Tag: test sites

Bairns’ Hoose: Pathfinder areas announced

Minister for Keeping the Promise Natalie Don has announced the six successful locations that will become home to Scotland’s first Bairns’ Hoose test sites.

Supported by £6 million Scottish Government funding, multi-agency partnerships in Fife, North Strathclyde, Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City, Tayside and the Outer Hebrides will set up pathfinders to provide coordinated comprehensive support for children and young people in the justice system.

Services including child protection, recovery, healthcare, therapeutic support and justice will be available which will provide a blueprint for a full pilot in 2025.

Minister for Keeping the Promise Natalie Don said: “Establishing this network is a major step forward in our aim to transform the care and justice systems for children and young people, many of whom will have been through serious trauma.

“The creation of these pathfinders will also help us to collectively uphold the rights of children and their families to compassionate and effective support in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

“This is a key action in Keeping the Promise and I’m pleased to have marked Care Experienced Week by meeting representatives of this vital project to hear about their vision for the future as one of the first Bairns’ Hoose Pathfinder Partnerships.”

Speaking on behalf of the Fife Partnership, Child Protection Committee, Independent Chair Dougie Dunlop said: “All agencies involved in the Children’s Services partnership in Fife are delighted that we have been chosen as a Pathfinder site for the development of a Bairns’ Hoose facility.

“This provides Fife with an opportunity to build on the strengths of our existing partnership arrangements to further develop our approach to supporting children and their families where they may have suffered harm.

“It will bring all key services together within one child centred facility that will make it easier for children and their families to get the support they need in what can be very difficult circumstances.

“It will be a very important addition to our range of responses and will be a significant benefit to the children involved.”

Barnahus founder and Member of the United Nation’s Committee on the Rights of the Child Bragi Guðbrandsson said: “I am delighted that Barnahus is being implemented in Scotland through the Bairns’ Hoose Pathfinder programme led by Scottish Government and working with partners across a range of sectors.

“This important milestone shows that Barnahus can be adapted to different contexts, cultural traditions, and legislative structures, but its core concept remains the same – to support children who have experienced trauma, in the best possible way, through multiagency responses.

“A significant financial contribution from the Scottish Government will help to build on the positive collaborative working between social work, police, health, third sector and other partners to ensure successful implementation and capturing learning to support a wider national rollout. I look forward to following the progress of Scotland’s Bairns’ Hoose Pathfinders closely.”

Further information on Bairns’ Hoose.

Scotland’s Covid regulations: face coverings to remain for now

Legal requirements to wear face coverings on public transport and most indoor public settings will continue until at least early April given the current spike in Covid case numbers, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced yesterday.

Remaining legal requirements for businesses and service providers to collect customer details for contact tracing, and to have regard to and take reasonable measures set out in Covid guidance, will end as planned on Monday 21 March.

The First Minister also confirmed that people without COVID-19 symptoms will no longer be asked to take regular lateral flow tests tests from 18 April. The change forms part of the Test and Protect Transition Plan, which sets out how testing will become more targeted, with the aim of reducing serious harm from COVID-19. 

The changes to Test and Protect mean that from 18 April:

  • most people without symptoms will no longer be asked to take COVID-19 tests
  • free lateral flow devices (LFDs) for the purposes of twice weekly routine testing will no longer be available for the general population given the changing advice, but will continue to be free for any purpose for which testing continues to be advised – for clinical care, for health and social care workers and for people visiting vulnerable individuals in care homes or hospitals
  • until the end of April, people with symptoms should still isolate and get a PCR test
  • vaccinated close contacts of someone with COVID-19 should continue to test daily for seven days with LFDs

People who have symptoms of COVID-19 will still be able to book PCR tests in the usual way until 30 April. From that date, test sites will close and people with symptoms will no longer be advised that they need to seek a test. The public health advice for people who feel unwell will be to stay at home until they feel better, to reduce the risk of infecting other people.

The First Minister thanked the frontline Test and Protect workforce for their efforts throughout the pandemic. Work is on-going to support staff to explore other opportunities in the public and private sector.

The First Minister said: “Today marks a further decisive shift away from controlling Covid through legal restrictions, and towards relying instead on advice and guidance. But please remember, especially since case numbers are so high, that this guidance and advice remains important. 

“Given current case numbers, and the desirability of getting those back under control quickly, the wearing of face masks will stay in place for at least another two weeks.

“Changes in Test and Protect will be phased between now and the end of April. After Easter – from 18 April – we will stop recommending that people who don’t have symptoms, should test for Covid.

“This change will apply across the population –including in most workplaces and in early years centres, schools, universities and colleges.

“Then, at the end of April, routine testing will end – even for people who have symptoms. 

“At that time, physical test sites will close – although some mobile testing units and capacity will be retained for possible future use. Contact tracing will also end.

“Free testing will not generally be available to the wider population. Instead, our advice will be that if you have symptoms of Covid – or indeed symptoms of the flu, or any other infectious illness – you should stay at home in order to aid your recovery.”