LIFELINE SERVICES AT RISK

SCOTLAND’S out-of-hours NHS 24 lifeline is being ‘critically impacted’ by the number of staff absent because of Covid-19.

More than 250 workers – one in six – are now absent from the frontline service, which is handling around 30,000 calls per week from the public.

Health chiefs fear there could be an ‘ongoing risk’ to delivery of the vital helpline. It responds to non-emergency 111 calls and at times during lockdown handled as many as 60,000 per week.

Politicians and union leaders last night said patients faced delays for treatment and warned that lives could be put at risk unless the Scottish Government urgently funded workplace testing for NHS staff.

Scottish Labour is expected to lead a debate at Holyrood on Wednesday, demanding the immediate introduction of routine weekly testing for all health and social care workers to help prevent the NHS plunging into a fullblown crisis this winter.

An internal report by the NHS 24 Covid-19 incident management team, seen by The Mail on Sunday, warns: ‘There has been a significant increase in the number of Covid-19 related staff absences that is critically impacting service delivery.

‘We have potentially entered a period with elevated Covid-19 demand that might also be further affected by any seasonal increase of other infections with similar symptoms. There is an ongoing risk to the delivery of services from Covid-19 infection via the number of staff that are absent or isolating.’

News of the staff shortages at NHS 24 call centres comes only months after workers at two of its main sites in the Glasgow area – the Golden Jubilee Hospital, Clydebank, and Cardonald Park – expressed concerns for their safety because of inadequate virus protection measures in place.

Strict data protection guidelines mean it is not possible for them to work from home.

About 800 employees across both sites and 100 members of the GMB union took part in a survey, with 91 per cent saying that they ‘did not feel safe at work’.

PPE and social distancing rules were later introduced but the latest figures show 251 of the 1,508 NHS 24 employees across the country are now off, including nurse practitioners and call-handlers.

Bosses warn that the ‘volatility’ of the crisis and rapid increases in demand or further loss of staff could result in its pressure level being moved from ‘serious’ to ‘critical’.

Some staff are ill with coronavirus, while others are quarantining after returning from high-risk areas.

But the shortages are being driven mainly by the Test and Protect system, with more than 150 employees now absent – three times higher than the week before – because they are self-isolating after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus.

Yesterday, Scottish Labour health spokesman Monica Lennon, who has repeatedly called for a need to roll out testing, said: ‘NHS 24 is a lifeline out-of-hours service and a failure to properly resource it over the winter could put patients at risk.

‘SNP Ministers have dragged their heels over testing, despite knowing the dangers of asymptomatic spread. All health and social care workers should have access to weekly testing, as a minimum, supported by rapid results and contact tracing.’

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Donald Cameron said the healthcare system was already underresourced and ‘a dwindling number of call handlers can’t be expected to paper over the cracks’.

Yesterday, GMB Scotland called for ‘a comprehensive workplace testing regime for Covid’ for the whole NHS and social care sector.

Last night, NHS 24 said it ‘continues to provide safe services to the people of Scotland while managing the additional pressure caused by Covid-19’.

‘Ministers have dragged their heels over testing’