Talking-up Scotland Collective staff have had to step-in once more to protect BBC Scotland audiences from inaccurate reporting. Extracted from the BBC report but badly positioned, here are the main points:
- The vast majority of these homes are now properly resourced after seeking Scottish government support.
- The Scottish government said any home which flags up shortages because of Covid-19 illness or absence is offered immediate help from the Care Inspectorate watchdog.
- This could see the home allocated NHS nursing support or paired with available agency workers.
- Meanwhile, it has been revealed more than 2,600 people have applied to work in social care since a recruitment drive for the sector was launched in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
- Dr Donald Macaskill, chief executive of trade body Scottish Care, whose members provide the vast majority of Scotland’s 36,000 care home beds, said these new recruits would be a “timely boost” for the industry.
- He said: “These Care Inspectorate figures are very much in line with what we are hearing from care homes. I actually think things were worse at the end of March and into early April but the picture is an improving one, not withstanding some extreme cases. This is partly because workers are returning to work after 14 days self-isolation and there has been some movement in testing, all of which helps to alleviates the pressure.”
Sadly, however, BBC Scotland presented the story differently:
Here’s the bit they selected for the headline and opening lines:
‘But 31 homes are still graded as “only just able to provide” the right staffing levels, while a further 12 “no longer have adequate levels” needed.’
For context, [BBC, I’ll explain if you text me] according to STATISTICS.GOV.SCOT, there are 1 142 care homes in Scotland, so the 12 represent 1.05% of the total.
Also for context but I guess unmentionable in the state broadcaster, 82 English care homes failed inspections, some for poor infection control, in the last month, while none in Scotland did.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Surely in the case of privately owned care homes it is the duty of the owner to properly protect not only their residents, but also their staff. It seems to me, although I don’t have any figures, that these owners are quite happy to reap the profits in normal times, but are either unwilling, or unable, for whatever reason, to provide safe care for all in the home.
Now, having failed to make proper provision for an emergency, they are having to rely on public money to cover their lack of foresight. And of course the S.G will get the blame for something they could do very little about.
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Mr Beveridge,
You are making an important point. Most care homes are privately run, although they take the bulk of their clientele from public services. Nevertheless, they a PRIVATE, PROFIT-MAKING, DIVIDEND-PAYING organisations and so the owners do, indeed, have a duty of care to their employees with regard to the provision of PPE.
However, the BBC does not press them on this duty. It simply quotes their press releases with their demands that the SG DO SOMETHING. The ‘interview’ consists of prompts to permit the owner to make his pitch. This was the case last week when Mr Kilgour, long-tern Tory donor (not mentioned) and pro-union campaigner (not mentioned) was allowed to make a spiel about how the rise awarded to care-workers was ‘spin’,and that the situation in England was ‘better’ (no evidence asked for.)
Today we heard of the SG ‘reneging’ on a promise of PPE for a group of care workers who are employed bu private bodies to visit clients in their homes, usually as short-notice stand-ins for permanent staff who are unable to fulfil their duties (e.g ill, isolating because of family, etc). These workers, of course, are doing an important job, but they are engaged by a private company. No question was asked about their responsibility to provide PPE.
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Thanks Alasdair. I don’t read, watch, or listen to the M.S.M, so thanks for that update.
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Now seen a figure alleging that the top five care home owners in the U.K raked in £35m last year, whilst paying poverty wages.
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Yes this is ‘easy pickings’ for the MSM and the BBC at the moment in their guerrilla war against the SG as it is not only high profile with just concern over the nos of deaths. Not sure from the article but are they getting supplies free gratis or are they being rightly billed for this support? Given the SG presumably legislates and sets the standards for these CHomes I would have thought it is perfectly legitimate to pursue them for the cost and /or take an equity stake as is being mooted for other sector supports. Anyone?
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