SOME planned surgeries across North Wales will be postponed due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases.

The Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board said that some planned surgeries will have to be postponed ‘short-term’ so they can ‘safely care for patients’.

Dr Nick Lyons, Executive Medical Director at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: “Due to the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in our hospitals we are having to postpone some planned surgery in the short term so we can safely care for patients.

“This difficult decision has been made to ensure we can safely provide extra capacity on our sites, due to the number of people being treated for COVID-19 infection at the hospitals.

“Postponing elective operations is not a decision that we have taken lightly and we would like to apologise for any distress and disappointment that this will cause.

“The rise in the number of COVID-19 cases across North Wales shows the virus still remains a significant risk to our health service.

“I would like to appeal to the public to continue to follow the guidance in place in order to help reduce the spread of the virus within our communities and to take the pressure off NHS Services.”

In a weekly briefing sent to primary care teams, the health board said that they may also need to restrict visiting where there is an increased risk of the virus spreading.

In the latest vaccine update, Gill Harris, Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery said that nearly 90 per cent of the eligible population of North Wales have had their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 82 per cent have had their second.

She added: “We have seen good take up among 16-17-year-olds with almost 10,000 COVID-19 vaccinations administered. To enable further take up across our broad geography we will be deploying our mobile vaccination units to target those aged 16-17, as we are well aware that this age group can find it difficult to travel to vaccination centres because they are more reliant on public transport and lifts from family members.

“In support of this we will be working with our local authorities and colleges across the region over the coming weeks.

“We’d like to remind all those eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine that it’s quick and easy to book your first or second dose using our online booking service or by attending one of our walk in sessions, for which appointments are not required.”

COVID-19 vaccine booster

The Health Boards is still awaiting final advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on the scope of the COVID-19 booster programme.

Gill said: “We ask those who are likely to be eligible based on the JCVI’s interim advice to please be patient and remember that there is no need to contact us to book an appointment. You will be contacted directly when it is your turn.

“Due to the way in which the COVID-19 and Flu vaccinations are delivered and the expected start dates for the respective campaigns, it will not be standard practice to give people these jabs at the same time.

“In last week’s COVID-19 vaccination update we provided an overview of the lengths our staff have gone to in order to ensure that people have the opportunity to be vaccinated.

“We cited the efforts of our COVID-19 Vaccination Contact Centre staff, who attempted to contact around 1,500 people over the Bank Holiday weekend, leading to 111 booked vaccination appointments.

“This was reported by some of our local media as evidence of ‘anti-vaccine mood hardening’ across the region. However, this is simply not borne out by the evidence.

“Almost 60 per cent of the 1,500 phone calls made by our staff went unanswered, while over half of those we managed to speak to said they had already been vaccinated, had an appointment booked, or planned to book online.

“Appointments were booked for 20 per cent of those we managed to speak to, while just seven per cent said they did not want to be vaccinated”

Following the success of the latest recruitment event last month, around 50 additional staff will be welcomed into vaccination teams in the coming weeks.

Gill said: “In some cases, our new recruits will replace current vaccination staff, who are returning to their substantive roles across the health board.

“Further recruitment events may be held in the coming weeks. These will be widely publicised on social media and on our website.”