Vaccinated care staff ‘should not have to isolate’
Bosses appeal for quarantine to be axed as absences soar
CARE home workers should not face quarantine if fully vaccinated amid fears of a staffing crisis, bosses have demanded.
They have written to the Scottish Government urging ‘serious consideration’ of allowing staff to escape ten-day self-isolation after contact with someone with coronavirus.
On Thursday, Nicola Sturgeon signalled that dropping quarantine for NHS workers considered ‘close contacts’ of Covid patients could be scrapped – but only for those who have had two jabs.
Now care home chiefs have called for the same consideration to be given to social care workers after a rise in absences in recent weeks.
There were 702 staff at residential facilities absent in the week ending July 6 – up from 636 the previous week – according to new figures published by the Scottish Government. This is the highest since April 20, when 783 staff were off work.
Donald Macaskill, chief executive of Scottish Care, which represents the sector, said he had appealed to the Government to change the rules which force workers to quarantine for ten days when identified as close contacts.
He said care providers in the community and residential facilities had ‘become increasingly stretched in the last two weeks as a result of staff having to isolate either because of contracting Covid, because of a requirement to self-isolate as a result of notification and because people are taking annual leave’.
Mr Macaskill said: ‘Scottish Care has formally requested that the Scottish Government give serious consideration in clearly defined circumstances of emergency to not making it a requirement for social care staff to isolate for a ten-day period.
‘Instead, amongst other proactive mitigations, we want those who are not showing symptoms to be tested daily and still able to work.
‘At the heart of this issue is the need for us all to continue to provide essential care and support to citizens both in care homes and in their own home.’
He warned: ‘The threat to the sustainability of essential services is becoming acute and severe in parts of Scotland and we must act with urgency.’
Robert Kilgour, executive chairman of provider Renaissance Care, said: ‘It is a big, big worry. At the moment, staffing levels are OK, but there is a worry as more staff are forced to take time off. I am 100 per cent behind Scottish Care making representations about self-isolation.’
Mr Kilgour said 99 per cent of residents are fully vaccinated, along with 90 per cent of staff – with workers taking two tests a week. He said: ‘This seems like a pretty good system and the fear is that as cases grow in the community more and more people will get notifications to self-isolate when they have come into contact with cases, while not having the virus themselves.’
Mr Kilgour said he has had heard stories that social care workers have started to turn off their Protect Scotland track and trace app as a way of avoiding being told to quarantine.
However, he insisted he ‘would not promote or encourage this’ and instead wants changes to the current guidelines for those who have been fully vaccinated.
The latest figures show there were 14 Covid-positive residents in care homes in the week ending July 4 – down slightly from 19 the previous week.
Meanwhile, 44 residential facilities believed they had a suspected case of the virus.
‘Increasingly stretched’ ‘It is a big, big worry’