which laid low many people over Christmas, is on the wane.
“We saw a lot of coughs and colds and chest infections,” she said. “There is still some flu around. We are monitoring flu numbers but it is not looking, so far, to be a big increase on last week.”
Dr Meikle said it was too early to confirm the flu numbers, which are expected to be issued nationally later in the week.
Primary care emergency centres (PCEC) and minor illness and injury units are operating across Tayside during the four-day GP surgery shutdown. Practices closed at the end of business on Hogmanay and will not reopen until Wednesday.