HUMZA’S ‘JUST ALL SOUNDBITES’
Health Secretary accused of having no strategy while NHS faces winter crisis
SCOTLAND’S Health Secretary has been accused of ‘soundbites not strategy’ on tackling the winter crisis facing the NHS.
As some older Scots face having to wait until January for a flu jab, Humza Yousaf faced criticism as he updated MSPs on the pandemic a day after finally calling in the Army to help speed up the booster and flu vaccine rollout.
Concerns were raised – including by a former SNP Cabinet minister – after he confirmed that people will be offered the booster and flu vaccine at the same appointment.
This means some people aged 50-79 will not receive protection against flu until January.
He also warned that there are ‘early signs’ that case numbers could start to rise again and said ministers ‘will not hesitate’ to bring back restrictions if necessary.
Another 121 members of the armed forces were drafted in this week to help all 11 mainland health boards with the vaccination programme.
Dr Sandesh Gulhane, health spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, said: ‘The problem is that this Health Secretary is always a step behind, always announcing funding after the problem starts.
‘The British armed forces’ support is fantastic, but the Government asked for it too late. And it is great that the Government listened to my ideas on long Covid, but they could have listened to those proposals in June.
‘The extra funding is welcome but it is being announced in dribs and drabs, not part of a fully fledged and comprehensive plan.’
He said a proper plan for the NHS could have avoided the service being ‘in crisis’ and staff ‘overwhelmed’. He added: ‘It is a PRfirst approach we have come to expect from this Health Secretary; it’s all soundbites not strategy.
‘It’s an approach that might be applauded in ministerial ivory towers but not on our hospital wards.’
Yesterday at Holyrood Mr Yousaf warned the decline in new cases has halted and that there are ‘early signs that case numbers may increase again’, saying that the situation is ‘precarious’. He warned: ‘We will not hesitate to strengthen the protective measures in place if it proves necessary to do so.’
Mr Yousaf said the booster rollout is ‘on track’ and that people in the top five priority groups, including all those over the age of 70, will be offered appointments ‘by the end of this month’, with all other priority groups, including those aged 50-69, to receive them ‘by early next year’.
Former Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Linlithgow, said some of her constituents with underlying health conditions will need to wait six months after a second dose of Covid vaccine before they get their flu jab.
She said: ‘I have some constituents who have contacted me as it will mean individuals maybe waiting until January for essential flu vaccines, and for immune-compromised individuals, waiting until January may be too big a risk.’
Mr Yousaf said people should be able to receive flu vaccines separately if required due to clinical need, but added: ‘It will take until mid-January for everyone to be offered their vaccine but those that are offered their vaccine in midJanuary would not be at the highest clinical need level.’
Labour health spokesman Jackie Baillie said the vaccine programme ‘is nowhere near the pace it needs to be’ and raised concerns about almost 900,000 people who got their second dose more than six months ago but not a booster jag.
She said: ‘There are fewer vaccination centres, fewer vaccinators. Elderly people are queuing in the cold for hours and apparently in Edinburgh drop-in centres have been suspended because of Cop26, which is happening 50 miles away.’
Mr Yousaf said: ‘It seems that opposition are desperate to malign our vaccination programme; over eight million vaccinations, the highest total percentage of a population vaccinated anywhere in the UK is here in Scotland.’
He also defended the way the vaccine passport scheme has been implemented, saying: ‘It is going very well, we have had over one million downloads of the app, we have had many downloads of PDF and paper copies as well.’
‘It is a PR-first approach’