The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Infected staff may need to finish shift
Care home workers who have tested positive for coronavirus could have to finish their shift if there are staff shortages, new government guidance states.
Health Protection Scotland’s latest advice for care homes says a staff member would have to continue working if their absence would “create an unacceptable risk to the safety of the care being provided”.
But First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that would only happen “in extremis”, and she urged care homes to develop contingency plans to avoid staff shortages that would require infected staff to continue working.
“This is about making sure that a care home is not left, even for a short period of time, without the right level of cover, because that would also pose a danger to residents in the care home,” Ms Sturgeon said.
Although the guidance states it would be acceptable for infected staff to work with residents who are also known to have the virus, the first minister and Scotland’s chief nursing officer Fiona Mcqueen claimed this would not be the case.
Ms Sturgeon said: “We’re talking – in extremis, for a very short period of time – of a member of staff not simply walking out the door. But they would not be – if they had tested positive – providing direct clinical care to a resident.
“But the more contingency planning that care home providers do, the less likely it will be for care homes to be in that situation.”
Ms Mcqueen said she hopes infected staff can be replaced on their shift in “minutes and hours”, and it would only apply to staff in a relatively small number of specific roles, such as a registered nurses.
The guidance, issued to care homes on Thursday, states: “There might be circumstances where there could be an unavoidable delay in replacing all testpositive staff immediately. This could create an unacceptable risk to the safety of the care being provided.
“If such a situation occurred, then any staff that had to continue working must only do so for the absolute minimum period (eg to complete a shift), pending their replacement.”