Coronavirus: 'Up to 30%' of health workers in Scotland could be off sick
Coronavirus: First community transmission detected in Scotland
(about 1 hour later)
NHS Scotland could be forced to operate with up to 30% of its staff off sick throughout the coronavirus outbreak, Scotland's health secretary has warned.
The first case of coronavirus transmitted within the community has been detected in Scotland.
Jeane Freeman said that even with protective equipment, frontline medical staff were putting themselves at "greater risk" of infection.
Until now cases of the virus have been traced to people travelling to affected areas.
The Scottish government is hoping to use student nurses and fifth-year medical students to help fill the gap.
There have now been 36 confirmed coronavirus cases in Scotland.
There have now been 36 confirmed coronavirus cases in Scotland.
The UK is currently in the containment stage of the response to the virus.
Chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood said the case was expected and added that Scotland remained in the "containment phase" of dealing with the virus.
Ms Freeman told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "[Health workers] will be at greater risk and and our health staff know that because they will be dealing with people who are sick.
"Even with protective equipment, they put themselves at greater risk - that is what we ask them to do.
"We are modelling on the basis of between 25% and 30% absence rate over the whole period that we think the virus is likely to be with us."
Several GPs have contacted BBC Scotland to say their practices had not been issued with the promised protective equipment, putting them at further risk.
The equipment recommended for health workers who come into contact with patients showing coronavirus symptoms includes:
One GP from Huntly in Aberdeenshire said he had not been supplied with the correct equipment and complained the guidance was "not clear".
The Scottish secretary of the GMB union claimed health workers were not prepared for an escalation in the virus spread.
Gary Smith told BBC Radio Scotland's Lunchtime Live that ambulance workers and hospital staff were under-trained and under-resourced as they face "the biggest crisis in a lifetime."
'Public services will be swamped'
He said: "There has to be a reality check. Our public services have suffered a decade of austerity and we are facing this crisis not from a position of strength.
"In terms of workers on our front line - in our schools, hospitals and care services and ambulance service - there is a growing anger about the disconnect between the political rhetoric from people like Jeane Freeman and the reality on the ground where workers aren't getting trained and aren't being provided with the correct equipment to deal with this crisis.
"Our services were at breaking point before this crisis unfolded and without urgent action and massive investment there is a real danger that our public services will simply be swamped."
Ms Freeman told the BBC that all health boards in Scotland had been asked to issue GPs with protective equipment and she would investigate any individual cases reported to her.
The Scottish government is currently talking to the GMC and other regulatory bodies about whether they can use nursing students and fifth-year medical students to help cover some of the absences.
"We need to make sure that it is possible for them to leave their studies and enter practice through this period - and that they are only being asked to do what they are qualified to do and no more" Ms Freeman said.
The students would also be supervised and steps taken to ensure their deployment did not interfere with exams.
Ministers are also aiming to double the number of intensive care units available to those needing treatment for the coronavirus.
The vast majority of those infected will not need hospital treatment, but those that do often require oxygen therapy in the care units.
"The practicalities of that is that you start to make difficult decisions between NHS care that is critical to life - so that would be cancer treatments, transplants, maternity care - from NHS care that is not critical to life - the replacement of knees, hips and so on," Ms Freeman said.
"You start to scale down on the non-critical in order to free up the space for the critical and that's where you get additional bed space."
Six people in the UK have died from the virus, with a total of 382 cases across the country.
One of the latest positive test results is UK Health Minister Nadine Dorries.
The Department of Health said she first showed symptoms on Thursday - the same day she attended a Downing Street event hosted by the prime minister.
What should I do if I think I have coronavirus?
If people think they have symptoms, they should call their GP or, out-of-hours, speak to NHS 24 by dialling 111. Advice is also available on the NHS Inform website.
