Author: Rhoda Grant

Home Farm Care Home remains at the centre of the island’s outbreak as 57 residents and staff test positive for the deadly virus.

In an email marked urgent to health board interim Chief Executive Paul Hawkins, Highlands & Islands MSP Rhoda Grant said testing at Home Farm Care Home should be carried out every day with immediate effect for all the staff and residents who tested negative when mass testing was carried out on 29 and 30 April.

Army personnel have been deployed to Skye after residents died at the care home. Five residents have now died.

Rhoda said: “I know NHS Highland did not delay testing at the home as soon as the first staff member was confirmed with Covid-19. But this testing needs to be carried out on a daily basis at the care home for staff and residents who tested negative.”

Rhoda has also asked NHS Highland to respond to concerns raised by the devastated family of a resident who sadly died at the facility yesterday after testing positive for the disease.

They are concerned about the care home’s handling of infection control during the pandemic and claimed staff were being moved around between the group’s other care homes in other areas, without adhering to self-isolation protocol.

Rhoda has asked Mr Hawkins did NHS Highland know whether staff had been tested before they were moved in and whether any contact tracing of staff had taken place to ensure staff brought in were not coming from other homes where patients had tested positive for the infectious disease.

Rhoda has also questioned Mr Hawkins on what steps the health board took to alert Home Farm about risks to residents once the threat of Covid-19 became known, and what steps it took to identify care homes where residents might be at particular risk due of low standards of care being flagged up in inspection reports.

Home Farm was warned about adhering to cleanliness standards just six months ago.

The MSP also wants to know what extra staffing NHS Highland has deployed to the home since the outbreak.

In addition, Rhoda has also written urgently to the Health Secretary Jeane Freeman asking how all separate bits of government advice have been passed on to care homes by the Scottish Government.

In her email Rhoda says: “I understand the Home Farm Care Home has weak ratings with regard to infection control – was it identified by Health Protection Scotland as one which might need special attention or guidance before the outbreak occurred? If this is the case, what additional action was taken to protect residents?”

She went on: “At Topical Questions on the 5th of May, you told me the guidance was clear, “there should be no transfer of staff from one care home to another because all of this is about breaking the transmission route”.

“When was this guidance passed on to care homes?

“Also during Topical Questions, you told me many of the private care homes were not following government guidance and that’s why government was now intervening. Where the Government believes that the private sector is at fault, what steps will it be taking to investigate and ensure the right procedures are in place?”

Rhoda also urged the health minister to look into the care home’s policies with regards to allowing relatives to be with their loved-ones in their final moments.

She wrote: “The grief-stricken family I am supporting phoned me in the hours after their loved-one passed. There appeared to have been last-minute confusion which prevented more than one of his relatives to be by his side at the time of his passing.

“This can only lead to further distress. I believe safe ways can be found to let people visit at the same time if they are all wearing full PPE. This must be looked at urgently and can you (Cabinet Secretary for Health) communicate with the care home and ask that they change this ruling? I have also written to the Managing Director of HC-One John Kirk today and I put this question to him.”

Rhoda Grant MSP Backs Campaign To Tackle Lockdown Rail Network Trespassers

Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant is backing a new awareness-raising campaign to warn against trespassing on the railway during the COVID-19 lockdown following reports of incidents across the Highlands.

Network Rail’s ‘Stay off the tracks. Stay home. Stay safe.’ campaign will run on commercial radio stations across Scotland and on social media channels from May to July.

Targeting younger people in particular, the campaign has been launched in response to increasing levels of trespass on the railway during the current lockdown period.

Over 70 trespass incidents have been recorded on Scotland’s Railway since March 20, when Scotland’s schools closed ahead of the full lockdown on March 23. Network Rail have reported that trespass is proving to be an issue across the country including in locations across and the Highlands.

Commenting on the campaign Rhoda Grant MSP said:

“Trespassing on the rail network is a growing problem with recent incidents in Highland and this welcome campaign sends a clear message to stay off the tracks, stay home and stay safe.

“Many people fail to understand the danger they put themselves and others in when they make the choice to step on the track. Research has indicated that this is a persistent issue – particularly amongst boys and young adults aged 11 – 18 years old.

