The biggest lesson to be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is the need to ensure that there is a suitable health and social care workforce in place, we told the closing impact hearing of the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry today (27 June).
In a statement to the Inquiry, we said that given the current staffing shortages, high numbers of vacancies and long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as Long COVID, the country’s health service and its workers are struggling to cope at present and certainly could not cope with another pandemic.
We also told the Inquiry that lessons must be learned on pandemic planning, in particular, to ensure that PPE appropriate to the virus and its method of transmission is available and provided. In addition, future guidance needs to take into account emerging clinical data on infection transmission and control. And we made clear that we believe strongly research is urgently needed into the impact of Long COVID-19 on the nursing and healthcare workforce.
On PPE, we highlighted multiple issues to the Inquiry. These included the inadequacy of PPE procurement and provision, with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach causing a problem; lack of training in fitting masks effectively; and frequent changes in guidance on PPE which led to confusion about how to apply it.
We told the Inquiry that inadequate reporting systems that many employers had in place have resulted in a significant lack of information regarding workplace infection. More stringent reporting mechanisms would, in our view, have resulted in more stringent infection control mechanisms and decreased the number of people contracting COVID-19 in the workplace.
Commenting after the statement was made to the Inquiry, Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland Director, said:
“For many the impact of the pandemic is nowhere near over. We continue to offer our condolences and heartfelt thoughts to everyone who has lost loved ones during the pandemic. We will never forget the sacrifice of the front-line workers, including those who passed away as a result of the pandemic and those who continue to feel the impacts on their health as a consequence of COVID-19, including Long COVID.
“If lessons are to be properly learned we believe the Inquiry must also look at Long COVID, which is why we have written to the First Minister asking him to revise the Terms of Reference to ensure the full picture can be considered.
“Scotland’s health and care services are under extreme pressure post-COVID and could certainly not deal with another pandemic any time soon. The lessons that this Inquiry is in the process of highlighting must be learned quickly and acted on with urgency.”
We will be giving further evidence to the Inquiry during the phase later this year.
