Tag: Scottish Government

Social Distancing: what you need to know

Businesses and the public in Scotland are now required by law to follow necessary social distancing measures to slow the spread of coronavirus.

The Scottish Government is using powers from the UK Coronavirus Bill to make it a criminal offence to flout the strict public health guidance that is helping save lives.

To enforce social distancing, people in Scotland are being asked to only go outside if they have a ‘reasonable excuse’.

These include shopping for necessary food, household and medical supplies, travelling to and from work where working from home is not an option, and daily exercise that adheres to social distancing guidance.

Enforcement can be used against businesses and venues that have been told to close, including drinking establishments, entertainment venues, and indoor leisure and sports facilities.

Police Scotland can issue penalty notices of £30, rising to £60 if not paid within 28 days, where they have reason to believe there has been an offence under the regulations.

These penalties are doubled for each repeat offence up to a £960 cap, with no reduction for early payment. Due to the exceptional nature of these powers, the regulations will be reviewed at least every 21 days to ensure they are still necessary.

Constitution Secretary Michael Russell said: “There has been a huge effort by the people and businesses of Scotland to respond to the unprecedented situation we face dealing with the coronavirus.

“I would like to thank everyone who is playing their part by staying at home to ensure the social distancing measures we have introduced help stop the spread of the virus.

“While the majority of people are doing the right thing, these regulations provide the police with emergency powers to enforce social distancing where necessary.

“It is only because of the unprecedented crisis we are facing, and to save lives, that these powers are being introduced. They are temporary and will be kept under review.

“I urge the people of Scotland to continue their outstanding collective effort and follow the rules that have been laid down.”

Chief Constable Iain Livingstone QPM said: “I thank the overwhelming majority of people who are complying with very clear guidance to stay at home.

“I expect the public to continue to do their duty and contribute to the national effort to keep people safe from the spread of coronavirus.

“This is a challenging time for people who have to adjust their daily habits and everything we do will be done in a fair, reasonable and proportionate manner.

“Those who persistently and blatantly defy the law must know we will enforce the law.”

The Scottish Government has issued specific guidance on staying at home and away from others to help protect the NHS and save lives.

Guidance for the public

A non-exhaustive list of reasonable excuses for when people can leave their home includes:

  • shopping for food
  • essential household and medical supplies
  • exercise once a day
  • medical assistance
  • travel to work where work at home is not an option
  • attending a funeral of a member of their household, a close family member or in the event that no family or household member is attending the funeral, of a friend
  • providing care or assistance to others
  • and meeting legal obligations or accessing critical public services

The regulations include powers to enable Police Scotland to enforce restrictions on movement of people outside their place of residence and to disperse gatherings.

This includes the ability to remove people who are outside their home without a reasonable excuse if the police officer has reason to believe it is a necessary and proportionate means of ensuring compliance.

Extra respirators brought into use

Action has been taken to bring an additional 1.5 million protective respirators into use from NHS Scotland’s central stockpile.

The tightly-fitting facemasks, which provide a high level of protection for staff working with coronavirus patients, were not previously used because they had recently passed their expiry date.

However, scientific evidence from stringent independent tests has shown the FFP respirators continue to be safe to use.

Both the Health and Safety Executive and Health Protection Scotland have reviewed the evidence and are satisfied the stocks are safe for use by NHS staff.

Dr Catherine Calderwood, Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer, said: “The safety of our health and social care staff is our upmost priority and it’s essential they have the right equipment to keep them safe as they go about their work.

“While there is currently an adequate supply of respirators, we know there is a significant pressure on global supplies of personal protective equipment due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.

“We therefore decided to test this recently expired stock to determine whether it still provides an adequate level of safety and protection.

“Those tests have shown the equipment continues to meet those standards and therefore we will bring these masks into use to ensure we continue to have adequate stocks as the outbreak develops.”

Dr Miles Mack, chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties in Scotland, said: “Effective personal protective equipment is essential and we understand the difficulties around sourcing that have been encountered.

“On the basis of Health Protection Scotland agreement, we have no issue with this stock of masks being distributed for use in the NHS at this time.”

Coronavirus: Scotland forms new expert group

A new expert group providing additional scientific analysis of the impact of COVID-19 in Scotland has been announced by the First Minister.

As the number of cases increases, it is important that we have the fullest possible understanding of exactly how COVID-19 is spreading in Scotland.

Professor Andrew Morris, Professor of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and Director of Health Data Research UK, will chair the Scottish Government COVID-19 Advisory Group.