“We know that there are often increases in trespass incidents at differing times of year, and this often includes the summer holidays. With the current lockdown restrictions in place and young people not in a formal school setting there is a fear that this could lead to more incidents that normal, so this campaign and message is an important and timely one.”

Further information:

Network Rail works closely with the British Transport Police to keep Scotland’s Railway secure and trespassers and vandals will be prosecuted.

The public can also help to keep the railway safe by contacting Network Rail’s 24-hour helpline on 03457 114141 to report any locations where trespassers are gaining access to the tracks.

To find out more about the dangers of railway trespass, visit www.youvstrain.co.uk, the campaign led by Network Rail and the wider rail industry to address the issue of trespass on the railway.

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant has asked the Health Minister Jeane Freeman about the tragic outbreak of Covid-19 at Home Farm Care Home on Skye.

During Topical Questions today she said:

“I am deeply distressed for the residents and staff at Home Farm Care Home.

“A constituent with a relative in the home has told me she raised concerns with senior management of the company about its handling of the pandemic and the lack of PPE for staff. She was also concerned staff were being taken in from other care homes without a period of isolation.

“I have written to the Cabinet Secretary and put down a written question asking on behalf of another constituent for a protocol for Care Homes in this Pandemic and have had no response.

“When will there be a protocol for Care Homes to prevent tragedies such as this one in Skye?”

Jeane Freeman replied: “The guidance to care homes is clear and that guidance is that residents should be looked after in their own rooms, there should be no communal socialising or meal times, that visits should be stopped and there should be no transfer of staff from one care home to another because all of this is about breaking the transmission route. That I think is a protocol of type (…) but I would like to point out, however, that many of the issues that members are raising are issues where private care home providers where the majority of the outbreaks are, have not, in some instances, appeared to follow the guidance that we require them to follow and that is why as government we are now taking a more direct intervention route in those cases.”

Rhoda raised her question after a relative of a Home Farm Care Home resident contacted her for support saying she had raised concerns weeks ago with HC-One which owns the care home about staff not wearing PPE.

The relative also claimed that she was aware HC-One was moving its own staff between its care homes after Home Farm went into lockdown on March 12 without adhering to seven-day self-isolation rules.

She contacted Rhoda last night saying she was shocked and distressed to see how her relative’s health had deteriorated in the last few days since being diagnosed with Covid-19 in the care home.

The woman, who does not want to be named, told Mrs Grant: “The sheer volume of this explosion at Home Farm has knocked everybody for six. Hopefully my husband is going to pull through this. But that doesn’t change my stance that somebody is responsible for letting that virus into the home. I am not condemning the care home staff in any way though because I don’t believe they are to blame. They have provided wonderful care to my husband over the years.”

Speaking afterwards, Rhoda said she would be raising this issue further with the Scottish Government as well as the owner of the care home HC-One, The Care Inspectorate and NHS Highland.

She said: “This is terrible. It’s shocking. This woman, who until lockdown was visiting her husband six days a week, has managed to see him yesterday on webcam for the first time in a week and the sight of him lying in bed desperately ill miles away from her is something no-one should ever have to see. We need to find out why the virus has spread so quickly to so many in this care home and why earlier mass testing was not carried out. There are urgent questions that need to be answered.”

 

 

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, is urgently seeking answers from NHS Highland about the outbreak of Coronavirus at Home Farm care home on Skye.

Mrs Grant contacted NHS Highland as early as March 26 after a constituent, who had relatives in a care home, asked about the general protocol if residents were to be kept out of hospital and have appropriate treatment as well as palliative care where required.

Questions were asked about protective equipment, oxygen and other necessary supplies for care homes, plus the recruitment of additional staff for care homes and particularly more staff qualified to deal with the health complications of the virus.

“I raised this because of people’s fear that an incident like this could happen and I am so distressed to see such a serious situation on Skye,” said Mrs Grant.

“There are urgent questions that need to be answered, including about testing and tracing on the island, especially with reports that a case of Covid-19 was previously found in Broadford.

“Why weren’t families, residents and staff informed and tested then and when it comes to Home Farm, why did the virus spread so quickly to so many and why was there not earlier mass testing?

