Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid has written to health chiefs to voice ‘growing concern’ over the impact of COVID-19 cases and shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) in care homes.
Workers at the Badenscoth Care Home near Rothienorman are among those that have reported being over-worked, under-staffed and struggling to cope. Care homes in Peterhead, Fraserburgh and Banff areas have also said that PPE is in short supply, while the number of staff forced to self-isolate is increasing.
Scottish Care, the industry body which represents the private care sector, said at the weekend that half of its 1,100 homes had at least one case of suspected Coronavirus. And Robert Kilgour, owner of Renaissance Care, predicted a ‘tsunami’ of deaths in care homes across the country.
Mr Duguid and his Scottish Conservative colleagues have contacted the Scottish Government, NHS Grampian as well as Aberdeenshire Council.
He said
The scale of the task facing our health and social care sectors is huge, and everybody involved is working flat out and doing the best they can.
But there are growing concerns about the impact of this crisis on our care homes.
We are hearing many are under-staffed and struggling to cope. There are reports of shortages of personal protective equipment, and the supplies that are being used are often inadequate.
I have written to the NHS Grampian chief executive about specific cases raised within my constituency, but these are problems that are replicated across the country.
We must ensure that no-one slips through the cracks and that staff at care homes like those in my constituency have access to the equipment they need and do not feel like they have been forgotten.
