Chamber and committees

The Coronavirus Act 2020 allows for temporary relaxation of local authority assessment duties in relation to needs assessments and preparation of adult carer support plans. Section 12 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 gives local authorities a core duty to provide care and support to people in need of assistance which remains in place.

Our arrangements for monitoring implementation of the Coronavirus Act, as it relates to social work assessments, includes requesting information from local authorities who have chosen to make use of the powers under the Act about the number of full and partial assessments undertaken during the emergency period, and how this compares with the equivalent period last year. This is part of a survey that will support our reporting to the Scottish Parliament on the Coronavirus Act.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-29378 on 10 June 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

National Records of Scotland (NRS) publish weekly statistics on COVID-19 deaths, including where COVID-19 was a suspected or underlying cause of death.

NRS report that up to week 13, the number of weekly registered deaths in Scotland had been broadly in line with the five year average. From week 14 (30 March) onwards, there has been a clear divergence from the five year average number of deaths. Whilst the majority of these “excess deaths” have COVID-19 reported as the underlying cause, NRS also report excess deaths for the underlying causes of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, circulatory (heart disease and stroke) and cancer.

The Scottish Government is working with other analytical partners such as Public Health Scotland and National Records of Scotland to understand the wider impact of covid-19 on Scotland’s population, including those in care homes.

Guidance from Health Protection Scotland and the Scottish Government is clear that physical distancing measures must be followed by everyone, including those in care homes . It recommends that residents remain in their rooms as much as possible; that communal activity and the use of communal spaces are avoided especially where there is an outbreak; physical distancing measures are applied; and where there are suspected or confirmed cases there should be strict enforcement of these measures. The use of a risk assessment to determine the approach is also recommended.

I expect NHS Boards to continue to implement the extant Scottish Health Planning Note (SHPN) 04-01: Adult in-patient facilities (October 2010) file:///C:/Users/u440390/Downloads
/1476379336-SHPN%2004-01%20for%20web.pdf which sets out bed spacing requirements. The Note states that:

“ Bed space 1.7 In relation to the issue of bed spacing for multi-bedded rooms, the current advice remains unchanged. That is, taking account of ergonomic criteria, primarily the space required for patient handling and other activities which take place in the immediate vicinity of the bed, it is recognised that the minimum bed space should not be less than 3.6m wide x 3.7m deep. ”

This meets the current requirements to meet COVID-19 physical distancing requirements.

A UK sub-group of SAGE, which includes Scottish representation, are currently looking at environmental aspects of COVID-19, which includes bed spacing. The outputs from this group will inform any decision making in terms of guidance changes in Scotland.

Supply of PPE

The Scottish Government continues to work with NHS National Services Scotland, Health and Social Care Partnerships, the social care sector, and with colleagues in other UK nations to procure and distribute necessary supplies of the types and levels of PPE required to safeguard frontline health and social care workers.

The Scottish Government has its own supply, procurement and logistics arrangements in place working with manufacturers in Scotland and globally to ensure we have adequate supplies and this will continue.

We have introduced measures to improve the distribution of PPE, including a single point of contact for all health boards to manage local PPE supply and distribution. Since the start of March to 3 June 2020, over 158 million items of PPE have been delivered to hospitals in Scotland ( counting individual gloves as single items, as they are purchased in boxes of single gloves ).

The Scottish Government also has a dedicated email address for staff, MSPs or members of the public to raise specific supply issues. The email box is monitored continuously and allows us to act to resolve any supply issues more quickly.

National Records of Scotland published a one-off release on Wednesday 3rd June “Deaths of care home residents involving COVID-19”. This showed the number of care home residents who died in hospital up to the 17th of May was 154.

These 154 deaths of care home residents in hospitals have already been counted in the NRS weekly statistics, under the "hospital deaths" category. This is because the location of death is what is recorded on the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) which is then reported by NRS.

The link to the NRS release, “Deaths of care home residents involving COVID-19” is here:

https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//statistics/covid19/covid-deaths
-care-home-residents.xlsx

In relation to question S5W-29379 on 10 June 2020, any care home residents who died in hospital as a result of COVID-19 will be included in the "hospital deaths" category. Deaths from COVID-19 that occurred in a care home will be counted in the "Care Home" category.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Public Health Scotland provides the Scottish Government with numbers of residents and staff tested in care homes, but it is not possible to disaggregate this further to provide a breakdown of the numbers of care home residents who were tested for COVID-19 during the delay phase. The move from the containment to the delay phase happened on 16 March and these data are only available from 20 April.

The Scottish Government is committed to keeping staff across the NHS and emergency services safe, including ensuring continued access to appropriate personal protective equipment.

NHS National Services Scotland are keeping the position with NHS supplies under constant review as the coronavirus pandemic develops and we are working with them to ensure stocks are maintained so we can continue to protect those who need it. Health Boards also have means to notify NHS National Procurement of any supply issues, in order that they can quickly be rectified.

We are distributing PPE to all social care providers and to GP Practices. This includes stocks of facemasks, aprons, gloves and eye protection, in line with Health Protection Scotland guidance. The Scottish Government also remains in close liaison with the emergency services and through them, their suppliers, to ensure they remain adequately protected in performing their vital roles.

The Scottish Government is undertaking a detailed review of COVID-19 budget pressures across health and social care, and as part of this we will ensure that Integration Authorities have the resources that they need.

The Scottish Government has made available £50 million as an initial tranche of funding for Integration Authorities to meet immediate pressures, and has provided reassurance that further funding will be provided.

Tiger Eye goggles and frames were part of the standing pre Covid-19 national pandemic stockpile. The UK Department for Health and Social Care contacted us on Saturday 9th May advising that there was an issue with the Tiger Eye protective glasses. This product has been distributed to us from the 2009 UK pandemic stockpile.

NHS National Services Scotland has received a total of approximately 3.6 million complete sets of Tiger eye protection as part of the UK stockpile. Approximately 3 million have been distributed with remaining balance still being held in stock.

The Health and Safety Executive requested that the British Standards Institute test Tiger Eye Protectors against current Covid-19 Infection Prevention and Control Guidance. The tests showed the product does not meet the standard for splash protection. NSS has issued an alert to all health and social care organisations in Scotland informing them of the withdrawal of this product.

NSS has also cancelled with immediate effect any further deliveries of this product to health and social care providers in Scotland. NSS has confirmed that there are adequate supplies of alternative products that meet relevant Covid-19 standards in stock and on order. NHS England and Wales have recalled the items and confirmed they were never certificated against relevant EN166 standards. NSS have confirmed that they are still holding the remaining warehouse stock within NSS and that, in parallel health boards have been asked to dispose of all remaining local stock.