Rigorous regime

Since writing this letter Jan has received the following reply from CalMac

Dear Ms Herbert, In the first instance let me assure you that CalMac takes its responsibility for handling the COVID-19 outbreak very seriously.

We have a full COVID-19 response team in place which meets every day, and which has been working to ensure our customers and staff are already responding to the latest government instructions surrounding the current outbreak. We work closely and frequently with Transport Scotland, the Scottish government’s resilience team and Health Protection Scotland to stay on top of the latest advice and guidance from government and health officials.

In terms of the wiping situation, we are looking into what happened to see if our policies were followed. We have a new rigorous regime in place which means that all ‘high touch’ surfaces are wiped using specialist cleaning equipment every two hours on the vessels. There may not be a visual spray being used but the cloths are treated with specialist antibacterial cleaning materials that make them suitable for all food-related surfaces such as tables and trays.

In terms of travelling on the car deck, our hands are tied by existing legislation. The only circumstances in which we could take your husband to the mainland and back on the car deck would be if he were in an ambulance. Allowing passengers to remain in their vehicles is a matter that resides with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). At this time, CalMac does not have the authority to allow passengers to remain in their vehicles on our major vessels unless expressly authorised by the MCA. We will work closely alongside the MCA and we will keep you posted of any future developments they make in this area.

I hope I have reassured you around our cleaning regime and apologise that there is nothing we can do in relation to hospital visits. I would suggest you make contact with the NHS to see if there is anything further they can offer you in terms of ambulatory treatment or any other arrangements.

Yours,

Robert Morrison, Operations Director, Calmac Ferries Ltd.