NICOLA Sturgeon has denied a claim care home residents and staff are being treated as “second-class citizens” amid concerns the coronavirus is having a devastating effect on the sector.
The Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw put the point to her at the second virtual session of First Minister’s Questions yesterday as he asked whether every new care home resident would be tested.
Reiterating the argument she made at Wednesday’s press briefing, Sturgeon said testing people who are not displaying symptoms is unreliable and could give care homes “false assurance” about a person being clear of the virus.
Carlaw said residents and relatives had expressed concerns people entering care homes could be a “potential unseen carrier of the virus” but thanked Sturgeon for her clarification.
The Scottish Tory leader said: “It is clear this morning that care homes think they are being treated as second-class citizens.
“The Scottish Government made some good announcements yesterday but care homes have been an obvious risk since the start of this crisis weeks ago.
“One care home manager said ‘we are getting warm words from Government, what we need is concrete action’. Surely they are right?”
Responding via video link, the First Minister agreed and said: “There are no second-class citizens in the fight against this virus.
“Every life matters, that is regardless of the background or where somebody lives – at their own home, in a care home or whether they are in hospital – and that is why the guidance is so clearly focused on saving lives.
“There has been clear guidance in place since the start of this crisis to care home providers about infection prevention and control.”
She said the Scottish Government is “on track” to meet its pledge of testing 3500 people a day for coronavirus by the end of April.
On Wednesday the National Records of Scotland revealed that a quarter of people who had died of confirmed or suspected coronavirus were residents of care homes.
The NRS figures showed that as of Sunday 962 people had died in Scotland, with 237 of those occurring in care homes, 586 in hospitals, 128 in homes and one in another location. The weekly NRS figures account for all deaths registered in Scotland when Covid-19 was mentioned in the death certificate.
After she announced the NRS figures the First Minister said the Scottish Government is moving to a system of testing every symptomatic care home resident and worker for the virus, rather than just the first person showing signs of Covid-19.
The First Minister stressed the need for proper risk assessments for new residents and for care homes to follow guidance on self-isolation.
She said: “Unfortunately, as with the rest of the population, what we are asking residents and care homes to do – in terms of isolation, not gathering together communally, eating on their own – that’s really tough but it is really important for these measures are the most important things that care home providers have to do.”
Asked about priority food delivery slots offered to the most vulnerable people, Sturgeon said 21,000 people – out of the 156,000 eligible – have now asked for their details to be passed to supermarkets.
Responding to the Scottish Greens’ parliamentary co-leader Alison Johnstone, she said a “test, trace and isolate” strategy would play a “key part” in the transitional exit from the lockdown but would require more testing capacity and personnel.
The message to test, trace and isolate people infected with the virus has been the central advice to countries from the World Health Organisation, who yesterday reiterated that message in a briefing.
Ahead of taking questions from opposition leaders the First Minister said the relatively stagnant numbers of Covid-19 patients in hospital and intensive care in Scotland indicate lockdown measures are working.
She announced 779 people in Scotland have died after testing positive for Covid-19, a rise of 80 from 699 on Wednesday, according to Health Protection Scotland figures.
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