Moray MP Douglas Ross accuses Scottish Government of 'letting down most vulnerable' over shielding letters
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THE Scotish Government has been accused of letting down the "most vulnerable people in our communities" by Moray's MP after people were wrongly told to shield.
Douglas Ross said he was shocked to learn from a local constituent that someone who had been advised to shield by the Scottish Government received a subsequent letter telling them that mistakes had been made and they did not require to shield.
One Moray constituent affected by this is in their eighties with considerable, complex, health conditions.
However, Moray MSP and Scottish Government minister Richard Lochhead has hit back, insisting the UK Government has also made mistakes in terms of giving people wrong information about shielding.
And he warned Mr Ross that "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones".
Mr Ross said “The Scottish Government were behind the rest of the UK in issuing these letters in the first place and had problems getting food parcels and priority home deliveries from the supermarkets for those told to shield.
"Now it seems the whole process has been beset with problems as we discover that some of those who were told to shield weeks ago were sent these letters in error."
Mr Ross said he raised this with the Deputy First Minister as he was taking the lead on this for the Scottish Government; however insisted the response raises more questions than answers.
"If there are errors with people being wrongly told to shield, are there others who should have been shielding but weren’t informed? How many people have been sent this incorrect information and how was this able to happen in the first place? We are dealing with the most vulnerable people in our communities and they have been let down by the Scottish Government.
“I find this whole issue extremely concerning and I know the families who have contacted me about this matter are worried sick about their relatives who received these letters. They just don’t know what to do for the best due to the mixed messages they are receiving.
“The Scottish Government have to urgently look into their handling of this issue and get some confidence back into the system which has been severely dented due to these mistakes.”
The letter received by the constituent from Dr Gregor Smith, the interim chief medical officer for Scotland, stated: "We have now been made aware that there may have been an error in identifying you for shielding, or that this is not felt to be clinically right for you, and we have been asked to remove you from the central shielding list.
"Being removed from the shielding list means that, while you should follow social distancing advice in line with the rest of the population, you are not at the highest risk from Covid-19 and you no longer need to follow the shielding measures outlined in my previous letter.
"At the time of sending this letter, you have not been identified to be in any of the other very high risk groups. However, if you do think that you are in one of these very high risk groups or are not sure, please continue to follow the shielding measures set out on the NHS Inform website and phone your GP to discuss further."
A new national helpline has been set up to provide essential assistance to those who need it but are not on the shielded list. This service offers help to those who do not have family or existing community support, who cannot get online and who are over 70, disabled, require the support of mental health services, are pregnant or receive a flu jab for health reasons.
The helpline - 0800 111 4000 - currently operates from 9am to 5pm but work is ongoing to extend those hours.
Mr Lochhead commented: “Any error of this nature is regrettable and I am sure that the authorities who are under enormous pressure at the moment will want to ensure the chances of this happening again are minimised but without knowing the details of the specific case it is difficult to understand why this has happened.
"The Scottish Government relies on information to identify patients who should shield from the NHS and GPs and so on and in an emergency situation mistakes will unfortunately happen.
“However, the vast majority of constituents I have spoken to have told me how much their appreciate the support they are receiving from our hard working public services to help them stay safe.
“I do think that our MP’s press release is over the top and seems more concerned with attacking the Scottish Government than the welfare of his constituents in these extra ordinary circumstances.
"In light of some of the accusations against his own UK Government when it comes to its handling of Covid-19, my advice to Mr Ross is that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”
"The media in England have been highlighting the fact that many shielding letters are being sent in error to patients south of the border and ironically Mr Ross himself is a minister in the Government responsible for that.”
