The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Vaccine chaos as snow leaves OAPS queuing in cold
NHS apologises over Caird Hall delays
Health chiefs have apologised after treacherous weather caused delays and staff shortages at a Dundee vaccination centre.
Pensioners were left queuing outside Caird Hall in the snow for about an hour, while extra vaccinators were drafted in to deal with a bottleneck.
Heavy snowfall and icy conditions meant some people were late for their appointments, while others turned up too early, officials said. The wintry weather also meant some staff were unable to get to work.
Caird Hall opened last week to administer vaccines to people aged between 65-69, as well as some in the 70-79 age group.
NHS Tayside said it would review arrangements and check if any changes or improvements were required.
It comes as forecasters predicted more snow and cold temperatures on the way for Tayside following a day of disruption.
An elderly woman is understood to have collapsed with suspected hypothermia as wintry weather and overbookings caused chaos at vaccination centres throughout Fife and Tayside.
Hundreds of pensioners were left standing for hours in the snow and ice, with lengthy queues reported at Caird Hall in Dundee, and community clinics in Kirkcaldy, Lochgelly, Anstruther, Buckhaven and Glenrothes.
A number of exhausted pensioners outside Lochgelly Centre were eventually sent home and told to re-book for later in the week.
NHS Fife said that appointments at its clinics had been overbooked, leading to “unacceptable queues”.
The health board said it was working with national schedulers to investigate and take steps to prevent it happening again.
Chief executive Carol
Potter branded the situation “entirely unacceptable” and apologised to those affected.
In Dundee city centre, hundreds queued for about an hour and extra vaccinators were drafted in to deal with the bottleneck.
NHS Tayside chiefs apologised for the delays and said it would review arrangements.
The distressing scenes come after NHS Fife pledged to learn lessons from its shambolic flu vaccination programme last year.
Labour MSP Alex Rowley branded the latest debacle “bordering on criminal”.
He has written to NHS Fife chairwoman Tricia Marwick and the chief executive to demand an explanation.
“It’s just incredible to have old people on one of the coldest days of the year standing for over an hour because they have a backlog,” he said.
“One woman collapsed with suspected hypothermia outside Lochgelly.”
John Davidson, 74, and his 73-year-old wife Doreen were among around 120 people queuing at Rothes Halls in Glenrothes at one point.
He said: “There were about 50 or 60 people in front of us that I could see and the same behind us.
“It was absolutely freezing and there were people in wheelchairs outside with the snow coming down.
“There was no place to sit, so we all had to stand.”
Kenny Smith, from Kelty, called for someone to be held accountable after his mother-in-law waited more than two hours outside Lochgelly Centre.
“There are people in their late 70s who have been outside for well over an hour,” he said.
In Kirkcaldy, people waiting to be vaccinated at Templehall Community Centre queued round the block.
NHS Fife chief executive Carol Potter said: “I want to offer our most sincere apologies to those who had to wait in significant queues at some of our community vaccination clinics today.
“This was entirely unacceptable and we are working with our colleagues in NHS National Services Scotland to understand how this scheduling error occurred and ensure that it does not happen again.
“We know that local people are incredibly keen to get vaccinated as quickly as possible against Covid-19 and we have prioritised prompt actions to expand the capacity and quicken the flow of patients through our clinics.
“Patients who could not be vaccinated today will be contacted directly and will be offered a rescheduled appointment as quickly as possible.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Tayside said: “We are aware that some patients experienced a longer wait today at the Caird Hall for their vaccination appointment and we would like to thank them for their patience and apologise for their wait.
“Due to the adverse weather conditions, the queue was longer than expected due to a combination of factors.
“Some patients arrived late for their appointments and some patients arrived early, which meant more people than planned attended at the same time.
“The weather also meant that some staff were not able to get to the site.
“Due to the need to maintain two metres distance between people, there is a limited capacity to hold people inside the venue.”
She said more vaccinators were brought in to increase the flow of people and the team was reviewing its plans to see if other changes were necessary.