He will be supported by vice chair, Professor David Crossman, Dean of Medicine at the University of St Andrews and Chief Scientific Advisor for Health at the Scottish Government.

The group will supplement the advice coming to the four nations from the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE) to further strengthen Scottish Government modelling work informing national and local decisions in Scotland during the pandemic.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood (above) said: “We are facing an unprecedented situation and it’s crucial we not only follow the latest scientific advice coming from SAGE, but establish what that means here in Scotland on a local level.

“It’s vital that we are well equipped to deal with all possibilities as this outbreak grows globally and this advisory group will play a key role in developing our understanding of the virus and its impact on Scotland.

“We will continue to work closely with the UK Government, Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive as part of a coordinated response to this virus.”

Read the COVID-19 Guidance for Non-Healthcare Settings.

The latest numbers of test results are published at 2pm each day on the Scottish Government website.

Updates on public health advice for coronavirus can be found on the NHS Inform website, and a free helpline has been set up for those who do not have symptoms but are looking for general health advice: 0800 028 2816.

Common symptoms of coronavirus include:
• fever or a temperature of above 37.8°C
• persistent cough

Key Worker status: Usdaw appeals to local authorities

Retail trade union Usdaw has written to the Scottish Government THREE TIMES urging them to clarify that workers in the food and pharmaceutical supply chains are defined as key workers and therefore able to access school childcare provision. 

The union has not received the necessary clarity, so has written to all Scottish local authority leaders directly, pleading with them to allow retail and pharmaceutical workers to make use of the much needed services schools offer, to enable them to go into work and provide the essential services we all rely on.

Stewart Forrest,Usdaw Divisional Officer for Scotland, said: “Usdaw is extremely disappointed with the guidance issued by the Scottish Government on Friday regarding school closures.

“In the rest of the UK, the essential role of food and pharmaceutical workers has been recognised, with these workers rightly prioritised for childcare provision.  This has not been made clear in the guidance for Scotland.

“There is an extraordinary effort being undertaken by workers throughout the supply chain, to keep Scotland fed.  The supply of food and medicine is always an essential service, now more than ever. There should be no question whatsoever that our members in these roles are essential workers and that they need to be prioritised.

“It is very disappointing that we have been forced to write to local authority leaders directly, but we will not let this rest until our members, who are doing essential work in very difficult circumstances, have the correct support that they desperately need.”

Working together for Worker Safety

Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop and STUC General Secretary Grahame Smith have issued a joint statement outlining the shared commitment to fair work practices in Scotland.

The statement calls on employers, trades unions and workers to work together to reach the right decisions on all workplace issues that arise throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and ensure workers are treated fairly.

Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “Partnership with workers and trades unions is crucial to making the right decisions to protect workers and ensure public safety while also helping businesses to stay open and keep people in employment.  

“Employers must allow their staff to follow medical advice to self-isolate or isolate with their households. Workers should never feel pressured to breach that advice. Fundamentally, employers should look to maintain jobs and pay their workers throughout this crisis, and to make use of Government support to achieve this.

“Scotland’s success as an economy is built on a shared endeavour between workers, unions and employers and this approach will help us get through this outbreak.

“It is now more important than ever that Scotland adopts Fair Work principles and practice to get through the COVID-19 health and economic crises and support businesses and their staff to get through this together with co-operation. Many companies are doing this and I thank them for it.”

STUC General Secretary Grahame Smith said: “This statement rightly sets out the high expectations that the Scottish Government and the STUC has that fair work principles will be fully applied by employers during the crisis to address the many concerns that workers are experiencing on the ground.

“Fundamental in all of this, is the need for unions and workers to be fully involved in making the key decisions. What constitutes fair work is not in the gift of employers.

We’ve seen already that some employers can’t be trusted to take decisions that respect the health and safety, the welfare and the incomes of workers. Unions can be trusted and have been demonstrating this throughout the crisis, working day and night to support workers, defending incomes and job security and ensuring that everyone can work safely when necessary or is empowered to stay at home.

“We welcome the commitment from the Scottish Government that it will use all of its influence to ensure that employers act in line with the principles set out in the statement.”

View the statement in full here.

Earlier this week the STUC today issued a stark warning to employers as it was inundated with complaints from workers about companies keeping open for non-essential work and pressuring employees to present for work even while business was suspended.

It warned employers that they could find themselves in implied breach of contract and face future constructive dismissal claims if judged to be endangering workers. With Government advice making clear that only essential work should continue, the burden of proof would be on the employer to prove they had acted reasonably.

