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| Ebola in UK: Doctor who flew home with sick nurse sounds alarm over 'disorganised' UK screening | Ebola in UK: Doctor who flew home with sick nurse sounds alarm over 'disorganised' UK screening |
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| The screening process for the deadly Ebola virus at Britain’s airports is to be reviewed after a doctor who travelled back to the UK with the Scottish nurse suffering from the disease described staff as “disorganised” and “inadequately prepared”. | The screening process for the deadly Ebola virus at Britain’s airports is to be reviewed after a doctor who travelled back to the UK with the Scottish nurse suffering from the disease described staff as “disorganised” and “inadequately prepared”. |
| Dr Martin Deahl sat next to Pauline Cafferkey on a flight to Heathrow as they returned from five weeks tackling Ebola in Sierra Leone. Mrs Cafferkey, a 39-year-old public health nurse, became ill on her return to Glasgow and was last night receiving specialist treatment at the Royal Free Hospital in north London. | Dr Martin Deahl sat next to Pauline Cafferkey on a flight to Heathrow as they returned from five weeks tackling Ebola in Sierra Leone. Mrs Cafferkey, a 39-year-old public health nurse, became ill on her return to Glasgow and was last night receiving specialist treatment at the Royal Free Hospital in north London. |
| Dr Deahl, who was among a group of 30 NHS volunteers helping with the fight against Ebola, which has so far killed more than 7,800 people, questioned the effectiveness of the screening process at Britain’s largest airport. | Dr Deahl, who was among a group of 30 NHS volunteers helping with the fight against Ebola, which has so far killed more than 7,800 people, questioned the effectiveness of the screening process at Britain’s largest airport. |
| “We were identified as having come from Sierra Leone and escorted by a Border Agency officer to a suite of rooms just off that arrivals hall and where we waited to have our so-called health check,” he told Sky News. | “We were identified as having come from Sierra Leone and escorted by a Border Agency officer to a suite of rooms just off that arrivals hall and where we waited to have our so-called health check,” he told Sky News. |
| “The rooms were very small, the staff were small in number and seemed inadequately prepared, and the thermometers and the kit that we were given to check our own temperatures every day for the next three weeks, they basically ran out so half of us didn’t get that kit. Mine is supposed to be couriered over today. That bit of it did seem disorganised.” | “The rooms were very small, the staff were small in number and seemed inadequately prepared, and the thermometers and the kit that we were given to check our own temperatures every day for the next three weeks, they basically ran out so half of us didn’t get that kit. Mine is supposed to be couriered over today. That bit of it did seem disorganised.” |
| Pauline Cafferkey, the South Lanarkshire nurse who has caught Ebola after volunteering to serve in Sierra Leone (EPA) He also questioned Public Health England’s current guidance on Ebola, which allows health workers who have been in direct contact with patients suffering from the virus to use public transport to get home from the airport – but also advises them to avoid crowded places for 21 days afterwards. | |
| In response, PHE defended its safety procedures for returning healthcare workers, pointing out that they were similar to those used by other organisations sending volunteers to fight Ebola. But it added that it would be reviewing the screening system. | In response, PHE defended its safety procedures for returning healthcare workers, pointing out that they were similar to those used by other organisations sending volunteers to fight Ebola. But it added that it would be reviewing the screening system. |
| Pauline Cafferkey is wheeled in a quarantine tent trolley onto a plane at Glasgow International Airport (Getty) “The Scottish patient was on the returning worker scheme and was screened at Heathrow airport on arrival, in line with standard procedures,” it said in a statement. “At this point they were assessed as per protocol and cleared to travel home. This process was overseen by a medical consultant. | |
| “Naturally, we are keen to learn whatever we can from the emerging details of this case and will be reviewing what happened and the screening protocols, to see if anything needs to be changed.” | “Naturally, we are keen to learn whatever we can from the emerging details of this case and will be reviewing what happened and the screening protocols, to see if anything needs to be changed.” |
| Mrs Cafferkey, who volunteered to work for Save the Children at the Ebola Treatment Centre in Kerry Town, Sierra Leone, will be offered blood plasma donated by patients who have survived the disease – including William Pooley, the British nurse who recovered from Ebola earlier this year. It is hoped that natural antibodies in the blood will help her fight the virus. | Mrs Cafferkey, who volunteered to work for Save the Children at the Ebola Treatment Centre in Kerry Town, Sierra Leone, will be offered blood plasma donated by patients who have survived the disease – including William Pooley, the British nurse who recovered from Ebola earlier this year. It is hoped that natural antibodies in the blood will help her fight the virus. |
| Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister, said yesterday that Mrs Cafferkey was “doing as well as can be expected in the circumstances” but added that she would not be providing a running commentary of her progress. She stressed that the risk to the general public remained Ebola was “negligible”. | |
| The convoy carrying Pauline Cafferkey arrives at The Royal Free hospital in London (Getty) All but seven of the 70 passengers who shared Mrs Cafferkey’s flight from London to Glasgow have now been contacted, she added. Five of the eight people who sat nearest the nurse on the plane have been reached, with messages left for the other three. | |
| Two other people in the UK are currently being tested for Ebola. One is a female healthcare worker who recently returned from a country affected by the outbreak, although she is not thought to have had any direct contact with patients suffering from the disease. | Two other people in the UK are currently being tested for Ebola. One is a female healthcare worker who recently returned from a country affected by the outbreak, although she is not thought to have had any direct contact with patients suffering from the disease. |
| Another possible case was reported in Cornwall, where a patient has been placed in isolation at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro. It is understood that they also recently returned from west Africa. | Another possible case was reported in Cornwall, where a patient has been placed in isolation at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro. It is understood that they also recently returned from west Africa. |
| David Cameron chaired a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergency committee yesterday on the issue of Ebola. A spokesman said the Prime Minister had been “reassured that the robust and well-practised procedures…were being followed and that the risk to the general public remained very low”. | David Cameron chaired a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergency committee yesterday on the issue of Ebola. A spokesman said the Prime Minister had been “reassured that the robust and well-practised procedures…were being followed and that the risk to the general public remained very low”. |