A HOSPITAL has declared a 'code black' alert following a surge in Covid cases as staff are told to isolate and surgery was cancelled.
Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, Scotland confirmed the emergency situation as soaring Covid cases put pressure on medical staff while A&E waiting times stretched for hours.
Code black means the hospital is at capacity and there are no beds available for new admissions.
NHS Highland say the pandemic is affecting them by resulting in increased hospital admissions, but also as many staff are having to self-isolate.
The hospital is being forced to cancel all non-urgent elective surgery, for which they have apologised.
Outpatient activity, with the exception of cancer, urgent, Allied Health Professional and diagnostics activity, has also been cancelled
Dr Boyd Peters, Medical Director for NHS Highland said: “We are doing all we can to safeguard services but we have had to make the difficult decision to cancel non-urgent work which I know many will find upsetting and frustrating.
"We are very sorry that we have had to do this."
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