“In the meantime, my thoughts are with staff and residents on Skye, both at the care home and in the wider community.”

Mrs Grant said she welcomed the fact that a mobile testing unit was being dispatched to the island and urged people to stick to the advice, to stay at home apart from the exceptions laid out in the regulations: daily exercise, shopping for necessities, animal welfare or medical need.  

 

“Scottish Labour has pressed for a proper contingency plan for Scotland’s crisis hit care homes and an expansion of testing to the level advised by the WHO,” she added. “This Government cannot continue to let the most vulnerable in our society down.  We must test, trace and isolate to stop this virus spreading.”

MSP Rhoda Grant is calling on government and industry to mitigate the devastating double blow to the oil and gas industry.

It follows a report out this week warning of 30,000 job losses unless action is not taken to help the sector weather the storm.

The paper by Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) says with more than half of the world’s population under some form of lockdown due to COVID-19,
industrial output has plummeted, and energy demand has collapsed.

It predicts the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic “will likely be a legacy felt for decades” and there are real fears the supply chain capabilities developed over decades will be destroyed.

OGUK now expects that more than half of companies will defer at least half of their activities originally planned for 2020.

Mrs Grant said now is the time for industry to work with the Scottish and UK governments to renew the commitment to a just, inclusive and sustainable transition to a low carbon economy – harnessing and safeguarding the skills base of the oil and gas sector.

In the immediate term, Mrs Grant is supporting efforts to secure the wages of oil workers whose jobs are at risk of being slashed within weeks.

She said: “I am in touch right now with industry leaders and I am supporting my North East Labour MSP colleague Lewis MacDonald’s work at a national level to secure the salaries in the short term for hundreds of oil workers through the UK Government’s Job Retention Scheme, which allows businesses to claim state money for employee salaries.

“Under the scheme, employers can apply for cash grants online and put employees on furlough, meaning their job is put on hold and they do not work, but they are still employed. The state then finances 80 per cent of furloughed employees’ salaries, up to £2,500 per month. It is vital that these wages are secured even if only in the short term.”

Mrs Grant said some companies with workers on redundancy risk were clearly of the opinion that they are inhibited from the salary payment scheme. This is because they know they do not have any realistic prospect of having work for our their “at risk” employees at the end of the current phase of the lockdown restrictions. The position is their circumstances do not allow them to apply for funding.

Mrs Grant said: “I am arguing that this is a misreading of the terms of the scheme, and that they should use this Coronavirus Job Retention scheme to delay redundancy. Workers can be furloughed now, then made redundant later, if the furlough period is at least three consecutive weeks. It is vital for those families that we get the right outcome on this.”

She added: “The report by OGUK says action needs to be taken now to utilise the skills, technologies and capabilities within the oil and gas industry in a way that can help drive the UK towards achieving its net-zero ambitions.

“Diversification into new business areas can provide many companies with new opportunities to offset the declines that are currently being seen in the oil and gas industry.

“The UK’s oil and gas supply chain provides us with a huge competitive advantage. If the UK does not maintain an active and diversified energy sector, we will see other countries move in to benefit from the investment in new energies over the decades to come.”

Note to Editor

1. The media pack which includes the OGUK report, audio soundbite and image of Deirdre Michie can be found here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=12EemLLIGK9OQZ2dLiqrXsI3xqxN1Pioo
2. The latest employment figures can be found in OGUK’s 2019 Workforce Report (Page 10) https://oilandgasuk.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Workforce-Report-2019.pdf

 

 

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, said it was disappointing but not unexpected that the TSB bank will not be reversing its decision to close its Tain branch in June.

Mrs Grant wrote to the company in the light of the Clydesdale bank saying that its Dingwall branch had been given a stay of execution due to the Coronavirus crisis. She had written to the TSB in November last year after concerned constituents contacted her about the Tain closure.

This time the TSB told the MSP: “We have not taken the decision lightly having reviewed a range of factors on the viability of the branch and in ensuring that we are able to continue to support our customers in Tain to bank with us after the closure.

“I appreciate your concerns on the impact this will have on the local community, particularly given the ongoing Coronavirus crisis which has seen an even lower level of footfall in the branch and an uplift in customers registering for online and mobile banking.”

