All of us will know someone who is either resident in an old people’s home or works in one.
I am no exception and, sadly, two close friends of mine have died in homes during the past few weeks.
Daily and unnecessary tragedy is unfolding. I’ve watched horrified as on the Isle of Skye, one, then two, then many more residents of, and workers in, a care home suddenly became infected with devastating consequences.
My mother spent some time in an old people’s home and so did my grandfather.
I know how grateful both were for the care they received so I can bear witness to the wonderful job work carers do to keep our elderly comfortable and safe.
But when I discover that even now – in the third month of the Covid-19 crisis – testing in most old people’s homes normally only happens when a patient or worker is confirmed as infected and the outbreak is already under way, then I know things have to change.
More than half of Scottish deaths are now among the 33,000 residents in old people’s homes.
And we’re sending our 53,500 care workers out to risk their lives to save lives – but without the proper support and back up they need.
The medical evidence is clear – people can have the disease without showing symptoms and are carriers of it long before they are identified.
I’ve been anxious to support the Scottish and UK Governments in all they do during this crisis and I want to do so now.
I don’t want to be critical but constructive and I don’t want to look back at what hasn’t been done but to look forward at what can be done.
But I’m absolutely sure of one change that is needed urgently tomorrow if not today – we must have routine preventative testing across the country to help stop outbreaks.
Reactive testing – after the disease breaks out – is just not good enough. Regular preventative testing is what is needed and on a routine not just random basis that some favour.
The facts are quite shocking.
Now, well into month three of the crisis, only 1.5 per cent of Scots have been tested, which means more than 98 out of every hundred of us have not.
The Scottish Government promise is that, by the end of May, 15,500 will be tested a day. That’s just 0.3 per cent – three in 1000 being tested.
We are way behind all the countries which have had more success in tackling the disease – Germany, Norway, Denmark, South Korea and the countries Down Under who have tested at least twice as many per head of the population as we have.
From tomorrow, every care home worker and every care home resident should be offered a test.
And so too should every NHS worker –nurses, doctors, midwives, porters, cleaners and catering staff – and all who make the NHS the remarkable institution it is.
