A health board has said three of its hospitals had run out of space as bosses rang the alarm bells at NHS Lanarkshire.
The board said on Wednesday it was "beyond critical occupancy levels across its three acute hospitals" because "relentless pressures, bed shortages and staff shortages due to annual leave, sickness absence and self-isolation". Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's health spokeswoman, said that the move to the code black alert was an "incredibly concerning development which underlines the perpetual crisis in Scotland's NHS".
University Hospitals Hairmyres, Monklands and Wishaw are all at maximum capacity, the board said, which urged people not to turn up at Accident and Emergency if their condition was not life threatening.
