SCOTS VOLUNTEERS OUT IN COLD
8,000 apply for test, trace and isolate posts... but not ONE is appointed
SCOTLAND is being left ‘behind’ in the bid to ease lockdown as SNP ministers fail to hire new recruits to help carry out the test, trace and isolate strategy.
More than 8,500 Scots have applied for the 2,000 jobs that the Scottish Government says will be ‘key’ to lifting the current restrictions.
Applications have opened for call handlers, data analysis workers and health protection nurses to help move Scotland into the next phase of controlling Covid-19.
As restrictions are lifted, these workers would quiz those who have tested positive on their movements and seek information about their contacts. People who have been in contact with Covid-19 patients would be required to self-isolate. But yesterday it was reported that not a single applicant had been hired for the Contact Tracing Team.
Politicians now fear Scotland could be left behind in lockdown after already diverging from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s approach.
Speaking on Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme yesterday, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove confirmed 17,000 contact tracers had been recruited south of the Border.
The UK Government set a target of 18,000 by next week, with Mr Gove claiming a significant number had already been trained.
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman claimed yesterday that hundreds of existing NHS workers had been redeployed to help with contact tracing, although no volunteers have yet been signed up.
Health experts and officials have repeatedly stated that getting the test, trace and isolate (TTI) scheme up and running will be vital for allowing lockdown measures to be relaxed.
This was previously operated during the early ‘contain’ stage of the virus response, with all those infected tested and their contacts and movements traced to isolate possible outbreaks.
However, this was scrapped when the UK entered the ‘delay’ stage which led to lockdown.
South of the Border, the Prime Minister has started to relax restrictions, and people are being allowed to travel for exercise, some businesses are returning and there are plans to open up schools in a few weeks.
So far, Nicola Sturgeon has only
‘A failure to hire contact tracers
allowed people in Scotland to take some additional outdoor exercise.
But the First Minister is expected to make further announcements this week – such as allowing some outdoor sports and the opening of garden centres.
Yesterday, Scottish Labour health spokesman Monica Lennon said: ‘The success of the test, trace and isolate strategy, and by extension the safety of the people of Scotland, can’t be hampered by a failure to hire contact tracers.
‘Contact tracing should never have been abandoned. The Cabinet Secretary for Health has been too slow to hire contact tracers despite clear demand for the role.
‘The Scottish Government did not act swiftly enough to protect the people of Scotland when a proactive approach to this incredibly serious health emergency was needed,’ she said. ‘Ministers must now tell us how many contact tracers are in place across Scotland and urgently recruit more.’
Yesterday Miss Freeman said that work was under way to recruit contact tracers, and that 600 were already in place. This is made up of current NHS staff and ‘returnthe
‘The SNP have been behind the curve’
ing workers’. Asked about new recruits, she said: ‘We need to go through proper pre-employment checks and disclosure checks as well as training.
‘All of that work is under way and I am confident that we will get to that 2,000 number through that three-fold process but also with help of other groups we are talking to, such as the St Andrews First Aid Service.’
Miss Freeman also announced a pilot scheme for TTI technology which will be rolled out in three health board areas this week.
The tracing software is to be tested in NHS Fife, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Highland for two weeks before being brought in more widely in June.
This is different from the app piloted by the NHS in England, with officials in Scotland opting for a telephone call system to notify individuals rather than a proximity app alert.
Miss Freeman said: ‘The test, trace, isolate and support approach is about breaking the chain of transmission of the virus but it remains vital that alongside this people continue to follow physical distancing advice and practise good hand and cough hygiene.’
Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said: ‘While it’s encouraging that these trials are finally starting, the SNP have been behind the curve on this process.
‘For weeks we have been asking for plans on how contact tracers would be recruited, and the SNP gave us no clarity whatsoever.
‘It appears they were way behind on their preparations, and will be hard pushed to get the number of staff that we need in time.’
Mr Carlaw added: ‘The success of the test, trace and isolate scheme depends on having enough staff, and the SNP’s lack of progress has put this and Scotland’s ability to exit the lockdown safely in jeopardy.’