Tests done on less than 20% of care sector staff

Less than a fifth of care home staff in Scotland have been tested for coronavirus, new figures show.

On May 18, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman announced plans to test all staff in the sector in a bid to tackle the number of deaths in homes from the virus.

Health boards were expected to carry out the tests but the first tranche of statistics published by the Scottish Government show 11,192 were carried out in Scotland by June 7.

A report by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) in 2019 showed there were 53,500 members of care home staff across the country.

The new figures come just hours after Scottish Conservatives leader Jackson Carlaw pressed the first minister on the scheme.

He called for a hard deadline to be set for the first tests to be carried out.

The highest number of tests took place in NHS Lothian at 2,665, followed by NHS Forth Valley on 2,176 and NHS Grampian on 1,709.

Between June 1-7, a total of 2,243 tests were carried out on members of staff, the highest numbers being in Forth Valley and Lothian.

During First Minister’s Questions, Nicola Sturgeon said the data is “very initial” and will become more detailed in the coming weeks.

She added: “It’s important, and I think this is a key point, that we do establish this testing on a very sound and sustainable basis.

“I certainly want to see progress accelerate but more than anything, I want to make sure that it is happening in a way that we can sustain over a period of time.”

Mr Carlaw again pushed the first minister to set a deadline for testing of all staff to be carried out, saying: “Three weeks have now passed since the SNP said it would routinely test every care home worker.

“But now we learn barely a fifth of these staff members have been tested, meaning tens of thousands are still going into work with vulnerable people with no idea whether or not they’re carrying the disease.

“The fact so few have been tested three weeks after this pledge is pathetic.

“We need to see Nicola Sturgeon set a deadline for when all care staff will be tested in Scotland.

“These dedicated workers need to know the Scottish Government has a grip on this perilous situation.”

The statistics showed 15,049 tests for Covid-19 had been carried out on residents up to June 7, with 2,133 of them taking place between June 1-7.

Larger care homes are also more likely to have a case of coronavirus reported, according to the figures, with 91% of homes with more than 60 beds reporting an outbreak, compared to just 18% with less than 10 beds, as of Tuesday.

NHS Lothian registered the highest rate of confirmed cases in care homes in Scotland, with 243 per 1,000 registered residents on Tuesday, followed by NHS Forth Valley with 187.

The lowest rate was in NHS Orkney, with just 14 cases per 1,000 residents.

The figures also showed private care homes have been hit hardest by the virus, with 72% reporting at least one case, compared to 61% in the public sector and just 40% of those run by charities.