Tayside and Fife health boards have not needed to stage interventions

Health boards in Tayside and Fife have not been required to intervene in the running of any care homes during the coronavirus outbreak.

NHS Tayside bosses last month announced an assessment of every home in the region to help it determine whether or not any help is needed.

The authority has now confirmed all have been reviewed and that none was deemed to require intervention.

A similar assessment has been carried out in Fife, and again there was no need to step in.

In Tayside, 115 care home residents have died after testing positive for Covid-19. In Fife, the most recent figure was 66.

Health and social care partnerships in the region have begun helping homes with the supply of PPE and administering tests.

The Scottish Government recently announced emergency powers that could see care homes being taken over by the relevant health board if infections spiral out of control.

A NHS Fife spokesman said: “Our public health team have been working alongside homes to manage cases of Covid-19, as they would do with other viruses.

“A care home oversight group was established last month which was made up our Health Protection Team, Health and Social Care Partnership, Scottish Care and the Care Inspectorate.

“This group is overseeing the provision of additional resources such as PPE, providing rapid testing where it is needed and offering expert guidance and support to local care homes.”

Drew Walker, director of Public Health at NHS Tayside, said last month care homes had been under “significant pressure” during the outbreak.

He added: “We are very appreciative of the work being done by care homes, both those run by the health and social care partnerships and those provided by private sector organisations in Tayside in delivering a hugely valued service to some of the most vulnerable people in our population who are under their care.”

Picture: Kim Cessford. Dr Drew Walker.