Protecting Scotland’s Health and Care Workforce
The result of the division on motion S5M-23894, in the name of Monica Lennon, on protecting Scotland’s health and care workforce, as amended, is: For 66, Against 57, Abstentions 0.
Motion, as amended, agreed to,
That the Parliament agrees that getting Scotland vaccinated against COVID-19 is the country’s national priority and thanks all staff involved in the roll-out; believes that the deployment of the vaccine must be guided by the expert advice from the JCVI senior clinical advisers across the four nations; welcomes that the delivery of first doses to residents in older people’s care homes is almost complete in Scotland; notes that over 100,000 people have received their first dose of a vaccine in the last seven days, and that Scotland is on course to increase as supply allows; welcomes that care-at-home staff are afforded the same high priority for vaccines as frontline NHS staff; notes that supplies of vaccine may be patchy in the coming months due to factors outwith the control of the Scottish Government or UK Government, such as recent announcements from Pfizer; believes that the care-at-home workers testing pathway being established this week, along with the establishment of the care home visiting professional testing pathway, provide an additional level of protection for those in receipt of care; notes with serious concern the extreme pressure on the NHS as COVID-19 hospital admissions have increased during the second wave; believes that the cancellation of elective procedures, delays to treatment and continued long waits for care are devastating for patients, and that these are creating a backlog of clinical demand to be addressed; recognises that guidance on PPE is produced on a four nations basis, understands that some staff may have concerns in health and social care in light of new and emerging variants; recognises that, while there is currently no evidence of a clinical need to change guidance, the Chief Nursing Officer keeps this under active review and engages with staff representatives on PPE guidance and the use of FFP3, and believes that staff should be able to exercise the risk assessment process to have access to PPE considered professionally necessary.