Mrs Grant added: “It is such a pity that banks will not invest in local communities, especially at a time when people will probably be staying local much more and for the foreseeable future.

“As both Governments keep telling us conquering Coronavirus will be a marathon and not a sprint and I was hoping that banks could see some worth in keeping staff and customers in smaller areas.”

TSB said it was contacting customers to help them use other banking options, including telephone and digital and working with the Post Office to ensure there was still access to banking services.

The bank added: “We’re also supporting personal and business banking customers impacted by Coronavirus through additional lending and loan repayment holidays and we remain the only bank to offer customers a Fraud Refund Guarantee, which protects innocent customers against all types of transactional fraud loss.”

Mrs Grant wrote to the Clydesdale bank, which has now merged with Virgin Money, asking about the future of its Dingwall branch given that it said it would not be preceding with closure “until further notice” due to recognition of the impact of Covid 19 and uncertainty.

Last year she had a meeting with bank officials about proposed closures.

The MSP asked if there was further information as to what would happen to the Dingwall branch, for instance whether it would still close this year.

“I did ask if it would consider the branch’s long-term future given that even if Coronavirus restrictions are lessened then there may indeed be more local footfall for shops and services. This wasn’t answered.

“Although I welcome the reprieve, I fear this will be a temporary measure to suit the bank’s current predicament but I’m hoping to be proved wrong.”

Clydesdale added: “This latest decision comes on top of numerous measures to protect colleague and customer health and wellbeing at this time. Our priority is to continue providing services for our customers, while keeping colleagues safe. These are unprecedented times and we continue to review what further action we can take to support our customers, communities and colleagues.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Highlands & Islands MSP Rhoda Grant has issued a fresh call on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to make further changes to his Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which allows businesses to claim state money for employee salaries.

Under the scheme, employers can apply for cash grants online and put employees on furlough, meaning their job is put on hold and they do not work, but they are still employed.

The state then finances 80 per cent of furloughed employees’ salaries, up to £2,500 per month.

Earlier this month, rushed changes were made to expand eligibility after it emerged many thousands of people who recently switched jobs could not apply under current guidelines.

The qualifying date for when an employee must have been on the employer’s payroll was changed from 28 February 2020 to 19 March 2020.

The government said this would mean hundreds of thousands of people would now be eligible.

However, many people say they remain shut out of the scheme.

Mrs Grant said constituents she is supporting are among them.

In her letter to the chancellor today she said: “The changes you made gave thousands of people hope, at least until they read the small print and realised there is a new loophole.

“The employee’s pay information had to have been submitted to HMRC by March 19^th. This was unrealistic and was underlined by the chief executive of HMRC days ago who told the BBC that most employers will pay their employees at the end of the month.

“This means people who moved jobs at the end of February or the beginning of March cannot, in most cases, expect their information to be processed by their new employer and submitted to HMRC until the end of the month.

“This is no victory. Please step up and rectify this and allow people who are starting new jobs to qualify for this furlough scheme. The HMRC and Treasury can validate proof of employment to ensure these applications are not fraudulent.”

It is the second time this month that Mrs Grant has raised the issue in writing with the chancellor.

She said: “These people have been left disappointed and angry. They have worked for years without any interruption. They have never asked for anything from the government and now, the one time they need it, the help is not there. This is a national scandal. I would urge the chancellor to step in now and bring these people into the scheme.”

Ends.

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, has been told that NHS Highland is developing a model which will help care home staff during the Covid 19 pandemic.

Mrs Grant has now received a response from the health authority after last week criticising it for a lack of information on how care home residents and staff can be protected during the Coronavirus crisis.

NHS Highland’s Interim Chief Executive, Paul Hawkins, apologised for the delay but said he recognised “the vulnerability of this section of society” particularly during the pandemic.

He continued: “NHS Highland is developing a model of care which will see nurses and allied health care professionals supported by medical colleagues to work with existing care home staff and where appropriate supplement care home staff,” said Mr Hawkins.

“They also provide a higher level of supportive care to enable the older person to be cared for in their own home.”

