WE’RE CRIPPLED BY OMICRON
NHS, rail and councils say thousands of workers sick
THE tsunami of Covid cases is threatening to bring Scotland to its knees, with tens of thousands of key workers either off sick or self-isolating.
The number of teachers absent from work is soaring, and several health boards are cancelling operations due to staff shortages.
More than 100 rail services were cancelled or changed on Friday, as dozens of drivers and many more staff were unable to go in because of the virus.
It came as figures yesterday showed 5,917 new Covid cases in Scotland and nine deaths. Overall, 494 people were in hospital, including 34 in intensive care.
Several councils reported hundreds of workers absent, either because they have the virus or because they have been in contact with it. One local authority reported that, at the end of last week, 8 per cent of its staff were off work.
Although some self-isolating staff can work from home, many others such as binmen, social carers, and those working in libraries or leisure centres, cannot.
Meanwhile, both NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde admitted
‘Covid highly likely to have an impact on medical workforce’
that operations were being halted because staff shortages were compounding the growing pressure from Covid cases.
NHS Lothian said it had been on an ‘emergency footing’ since August, with most nonurgent and routine procedures postponed.
A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: ‘Throughout the pandemic, staff have been working tirelessly to ensure all emergency treatment, urgent cases and cancer treatment continues.
‘There is, however, no blanket approach to postponement. By and large, procedures are going ahead based on clinical priority.
‘We apologise to any patient who has had their surgery postponed.’
Greater Glasgow and Clyde had 754 health staff off, or 1.2 per cent, with 1.9 per cent absent due to Covid in Lanarkshire.
Judith Park, director of acute services at NHS Lanarkshire, said: ‘We have taken down some elective lists in some specialties due to absences.’
Meanwhile, ScotRail is struggling to run services. A spokesman said: ‘We’re sorry that customers are being inconvenienced.’
While many health boards and councils were unable to provide figures, those that did revealed the scale of the problem.
There were 1,273 council workers off in Aberdeenshire, 461 in East Ayrshire, 448 in the Scottish Borders, and 316 in Edinburgh. South Ayrshire had 8 per cent of staff unable to come to work.
The 2,314 NHS staff currently absent is the highest since September. Dr Lewis Morrison, chair of BMA Scotland, said the NHS was facing a ‘double whammy’ of winter pressures and the latest variant.
He said: ‘If we see a huge number of cases of the new variant, it’s highly likely to impact the medical workforce. It remains to be seen what proportion of the NHS workforce might end up self-isolating, but that’s got to be a huge worry.’
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s Covid recovery spokesman, said: ‘We are facing a potential workforce catastrophe. The SNP must pull out every stop.’
Dr Sandesh Gulhane, Scottish Tory health spokesman, said: ‘It’s worrying, but unsurprising, that the surge in Omicron is leading to increased numbers of public service staff having to self-isolate. In the NHS, we can ill afford to lose frontline staff from an already overstretched service.
‘It’s vital that people take every precaution to mitigate the spread of the virus.’
Meanwhile, teachers continue to press for more measures in schools. Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS union, said: ‘The significant rise in case numbers, and the emergence of the Omicron variant, are having a significant impact. The
EIS called for the Scottish Government to consider closing schools at the end of the past week, to provide a firebreak ahead of pupils and staff mixing with family in the festive period. This was rejected.
‘There is a clear need for strong mitigations once schools reopen, with enhanced cleaning regimes, improvements in ventilation, use of face coverings and appropriate physical distancing measures.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The more people who get Covid, the more staff absences that will create. That’s why it’s important that everyone follows the guidance to control the spread of Omicron.’