Officials ‘ confident’ care homes are ready to face second wave
The Scottish Government’s most prominent medical figure has said he is “as confident as he can be” that care homes are ready to face a second wave of Covid- 19.
Jason Leitch, the national clinical director, and Nicola Sturgeon said lessons had been learned by the Scottish Government following the thousands of deaths in care homes in the early stage of the pandemic.
Asked about the issue at her daily briefing, the First Minister said: “We have learned a lot of lessons over the last six months. The oversight and governance around care homes particularly relating to Covid and infection control is very different now.
“We have governance which is led by directors of public health in each health board area, obviously we’ve got a different testing regime in care homes and there is process underway right now before we head into winter we’re looking afresh at the guidance and considering any changes that need to be made there.”
Dr Le itch added that the coronavirus is able to enter institutions which seem very secure, and added that care homes had learned more about how best to deal with Covid- 19 as the pandemic progressed. He said: “We have learned a great deal in the last five or six months and care homes have learned along with us around PPE, around testing, around regime of infection and prevention control, around the governance that the First Minister mentioned from health boards.
“So I am as confident as I can be that we are in a good place but this virus doesn’t need much encouragement.
“It can get into places even when they feel very very secure. That is a real balance because I am very conscious of my inbox being filled with people who are really missing visiting and seeing their elderly friends and relatives and I am too.
“We need to try and do that as safely as we can while also protecting that group within our society that are living in their homes inside their care homes.”