Lanarkshire's hospitals are "not in a good condition" to deal with coronavirus.
South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Parntership's head of commissioning and performance Craig Cunningham made the statement at a meeting of South Lanarkshire Council's social work resources committee on Wednesday, August 19.
He said that the multi-bed room design of the hospitals in the county were not suited to dealing with the pandemic and went on to explain that the recent Covid incident had highlighted the advantage of modern purpose-built single-room hospital accommodation to support flow through the hospital.
None of the three acute hospitals in Lanarkshire are all single-bedded accommodation – as for example the new Queen Elizabeth University hospital is.
Across Lanarkshire 353 people have died from coronavirus, including 185 people in South Lanarkshire.
The comments followed questions from independent councillor Joe Lowe (Hamilton South) and deputy leader of the Labour group Cllr Gerry Convery (East Kilbride Central South) who had asked about the reopening of two wards at Udston Hospital.
The wards at Udston had been re-opened on a temporary basis to support additional capacity to help manage the wider implications of Covid as the layout wouldn't meet current standards ruling it out as a long term option.
Cllr Lowe had said Udston had similar problems to hospitals in Glasgow and Edinburgh as Legionella had been found in the closed wards while Cllr Convery added that it "was not fit for a modern care home facility".
Mr Cunningham explained: "Prior to reopening, they had to make sure it was safe."
Legionella was found during routine checks in March when NHS Lanarkshire confirmed action was taken to ensure patient safety.
Mr Cunningham added: "They were reopened.
"Covid patients can't use rooms other patients do.
"The hospital estate in Lanarkshire is not in a good condition to manage that.
"Sheilding patients need to be kept in separate rooms."
Following the meeting, Heather Knox, interim chief executive NHS Lanarkshire, added: “NHS Lanarkshire hospitals, along with health and social care partners, have adapted superbly, with all staff and services showing resilience and true innovation to deal with the pandemic.
"Mr Cunningham is right in highlighting some of the physical, fabric considerations that can make aspects of the response challenging. We have met, and will continue to meet, these challenges with innovation and commitment. Our overriding priority, as is that of our partners, is to keep people safe.”