The STUC also said that employers have a statutory duty to risk assess for COVID-19, as it is a ‘substance hazardous to health’, and to put in place a safe system of work.

STUC General Secretary Designate, Rozanne Foyer said: “While many employers have acted swiftly and correctly too many have not. This has caused general confusion and real alarm. Union offices across Scotland have been inundated with calls from members. Meanwhile the STUC is fielding questions by the minute from worried workers.

“Our advice to workers is clear, contact your union for support, join a union and in the meantime contact the STUC for advice. Speak to other workers and make a joint demand of the employer to present clear justification of a decision to compel you to work.

“Contact your health and safety rep if available or otherwise insist on seeing the full risk assessment your employer is obliged to undertake.”

Key Workers: further guidance published

Employers are being urged to think critically about what staff are considered key workers. The plea from the Scottish Government and COSLA comes as further guidance on key workers is published.

Before seeking childcare places, employers should consider:

• working with unions and workers to identify only those staff absolutely necessary to deliver the COVID-19 response and to provide essential and safe services
• introducing new shift patterns, working from home, recruiting more staff or dropping non-essential tasks
• having discussions with staff to identify if they can access any appropriate alternative childcare. This may include another parent or carer who is not a key worker

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “We all have a vitally important role to play in the fight against COVID-19. For some that will involve a front line role in a hospital, but for others, staying at home to care for your children will also help to save lives.

“Where children are unable to safely stay at home, including vulnerable children, local authorities are providing childcare. However, only key workers who cannot fulfil their critical functions when they are working remotely from home may qualify for critical childcare provision.

“The number of children taking up these places must be kept to an absolute minimum. The priority must be for children of the most critical key workers and for the most vulnerable children in our society.

“I would urge employers to look at the guidance and consider if there is any way they can provide their essential services in a way that enables children to stay at home.”

Alison Evison, President of COSLA, said: “We recognise the extreme pressures faced by all businesses and employers at this very difficult time. Our priority is to ensure that vital services continue as far as possible.

“Local authorities have worked tirelessly to ensure that there is provision available for the children of key workers in an extremely tight timescale. However, our capacity to do so needs to be established in line with public health advice.

“The safety of our children, young people and staff is paramount. This guidance is aimed at making sure we all work together to get through this crisis while trying to minimise the impact on our society and economy.”

Guidance on key workers 

£1 billion Business Support Fund opens

Grants to help businesses with COVID-19 impact

Businesses can now apply for grants to help them deal with the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The one-off grants are designed to help protect jobs, prevent business closures and promote economic recovery, and more than 90,000 ratepayers across Scotland will be able to benefit.

The grant support is additional to separate tax relief measures and is part of a package of measures worth £2.2 billion.

Small businesses in receipt of the small business bonus scheme or rural relief, as well as hospitality, leisure and retail business can benefit.

Two types of grant are now available to ratepayers:

• a one-off £10,000 grant to ratepayers of small businesses

• a one-off grant of £25,000 available to retail, hospitality and leisure business ratepayers with a rateable value between £18,001 and £50,999

The list is not exhaustive and if businesses think they may be eligible for one of these grants, they should contact their local authority, which are administering the scheme on behalf of the Scottish Government.

Cabinet Secretary for Finance Kate Forbes said: “While our primary concern is for people’s health, it is clear that the Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak will have severe economic consequences, and we are treating it as an economic emergency.

“We are determined to help keep companies in business and support them and their staff during this difficult time.

“Local authorities are the most efficient way to deliver this and we have worked closely with them to deliver these measures – and eligible businesses can apply now.

“Local authorities will aim to make payments within 10 working days, and I’d like to thank them for their help in ensuring this support is delivered as quickly as possible.

“The COVID-19 situation, however, is both severe and fast-moving and requires a coordinated UK response: I will continue to work closely with the UK Government and the other devolved administrations.”

More information on how to apply can be found at:
https://www.mygov.scot/non-domestic-rates-coronavirus/

Coronavirus: Tailored support for those at highest risk

New guidance and local support is being implemented to help shield around 200,000 of the most at-risk Scots from coronavirus (COVID-19).

The measures are tailored towards supporting people with the highest risk of severe illness from the virus, as identified by the UK’s Chief Medical Officers. Scotland’s CMO Dr Catherine Calderwood will also be writing to those identified as being at greatest risk in the coming days to provide further information and bespoke guidance on how to best protect themselves from infection.

