Hospice rocked by Covid
More the 20 staff at the Ayrshire Hospice have tested positive for coronavirus, the Post understands.
One source close to the hospice, has, however, been critical of management prior to the outbreak.
The individual condemned senior management further claiming that PPE protection “wasn’t suitable”.
More than 20 staff at the Ayrshire Hospice have tested positive for coronavirus, it has been claimed.
It is the first outbreak of COVID- 19 at the hospice, in Racecourse Road, since the pandemic began.
No current patients are affected.
One source told the Post more than 20 staff are affected but the hospice will not disclose the number of positive cases.
Senior staff this week insisted that all patients in the hospice and their families are being kept “fully informed” of the situation and regular testing of staff is “ongoing”.
The Hospice’s new Chief Executive Officer, Carla MacEwan, confirmed the outbreak.
She said: “The Hospice Leadership Team are committed to the welfare of patients and staff and it has been deeply upsetting for us to learn that a number of staff had tested COVID positive in midNovember.
“Since then, we have, in line with national guidelines, increased our regular deep cleaning across the site, maintained daily contact with Health Protection Scotland for advice, placed more hand gel pumps at strategic locations within the building and reiterated guidance on “Hands Face Space” to all staff throughout Hospice.
“We have expanded female staff changing rooms to offer greater space and additional lockers are on order.
“All patients and their families have been kept fully informed of the situation and the leadership team has kept staff advised of relevant information daily.
“Regular testing of staff is ongoing.”
One source close to the hospice has, however, been critical of management prior to the outbreak.
The individual condemned senior management over what they allege has been “incompetence,” further claiming that PPE protection “wasn’t suitable” and that staff were “not being supported.”
The source also blasted bosses for a “lack of transparency” and “preferential treatment” to some families.
They said: “For 10 months nursing staff have held the hospice together while the managers hid in their offices.
“Staff also reported that they witnessed nurses taping on plastic aprons before entering positive rooms and having to attend to patients with the ‘ wrong masks.’
“Management had not sourced the correct ones and just told nurses ‘ use the next best thing.’
“Morale has been at rock bottom for months, mainly due to the failings of management.
“Nursing staff are amazing and go above and beyond; that is how the hospice has the reputation it has but, the nurses cannot take much more of incompetent management.
“The CEO and management want nothing else than to protect the reputation of the hospice while not protecting staff, mainly nurses.”
CEO Ms MacEwan, has however, strongly refuted those claims.
She said: “From late March, The Ayrshire Hospice team have worked tirelessly to ensure our workplace is as safe an
environment as it can be during a global pandemic.
“It is outstanding that we have not had an outbreak of COVID19 on site until now.
“Everyone has gone above and beyond the call of duty, under extremely challenging circumstances, to maintain an inpatient unit and community services that allows us to continue to deliver the personcentred care that the Hospice prides itself in.
“Access to appropriate PPE, sourced from our local NHS supplier, which meets national guidelines, and a strong focus on following “Hands, Face and Space” advice have been paramount in keeping both staff and patients safe, even when staff have tested positive outside of work.
“Patients were tested prior to admission, again on day one and day five.
“We introduced managed visiting for all families with only two identified visitors per
patient.
“All patients have had access to their own tablet, specifically to allow video calling, so they can communicate with families, where they were not able to visit.”
It was also claimed that some families were allowed to ‘ come and go as they pleased’ in the run- up to the outbreak.
The source said: “Staff are disgusted at the treatment of families throughout the pandemic – with management letting certain families stay with relatives, provide meals and beds, while others had to stick to the two- person rule, other families could come and go as they pleased.”
They added: “The people of Ayrshire give so much to the hospice and have a right to know where their money is being wasted – on incompetent managers, it is time for a change.”
Ms McEwan defended the decision to allow some families to have more time with their loved ones, citing “compassion.”
She said: “As our focus is always on compassionate care of the individual, where the patient was in the final days of life, family members have been able to move in to be with their loved one until death.”
Ms McEwan also confirmed that Health Protection Scotland visited the Ayrshire Hospice on Thursday, December 3 to review the management protocols in place and were “satisfied with all actions taken”.
She added: “We will continue to put our patients and their care at the forefront and will continue to ensure we provide a COVID compliant workplace for all staff in 2021. To respect and maintain confidentiality we will not discuss any further information on either our patients or our staff.”
An Open Day was held last week for staff to express any current concerns they had to senior management.