Scottish NHS put on emergency
● Tackling coronavirus ‘biggest peacetime mission in our lifetimes’ for government and nation says First Minister
Scotland’s NHS has been put on an emergency footing for three months as the government battles with the spread of coronavirus, with all nonurgent operations cancelled.
The measures include a 3,000 increase in hospital beds, final-year student nurses and doctors being drafted on to wards, and at least 400 people caught up in delayed discharge being sent home by the end of the month.
The Scottish Government is also looking at buying food for those who might not be able to feed themselves and will protect those who may face losing their homes, in what Nicola Sturgeon had described as the “biggest peacetime mission our nation has undertaken in our lifetimes”.
As news broke yesterday of a second death from coronavirus, the First Minister updated MSPS in Holyrood on the stringent measures introduced in an attempt to delay the spread of the coronavirus infection among the Scottish public.
She said Scotland was facing an “unprecedented challenge”, that the country was on the cusp of a “rapid acceleration” in the spread of the Covid-19 virus, with changes “essential” to save lives.
Addressing and suppressing the spread of the disease was, she said, “the biggest peace time mission our nation has undertaken in our lifetimes”. She urged a “collective endeavour” to meet the challenge.
As a result, the NHS has been placed on an immediate emergency footing for three outbreak and a time after – it is a watershed moment in our nation, in our world and most certainly in our NHS.
“We are doing and will continue to do everything we can to protect and save lives, but this is going to take everyone. We all have a responsibility – and we need everyone’s help.” Ms Sturgeon also stressed that in asking people to “take unprecedented actions”, the response from government “must also be unprecedented”.
“The next weeks and possibly months will be immensely difficult. I know that for everyone this is a deeply anxious time. People want to do the right thing to protect their own health – and they also want to do the right thing for their loved ones and for the wider community.
“The steps we are recommending – isolating yourself if you or people you live with show symptoms; minimising social contact; washing hands for 20 seconds; not touching your face – all of these things really matter. By following them, we will all be helping to save lives. We face a shared national challenge – and we will need a collective national endeavour to meet it.”
Communities secretary Aileen Campbell said the government was aware of the need to tackle financial vulnerabilities. “The housing minister is actively engaged in work to protect those who will face rent arrears if they have no income, and to ensure everyone understands, be that landlords or local authorities, that we can’t compound this situation and make it worse,” she said.
“We are acutely aware of these scenarios,” she said. “We are working on a number of measures, including looking at increasing the Scottish Welfare Fund, support for renters, looking at ways we can support people who are fuel poor or unable to heat their homes working with energy companies, and responding to food insecurity issues.
“We are not ruling out the need for us to purchase food as well. At it’s most basic level we want to make sure people are safe, warm and fed.”
“We face a shared national challenge –andwewillneeda collective national endeavour to meet it”
NICOLA STURGEON