The new support being offered will help people self-isolate – thereby making it less likely that they will contract the virus – and protect them from the detrimental effects of self-isolation, including disruption of crucial health and social care, and social isolation and loneliness.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney has ordered the establishment of Humanitarian Assistance Centres across the country as soon as possible.

Mr Swinney said: “Responding to the coronavirus pandemic is the biggest challenge of our lifetimes, and we must do all we can to slow it down and save lives.

“That’s why we are asking people at the highest clinical risk to self-isolate for a long period, and our local services must prioritise them. This will help protect them, minimise the loss of life from Covid-19, and reduce the burden on the NHS in responding to patients who are likely to become severely unwell.

“I have every confidence in the capability of Scotland’s resilience community to effectively lead what will be the biggest response effort ever undertaken in peacetime. We know that it won’t be easy, but by working together everyone can play their part in keeping people safe.”

The new support will be made available through GPs and local resilience partnerships, and will include help with medical conditions, access to medicine and services, and also access to food and supplies.

The Deputy First Minister has written to Local Resilience Partnerships around the country asking them to set up Humanitarian Assistance Centres (HAC) or an equivalent arrangement.

The Scottish Government is engaging with suppliers to put in place a national framework to ensure supplies can be secured at a local level.

The six categories of risk – as agreed by the UK’s Chief Medical Officers – are:

1. Solid organ transplant recipients

2. People with specific cancers:
a. People with cancer who are undergoing active chemotherapy or radical radiotherapy for lung cancer
b. People with cancers of the blood or bone marrow such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma who are at any stage of treatment
c. People having immunotherapy or other continuing antibody treatments for cancer
d. People having other targeted cancer treatments which can affect the immune system, such as protein kinase inhibitors or PARP inhibitors
e. People who have had bone marrow or stem cell transplants in the last 6 months, or who are still taking immunosuppression drugs

3. People with severe respiratory conditions including all cystic fibrosis, severe asthma and severe COPD

4. People with rare diseases and inborn errors of metabolism that significantly increase the risk of infections (such as SCID, homozygous sickle cell)

5. People on immunosuppression therapies sufficient to significantly increase risk of infection

6. People who are pregnant with significant congenital heart disease

The first port of call for anyone looking for information is the NHS Inform website.

Drive to free up hospital beds

Councils have been asked to increase support for care at home, nursing homes and care homes to reduce delayed discharges and free up hospital beds.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has confirmed to COSLA that, subject to expenditure being aligned to local plans, the Scottish Government will meet additional costs to increase support and staff capacity in social care.

The move aims to help the care system adapt to increased pressure placed on it by COVID -19, with many people requiring continued support for daily living, even if they have not contracted the virus.

Ms Freeman said: “We have placed the NHS on an emergency footing and we also need to increase the capacity in our social care sector.

“Extensive work is already underway by health and social care partnerships to free up hospital beds and care for older people, and others in need of support, in care homes and in our communities.

“We have now informed councils that any additional expenditure to maximise the care available to our communities, aligned to work that is already underway, will be covered by the Scottish Government.”

COSLA’s Health and Social Care spokesperson Councillor Stuart Currie said: “COVID-19 represents an unprecedented challenge to anyone working in caring professions in Scotland.

“The Scottish Government and local government have shared leadership to ensure the entire system is working together to optimise the impact on the wellbeing of our communities.  Work is underway locally to do this and today’s announcement gives welcome assurance to the sector about the steps which will be taken to maximise the care available to our communities.

“COSLA guidance will be issued shortly to support commissioners to work collaboratively to protect the resilience of the social care sector and ensure they remain operationally and financially viable.”

Front line role for community pharmacies

Community pharmacists are to perform an enhanced role during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Pharmacists will be able to support more patients, reducing the pressure on other parts of NHS Scotland through the extension of the Minor Ailment Service.

The Scottish Government has also accelerated plans to expand access to Emergency Care Summary (ECS) data, which mainly contains medication information, to pharmacists.

Health Boards have been asked to provide access to this information to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working in communities.

More than a thousand community pharmacies provide a range of NHS Pharmaceutical Care services on behalf of the NHS in Scotland.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “The vital work of community pharmacies up and down the country is key in ensuring that we continue to reduce the burden across the NHS, and patients continue to get the necessary medicines they need to stay healthy.

“Many people visit a community pharmacy every day, with these numbers increasing in the current COVID-19 outbreak.

“This makes them the most accessible healthcare professionals on the front line of community health services, and a valuable resource to NHS Scotland.

“Strengthening the role of pharmacists, and easing some of the pressure from frontline NHS services, is therefore an important step in our wide ranging response to the current crisis.”