Lothian MSP Miles Briggs has hailed over £4 million worth of UK Government funding to Edinburgh to provide vital support for social care to deal with the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
The Scottish Conservative and Unionist MSP, who is also his party’s Shadow Health Secretary, says the UK Government have provided £58 million worth of direct funding to care homes in Scotland, with over £4 million allocated to the capital’s health and social care partnership.
Mr Briggs says the millions of pounds in funding will help to protect care home staff and residents and help to reduce any transmissions and highlights the UK Government’s commitment to provide care homes with the protection they need.
He added that he hopes that the funding will be backed up by urgency from the SNP Government in carrying out widespread testing of care home staff, which was promised back in May by Jeane Freeman.
Commenting, Miles Briggs MSP said: “The UK Government have shown a real commitment to supporting our care homes through the Covid-19 pandemic.
“With Edinburgh receiving over £4 million in direct funding, this is a hugely welcome funding boost to help our care homes and their staff who have been on the frontline during this unprecedented crisis.
“Our care homes have cared for our loved ones and they deserve our full support to stop transmission of the virus.
“With the UK Government stepping up to provide funding for the capital’s social care, it must be backed up by the SNP carrying out rigorous testing which has been sadly lacking since they promised it back in May.”
Meanwhile, Briggs’ Westminster boss PM Boris Johnson has blundered into a row about care homes. Johnson has been widely criticised for saying “too many care homes didn’t really follow the procedures” during the coronavirus outbreak.
Mark Adams, CEO of charity Community Integrated Care, told the BBC the PM’s comments were “clumsy and cowardly” and he accused Mr Johnson of uttering ‘a massive untruth’.
Liz Kendall MP, Labour’s Shadow Social Care Minister, said: “There have been 30,000 excess deaths in care homes and at least 20,000 of these caused by Covid-19. 25,000 elderly people were discharged from hospitals to care homes without any tests whatsoever and frontline care workers were left without vital PPE.
“Staff who have gone the extra mile to care for elderly people, and experienced things the rest of us can only imagine, will be appalled to hear the Prime Minister’s comments.
“Boris Johnson should be taking responsibility for his actions and fixing the crisis in social care, not blaming care homes for this Government’s mistakes.”
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