The Interim Chief Executive stressed this was in the planning phase but continued: “this will not replace the requirement for acute hospital care should any person suffering from Covid or any other illness require this level of intervention in a hospital setting”.

Mrs Grant said: “This is a welcome move and I do hope its implementation can be brought in as soon as possible.

“Nationally, recorded coronavirus-related deaths in care homes make-up a third of the overall number of deaths and that is worryingly high.

“There has also been some reassurance that levels of personal protective equipment are being monitored and I hope that care homes and other health services in our region are finding adequate supplies.”

The letter said it was important that care homes were supported to provide end of life care and outlined efforts that were being made with help from Highland Hospice, Marie Curie and Macmillan.

Additional purchase of equipment including syringe drivers to administer medication to people in the last stages of life, as well as a range of supportive resources for unpaid carers and welfare support for staff, were in the process of being made available for community and care homes settings.

NHS Highland said staffing levels and the availability of personal protective equipment for care homes was monitored daily and the board medical and nurse director plus the director of social care had been working together on the deployment of a care home support team.

Mrs Grant contacted NHS Highland as early as March 26 after a constituent, who had relatives in a care home, asked about the protocol if residents were to be kept out of hospital and have appropriate treatment as well as palliative care where required.

Questions were asked about protective equipment, oxygen and other necessary supplies for care homes, plus the recruitment of additional staff for care homes and particularly more staff qualified to deal with the health complications of the virus.

The constituent, who wanted to remain anonymous, lived in Inverness but had relatives out-with the region.

Mrs Grant last week raised her frustration at not receiving any reply from NHS Highland, while recognising the difficult times for the health authority, for front-line staff and for the Scottish Government, lack of information was frustrating and unsettling, especially for those who have loved ones in care.

 

 

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, has strongly criticised the Scottish Government and NHS Highland for lack of information on how care home residents and staff can be protected during the Coronavirus crisis.

Mrs Grant contacted NHS Highland’s Interim Chief Executive, Paul Hawkins, as early as March 26 after a constituent, who had relatives in a care home, asked about the protocol if residents were to be kept out of hospital and have appropriate treatment such as palliative care.

Questions were asked about protective equipment, oxygen and other necessary supplies for care homes, plus the recruitment of additional staff and particularly more qualified staff for care homes.

The constituent, who wants to remain anonymous, lives in Inverness but has relatives out-with the region.

This week she told the MSP: “Why have we seen television images of a care home in Northern Ireland where staff are adequately kitted out, and where staff temperatures are taken before shifts, when it is clear that care home staff in Scotland come far down the pecking order in prevention of this killer virus that is among us?

“Agency staff being used to fill vacancies should each be based only in one home – not moved around. The Government needs to fund this. Similarly, to avoid the spread of infection in the community, there must be continuity of carers for those requiring care in their own homes. None of this is happening. Nor has it ever been so.

“The crisis of the Coronavirus leaves us in a position of putting sticking plasters on gaping holes in care provision.”

Mrs Grant explained that, until this week, there was no system of raising urgent inquiries from constituency MSPs, with the Scottish Parliament in recess and emails to Cabinet Secretaries and Minsters taking weeks to be answered.

“These were all valid concerns raised by my constituent, speaking no doubt for many in our area, which then came into sharp focus when the tragic deaths at Burlington Court Care Home in Glasgow came to light,” said Mrs Grant.

“I realise these are difficult times for the health authority, for front-line staff and for the Scottish Government, but the lack of information on serious concerns such as these is frustrating and unsettling, especially for those who have loved ones in care.

“I am hoping these questions can be urgently addressed. However, in the longer term, the way society views carers has to change, solidifying their position as key workers who need to be valued.”

Mrs Grant put down a Parliamentary Question along the same lines as the request to NHS Highland, however this will not be answered until May 4.

Question S5W-28249: Rhoda Grant, Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 06/04/2020

To ask the Scottish Government what protocols it has put in place for care homes in response to the COVID-19 outbreak; what action it is taking to ensure that the homes (a) are providing appropriate palliative care and (b) have sufficient protective equipment, oxygen and other essential supplies, and how it is supporting them with the recruitment of additional staff where required.

Current Status: Expected Answer date 04/05/2020