Sturgeon’s government ‘dismissed’ nurses’ concerns over airborne transmission of Covid

Nicola Sturgeon’s government “dismissed” concerns about the airborne transmission of Covid during the pandemic, nurses have told a public inquiry.

Colin Poolman, the director of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Scotland, described how the organisation had argued since 2020 that the virus was transmitted through the air.

This was later backed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) but Mr Poolman told the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry that the SNP Government “did not respond” to concerns and that they were “dismissed in favour of droplet transmission”.

The inquiry also heard that before the pandemic there were 6,000 nursing vacancies in Scotland and female staff were regularly given face masks designed for men after it started.

This meant the masks did not fit properly and Mr Poolman said the inadequacy of personal protective equipment (PPE) given to its members “was staggering” at times. Improved PPE would have reduced the number of staff off sick, he added.

The inquiry in Scotland is investigating the response of Ms Sturgeon’s government to the pandemic, alongside the UK version.

Mr Poolman told the inquiry that attempts were made from 2020 by the RCN to raise concerns about airborne transmission with the Scottish Government, due to concerns about PPE and ventilation.

The nursing union had called for FFP3 standard masks, which offer the most protection against airborne risks, and presented a specialist report to the Scottish Government in February 2021 that was “critical” of the guidance at the time.

Mr Poolman said: “The evidence absolutely supported airborne transmission. This was too late for those who caught Covid as a result of inadequate PPE.

“Nursing is a predominantly female profession and many nurses were not passing the fit test of what types of masks were available.”

He said he felt “vindicated” when the WHO deemed the virus to be airborne after the Scottish Government “dismissed” the RCN’s pleas. However, he added: “That remains an area of dispute between ourselves and the Scottish Government.”

Mr Poolman said many nurses struggled to get higher grade masks, which form a seal around the nose and mouth, to fit properly.

“Nursing is a predominantly female profession and many of the masks were not designed in smaller sizes so we had huge issues at times,” he told the inquiry.

“The inadequacy [of PPE] was staggering in some ways. There were members of staff being asked to reuse PPE that was not designed to be reused, for example, because there wasn’t adequate supplies. The type of PPE was not always fit for the situation it was being asked to be used in.”

Concerns ‘were not listened to’

Norman Provan, the Royal College of Nursing’s associate director in Scotland, told the inquiry it was a regret that concerns over airborne infection “weren’t listened to” during the crisis.

Mr Provan said: “We wrote in 2021 almost a year into the pandemic to say there was emerging evidence this wasn’t a droplet infection but an airborne one. They didn’t update the guidance and they never have.

“Bearing in mind we weren’t being listened to, the RCN then commissioned a report. We had experts look at the guidance, they were fairly critical of the guidance. We commissioned a specialist report and we gave the report to the Scottish Government in February 2021. They didn’t respond adequately to it.”

He also told the inquiry he received a letter from the chief executive of an NHS board claiming it was “impossible” for nurses to get infected with Covid at work.

Mr Provan said he wrote to every NHS board in Scotland warning of risks of infection at work, and received a letter back which said: “We’re giving people PPE so it’s impossible for them to get it at work.”

However, he told the inquiry the quality of PPE varied, with some medics handed “essentially repurposed binbags” to use as aprons. The inquiry, taking place before Lord Brailsford in Edinburgh, continues.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “It would be inappropriate to comment on the detail of evidence being considered by the Scottish Inquiry while hearings are ongoing.”