Question reference: S5W-32607
- Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 15 October 2020
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Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 9 November 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of some people waiting up to five days for COVID-19 test results from the Lighthouse Labs Network, what plans it has to provide access to faster test results, including through NHS Scotland laboratories, for (a) NHS and (b) other frontline staff in order to reduce the length of time that such staff are unable to work due to self-isolation.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware that in recent weeks people have experienced a number of problems with the testing system, including being unable to book tests/obtain home testing kits; being offered testing slots far from their homes and/or experiencing delays in receiving the results of tests they have taken.
We are working to increase overall testing capacity in Scotland by:
- Deploying additional mobile testing units.
- Increasing the number of tests that can be carried out at regional testing centres.
- Utilising additional NHS testing capacity, for example by activating additional drive-through facilities.
- Establishing 22 new walk-through centres (Local Test Sites) across Scotland.
We are engaging closely with universities, health boards and local authorities to deliver these local test sites (LTSs), which are designed to meet the needs of people who do not have access to a car. 11 Local Testing Sites (in St Andrews, Glasgow city centre, west Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, West Dunbartonshire, Stirling, Dundee, Sighthill in west Edinburgh, Inverness and Inverclyde) are now operational.
We have made testing a priority for care home staff so we are currently migrating the routine testing of care home staff into NHS Scotland labs.
Three new regional hubs will open during November and December and when fully functional will provide at least an additional 22,000 tests per day for NHS Scotland. The hubs will be used in the first instance to process care home staff testing and provide capacity and resilience to health boards throughout the winter and beyond.