Rapid testing is helping Tayside patients
A Perthshire nurse this week became the first person in Tayside to administer the COVID-19 vaccine in a non-trial setting.
Marion McLagan, from Blairgowrie, gave the jag to Linda Smyth at Ninewells Hospital on the first day the vaccine was available.
It comes as preparations continue to roll the vaccination programme out to Perth and Kinross care homes next week.
And it has also been confirmed medical retirees are being drafted in to help with the roll out of the programme across the region.
The first group to receive the jab was some of the immunisers who will be giving the vaccination to others, including other frontline staff working in high risk areas, such domestic staff, porters, nurses, allied health professionals and consultants.
Speaking on Tuesday Marion said: “It’s really exciting to be part of this. We’ve had really good support and training and we’re all raring to go.”
Linda added: “We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time and I hope it encourages more of my colleagues to come and have the vaccination soon. “It’s a great day for us all.” Further details of the vaccination programme were revealed at a meeting of the Perth and Kinross Integration Joint Board on Wednesday.
Chief officer of Perth and Kinross Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) Gordon Paterson warned the meeting cases in the region remained “relatively high”.
He said while the trajectory was “encouraging”, there was a need to ensure a “degree of pace.”
He added: “Hospital admissions in relation to COVID have remained fairly static over the past three weeks or so.
“At any one point there are perhaps around 60 people in Ninewells with COVID although that number may fluctuate.”
Frontline health and social care staff have been the first to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine from a central point in Ninewells.
Care home residents and staff in the region could be vaccinated from as early as December 14.
Mr Paterson said: “The plans are in place. The workforce is in place.
“NHS Tayside has been able to secure the services of returning retirees and they have been trained up to deliver the vaccine as well as existing staff who have been identified as vaccinators.
“As the plans develop the number of vaccinators will increase.”
The HSCP has established a gold, silver, bronze command structure led by head of health Evelyn Devine and associate medical director Dr Hamish Dougall.
The groups will meet twice weekly to consider planning, preparation and delivery of the vaccine in Perth and Kinross.
Wider availability of rapid COVID-19 testing is benefiting Perth and Kinross patients.
NHS Tayside has announced round the clock testing while results services are not just taking place at Ninewells but at other hospitals in Tayside.
Lab activity producing rapid test turnaround is helping in the fight to get patients who are confirmed to be infected quickly moved to dedicated coronavirus treatment areas.
A new testing process for COVID-19 has been introduced at NHS Tayside to help patients receive the most appropriate care without delay.
NHS Tayside’s laboratory teams are now offering testing for COVID-19 to be done 24 hours a day, with urgent COVID-19 tests for suspected cases in place to ensure patients can quickly be cared for in the most appropriate clinical area.
A spokesperson for NHS Tayside explained the new process was initially introduced in Ward 42, the COVID-19 assessment ward in Ninewells Hospital, and is now being extended across NHS Tayside.
Respiratory consultant and NHS Tayside’s clinical lead for winter planning Dr David Connell said: “Rapid testing for viruses such as COVID-19 and flu are a key part of this year’s winter plan.
“Being able to quickly determine which patients coming into hospital have these serious infections allows us to safely treat them in areas of the hospital dedicated to caring for people with these illnesses.
“This not only helps patients get the care they need more quickly but also prevents spread of infection within the hospital.”
Dr Connell added:“We are hugely grateful for the hard work of the laboratory teams who make this rapid testing process a possibility, and it demonstrates the strong teamwork of our staff at NHS Tayside to prepare for this winter.”
Consultant clinical microbiologist John Shone said:“NHS Tayside virology was the third lab to implement widespread COVID-19 testing in Scotland, and has been widely praised for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our teams have worked incredibly hard to provide a rapid service for suspected COVID-19 patients, and we are all pleased to see the benefits for patients and how it can improve the appropriate movement of patients.
“In NHS Tayside, we have among the fastest COVID-19 test times in Scotland, and the introduction of the new rapid tests will help improve our processes even further.”