THE SCOTTISH Government is reviewing its Covid-19 testing strategy after the Deputy First Minster has been left “frustrated” by reports home care workers have been told to travel to the other side of Scotland for tests.
John Swinney has promised to investigate the reports as part of a review to be carried out today.
Yesterday, the Scottish Government came under fire after public health professor, Linda Bauld warned there was a “big problem” with the test, trace, isolate strategy – with the turnaround for test results currently averaging 30 hours.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Professor raises 'big problem' with Nicola Sturgeon's test, trace, isolate strategy
Donald Macaskill, CEO of Scottish Care, said he has received “lots of communication from people who have gone to test centres and not found anyone available to deliver the test”.
He pointed to staff in Clydebank being instructed to travel to Arbroath and Edinburgh for testing - while a care worker in Lanarkshire whose husband has tested positive for Covid-19 was told her nearest available test centre was Inverness, before finding a slot in Perth.
#Homecare provider telling me tonight that 2 staff needing tested tried to book test - both staff stay in Clydebank, 1st told to go for the test at Arbroath and the 2nd to go to Edinburgh. Home test unavailable. This is crazy! We must do better!! @scottishcare #Covid19
— Donald Macaskill (@DrDMacaskill) May 7, 2020
He added: "There is a much-improved testing practice in relation to care homes, but at the same time, we are seeing a deterioration in the ability of home care staff to access tests.
"We are getting a lot better at testing in care homes – that’s been an immense improvement. We almost seem to be getting worse for our home care workers. Those workers are especially vulnerable going into individuals’ houses – and we need to get those workers tested.
"We need to get home care staff back to work. We need an equal priority in testing for them."
Responding on BBC Good Morning Scotland, Mr Swinney admitted there was “clearly a communication failure” - amid reports of people unable to be tested within seven days.
Asked about the apparent delays for some key workers to be tested for Covid-19, Mr Swinney said: "One of the issues that I would have to say has frustrated us at times, is that we have had more testing capacity available than has been used."
He added: "I can assure you that the issues that you're raising - the practical, real, legitimate issues - need to be addressed, so that we can have an efficient testing strategy.
"For somebody to be told ‘look, there's a test available at Arbroath’, and you're living in Glasgow, is just not acceptable. I totally recognise that.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Hugh Pennington: Mistakes made over testing, PPE and care homes
"So we have to make sure that the capacity is used to the full throughout the country.
"I live in the Tayside area and I've seen NHS Tayside really stretching the delivery of tests and reaching out to organisations asking them, 'do you have anybody that needs a test? Get them in here and we can get them tested'.
"There are really proactive steps being taken in different parts of the country to reach different groups and to make sure they can be tested, and perhaps we need to have a bit more of that in the country.
"But we'll certainly reflect on those points in the course of the review undertaken today."
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