New fears of coronavirus hitting Scots NHS supplies
●Checks on disruption to vital hospital products manufactured in China
The NHS in Scotland is carrying out an urgent impact assessment on the supply chain of vital medical equipment amid fears the coronavirus has halted production at manufacturing plants in China.
The Scotsman has seen an email marked “high” importance from NHS National Services Scotland that deals with procurement, asking suppliers to provide information if they are experiencing or are expecting any issues.
The email has been sent to all suppliers who have been awarded onto any National Procurement Frameworks with a request that they forward any supporting documentation in relation to the Covid-19 outbreak “as soon as possible” and by Friday 6 March at the latest.
Last night a supplier source, who wished to remain anonymous, said:
“It doesn’t reassure me as it’s a bit too late. If medical supplies are coming from China, then they would have left for the UK ages ago.”
The supplies that may be affected include everything from disposable kidney dishes and swabs through to operating theatre tables.
NHS National Services says on its website that it manages more than £1.4 billion in national contracts and delivers over 80,000 items to hospital wards, departments and community centres from its Lanarkshire distribution point.
A source said: “Rightly or wrongly everyone’s holding a bit more stock in the UK because of the fears we have had over Brexit and it just feels a bit piecemeal for the NHS in Scotland to be thinking about this now.
“They’re asking all their NHS contracted suppliers to confirm where the products that they supply are being made and manufactured.
“Whether or not they’re looking
to make sure the continuity of supply isn’t going to be disrupted in case there’s any issues in China arising from the coronavirus or I’m not sure if it’s anything to do with actual contamination of the products. I suspect it’s more about the continuity of supply and availability.
“If the Chinese workers have Covid-19 or are quarantined, then they’re not going to be making medical equipment and therefore they won’t be in a position to supply it.
“The email will have gone to every supplier who has a product on any national framework.
“It will be anything that’s on a national contract in Scotland.
“The NHS procurement service are just validating that the British company or whoever has the contract doesn’t sub-contract it from a company in China.”
Latest figures released by the Scottish Government showed that a total of 437 tests for Covid-19 have been carried out to date in Scotland.
All have been negative. Scotland’s chief medical officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood has advised it is “highly likely” Scotland will see a positive case and cautioned that major sporting events, rock concerts and other large public gatherings could be banned across the country in a bid to contain the Covid-19 virus.
She said the government and NHS were working on “containment first” and then a range of measures to try to limit the number of people infected in any outbreak.
Ireland’s men and women’s Six Nations games against Italy in Dublin on 7 and 8 March have been postponed because of the coronavirus.
Scottish Conservative Health spokesperson Miles Briggs said: “It is very concerning that there could be potential supply chain issues for the delivery of surgical equipment to NHS Scotland.
“Patients in Scotland are already facing record long waiting times for operations and if operations need to be postponed, due to a lack of surgical equipment, this will worsen the situation.
“Measures must be taken to ensure that NHS Scotland has sufficient surgical equipment to keep carrying out operations as normal and a back-up plan in place if there are supply chain issues.”
Health secretary Jeane Freeman, who attended a Scottish Government Resilience meeting chaired by Nicola Sturgeon on Tuesday to discuss preparedness in Scotland, following outbreaks in northern Italy and other parts of the world, said “we are expecting an outbreak”.
Preparations in Scotland to date include the establishment of two testing laboratories in Glasgow and Edinburgh to speed up identification of confirmed cases, supplying GP surgeries with face masks, and ensuring hospitals are fully stocked with personal protective equipment.
Public health legislation has been updated to make coronavirus a notifiable disease.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The NHS in Scotland is well-prepared to deal with an outbreak of coronavirus. The Scottish Government continues to work with health boards as part of the planning and preparations to ensure that supplies are maintained to the NHS.”
Meanwhile, many GP practices in Scotland are still waiting for supplies of face masks to cope with potential cases of Covid-19, according to a leading medic.
Dr Andrew Buist, a Tayside GP who chairs the BMA’S Scottish general practice committee, said masks to protect staff from coronavirus were promised three weeks ago.
Speaking on Radio Scotland, Dr Buist said he was not personally worried about exposure to the virus, and said he accepted it as one of the risks of working as a doctor.
Buthesaidthehealthauthorities had to ensure appropriate precautions were taken.
“There are things we can do and it has been advised we wear face masks,” he said.
“It’s frustrating when we haven’t been provided with them after they were promised over three weeks ago.”
Dr Buist said hospital departments were likely to be well supplied with equipment such as masks, but staff at GP surgeries might well be the first to come into contact with infected patients.
He added: “Because general practice is very much in the front line of this, we need to ensure we have the protective equipmentsuppliedtogeneral practices as well.”
The remaining 600 or so guests will need to remain quarantined for a fortnight, officials said.
It is understood that guests without symptoms are able to move around the hotel grounds, although some said they are still being told to remain in their rooms. An Italian man and his wife were diagnosed with coronavirus during their stay at the fourstar H10 Costa Adeje Palace in the south-west of the Spanish island, and two more cases have been subsequently diagnosed.
Some guests have been handed thermometers and told to write down their own readings, while some people are moving around the hotel and going to the pool and restauranteventhoughtheyhave been advised to stay in.
The El Pais newspaper said 800 guests from 25 countries are in the hotel, along with around 200 workers.
The media outlet reported that two security perimeters remain around the hotel, while a “field hospital” has been set up to treat anybody with coronavirus symptoms.
Hannah Green, 27, from Hertfordshire, who is staying in her room with her boyfriend, Court Amys, and their one-year-old son, said: “I was really upset this morning that the doctors hadn’t been to see us. I feel like our son should be a priority because he’s a baby.”
Ms Green said the family were eventually given a thermometer yesterday morning and told to take their own temperatures.
She she wanted to go home, adding that travel firm Tui, which the family travelled with, had called her and said they would keep her updated.