Early opening is for the birds: Charity says reserves stay shut
failing care homes. Last week the Care Inspectorate star ted legal action to de- register Home Farm Care Home in Portree, Skye, where it yesterday emerged a 10th resident has died of coronavirus. The home is currently being run by NHS Highland, but remains under the ownership of care provider HC-ONE.
But the new legislation aims to enhance these powers and allow a health authority to take over ownership too.
Official correspondence seen by The Sunday Post reveals that under the proposed new Coronavirus Scotland Bill, Jeane Freeman said the extra powers would “put beyond doubt that health boards and other agency bodies such as NHS, NSS and HIS have the powers to purchase a care home or care at home service if a service was unable to continue to deliver care due to a failure of service”.
She added: “Scottish Ministers already have the common law powers to enter into agreements to purchase a property and therefore businesses, but this provision will provide additional clarity that a health board, agency body or local authority has a clear power to take ownership of a care service in light of a failure to continue to provide services either due to financial distress or if there is a threat to the life, health or wellbeing of any person.”
Dr Donald Macaskill of Scottish Care, which represents 800 homes, said: “We are concerned about this, particularly over the very subjective language being used and the fact there has been absolutely no consultation with us at all.
“So many questions are not being answered, including exactly who will decide whether a care home service is a threat to life or wellbeing.
“And there is no real appreciation that care homes may be run by a charity or owned by the bank instead of an individual owner.
“This is ill timed and will cause greater distress to care home owners who have been facing dreadful challenges during the pandemic by people who don’t fully understand the realistic sense of providing quality care.”
MSP Murdo Fraser, who chairs the Scottish Parliament’s Covid- 19 committee, said: “It has been quite clear the government have been pretty hostile towards the care home sector and have effectively been making them scapegoats for the high number of deaths.
“That is a disgraceful approach by a government intent on covering up their own failings.”
Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Miles Briggs said: “I’m astonished that these discussions have obviously been going on about buying care homes right in the middle of the biggest public health crisis of our time when we should all be working together.”
The Scottish Government said: “The provision is on the basis of a provider willing to sell their care home and would be linked to a failure of service due to coronavirus.
“The provision is needed to ensure that those requiring care have security over the continuity and quality of that care if this service were to be impacted during the pandemic.”
It said it was unaware of officials exploring the value of care homes.
RSPB nature reserves will only reopen when the birds who live in them are ready to receive human visitors again, the charity warns.
The wildlife conservation charity closed its reserves in Scotland and across the UK on March 24 due to government guidance around the pandemic.
In a letter sent to members this week, RSPB chief executive Be ccySp eight said that while people would be looking for ward to heading out into nature as restrictions are gradually eased, its reserves would remain
“closed for now”.
She said the charity had been “working in-step with all four of the UK’S country Governments” to build safe reopening plans.
She said the RSPB was “champing at the bit” to get reserves back up and running, but returning from lockdown “will not be easy and it won’t be simple”. Ms Speight said: “The health and wellbeing of our employees, volunteers and all visitors to our nature reserves is our paramount concern. We also have to make sure the wildlife that calls our sites home are ready to receive attention after a couple of months completely on their own.
With reports of rare species nesting on and near busy paths, it’s going to take us some time to make sure they are safe, too.
“We are also managing differences in approach to coming out of lockdown across the four countries of the UK, and possibly between regions too.
“Because of this, we will be taking a gradual and phased approach over the coming weeks and will only be opening individual reserves when we are absolutely confident we can do so safely.”
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has more than 200 reserves, over 1300 staff and over a million members, whose support is vital to the charity’s work.