A dozen care homes in Scotland will trial the use of rapid covid-19 tests that can deliver results in half an hour.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said the test could be used to open up more care homes to regular visits from family members.

The early adopter homes, which are spread across four local authority areas, are to start lateral flow testing – that delivers results within half an hour and do not require a laboratory for processing – from the 7^th December.

However the speedier tests will not be available across the sector until February.

Speaking in Holyrood today, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman explained that as part of a broader expansion of covid-19 testing in Scotland, lateral flow testing was being rolled out to help protect the 42,000 care home residents in Scotland, all of whom are entitled to receive a designated visitor:

“We will use lateral flow testing on the day of the visit so that if that test is positive, family members can take immediate action to isolate and avert the harm that could have been done.”

Following the initial expansion to 12 care homes, the government has said it will extend testing across an additional seven local authorities before the 21^st December, with full roll out across all care homes around the end of January or early February.

The Health Secretary said family members not included in the rapid test pilot before Christmas would be able to access PCR testing in the weeks beginning the 21^st and 28^th December and the 4^th January.

“Family and loved ones know better than anyone else that testing provides an additional layer of protection,” Ms Freeman said today.

“On its own it doesn’t give risk free visiting but combined with appropriate PPE and strict hand hygiene I hope this allows more people to visit their loved ones, reduces isolation and loneliness and gives care providers the additional confidence they need.”

From mid-January home carers in Scotland are to be included in expanded testing, including permanent and visiting staff and personal assistants in people’s homes, residential and day care settings and sheltered housing.

The Health Secretary said “there can be no question the home care workforce do one of the most critical jobs supporting and caring for people so they can continue to live as independently as possible,” but that rolling out testing to them was more complicated because of the nature of their work that involves going from one home to another.

Testing will be phased in from early next year starting in the local authority areas with the highest prevalence of covid-19 before being extended to other areas.

In the NHS, rapid lateral flow testing is to be extended to anyone admitted to a hospital to emergency department, acute admission centre, maternity unit or emergency mental health unit by the start of December.

By mid-December, such testing will extend to all medical and surgical elective admissions.

Twice weekly testing of healthcare workers is being extended to everyone working in patient facing roles in all hospitals, the Scottish Ambulance Service, covid assessment centres in the community and healthcare professionals visiting care homes.

“The scale of this challenge is not to be underestimated,” the Health Secretary said today.

“NHS Scotland employs over 170,000 people and while not all are in patient facing roles the number who are is considerable. We know frontline NHS staff are at the highest risk of being exposed to covid-19.

“We know when community transmission rises so too does the risk of transmission in our hospitals so we will phase in this expansion from the start of December to be completed by the end of that month.”

Last week the priority groups who will be top of the list for the first covid-19 vaccines in Scotland at the start of December were revealed.

 

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