Plea to stop icy streets being a risk to OAPs
MSP calls for pavements to be gritted in big freeze
Keep our pavements gritted – and stop people tumbling into packed hospital wards suffering the strain of Covid.
That’s the plea from Ayr MSP John Scott this week, who says keeping our roads and paths safe has never been more important.
It follows a call from national doctors over the need to protect the elderly and keep them out of already hard- pushed hospitals.
The recent cold snap has left many streets like skating rinks, leading to fears of a rising number of injuries.
Research conducted in Scottish hospitals has highlighted the increased risk of death for fracture patients should they contract coronavirus.
And Mr Scott says that means everything must be done to keep the frail from falling into danger.
He told the Post: “A recent study has shown that hip fracture patients are four times more likely to die after surgery if they are suffering from coronavirus .
“That makes it all the more important to do everything possible to stop hospitalisations due to slips and falls, and it’s why I am urging the council to do more to grit local roads and pavements.”
Mr Scott also says councils should be able to call on extra financial support, if required, from the Scottish Government, to ensure their networks are properly treated.
He said this week: “We cannot afford any of our roads or pavements to be a danger, especially when our hospitals wards are under so much pressure.”
A spokesperson for the Ayrshire Roads Alliance, who are tasked with treating roads in South and East Ayrshire, said: “We are ensuring that key routes are kept gritted when temperatures drop.”
And they added: “The public are able to access the ‘ Track my Gritter’ tool on the Ayrshire Roads Alliance website, the website also identifies the location of grit bins for community use.”
For gritter tracking go to https:// ara. grittertracker. co. uk/ ARA/ Home/ Map