Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 11 November 2020
I first pay tribute to the scientists across the world who have been working night and day to find a vaccine, although we know that there is still a long way to go.
We can never repay the incredible efforts of our NHS staff and care workers, who have gone beyond the call of duty in looking after patients and saving lives, putting their own safety at risk through working in settings that have the sickest and most vulnerable patients, and where prevalence of the virus is high. Wearing the hard-fought-for PPE alone must be tiring for many NHS workers, but we are still calling for adequate regular testing for NHS and care workers. As the Royal College of Nursing has said, testing must be accessible to the workforce, so for them to be asked to take a test during their annual leave is disrespectful to that workforce.
More recognition is needed of the asymptomatic aspect of Covid-19 that enables it to spread so quickly. If that is not recognised in the system, we will be fighting a losing battle. Routine testing would be a recognition that the asymptomatic nature of Covid-19 might be why we are struggling to get it under control.
As we head into winter, there is a serious worry that our nurses and doctors are already at breaking point. A Unison report during the first wave of the virus highlighted that nearly 80 per cent of NHS staff said that were already tired, and 30 per cent said that they were very tired and were getting inadequate breaks. That is absolutely unacceptable. We must improve the conditions for our workforce in tackling the second wave, and we must keep them safe.
Particularly worrying is the suggestion that transmission of Covid-19 is not yet under full control in our hospitals. That is a failure of testing policy. Every other country in the world that has been successful against Covid seems to have signed up to the idea of mass testing.
Professor Jackie Taylor suggested that testing patients at the front door, irrespective of age and of whether they have typical symptoms, is an absolute must. That is the kind of ambition that we need. Not doing will impact more on delivery of non-Covid care. As Alison Johnstone said, other small countries including Slovakia have tested the entire population—two thirds of it in two days. Liverpool is doing mass testing, using the lateral flow system and lab testing. Here in Scotland, we seem to be behind the situation, and I would like to know why.
NHS 24 is also under pressure. We hear reports that staff have been absent for Covid-related reasons, and that those absences are critically impacting on service delivery, even as we rely on NHS 24 now more than ever.
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh have jointly called for a national strategy to safely manage
“the competing pressures of treating patients with COVID-19, and those without COVID-19 who need urgent care or elective work”.
This is where we are. As we speak, patients have had their consultations cancelled, many with no replacement dates and others with dates that are set well into the future. Patients who have managed their conditions through lockdown in anticipation of having an operation are now extremely worried that their care is being put off indefinitely.
Only with a Covid-free workforce that is well looked after will we have any chance of getting our NHS back into looking at physical care.
We need to go back to a system in which patients feel that they can challenge not having an appointment, or their critical care not being dealt with. The Government must give the positive clear message to patients that the NHS still serves them.
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