MSP responds to frustration over lack of LFD collection points for north-west residents
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MSP Maree Todd has responded to concerns over a lack of access to Lateral Flow Device (LFD) test kits in the north-west after the area was left out of the latest announcement of pop-up collection points.
Highland Council and NHS Highland have been working in partnership to increase availability of LFD tests by introducing pop-up collection points in several locations throughout the Highlands.
But the absence of collection points in north-west Sutherland has caused frustration among residents.
Lochinver resident Kirsteen Gordon wrote to Highland Council on the matter.
She said: "Considering this area is defined as the most 'geographically deprived' in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SMID) it is surprising that the two main bodies charged to look after the resident population, i.e. NHS Highland and Highland Council, repeatedly ignore the west.
"Over 300 miles of coastline, on the west coast has been repeatedly and wilfully ignored throughout the pandemic concerning mobile vaccinations and access to LFD kits.
"We are not rural, nor are we living in some isolated peninsula but rather we are being excluded from our equal share of services from an ever central located NHS and Highland Council provision in Inverness, including our nearest hospital over 100 miles away on the east coast."
MSP for Caithness, Sutherland & Ross Maree Todd has responded to residents' concerns.
She said: “Regular use of lateral flow devices is a key protective measure against the spread of Covid-19, so it’s crucial that the tests are widely available and accessible to everyone, regardless of location.
“While LFDs are available in community pharmacies, schools, many workplaces and online, I’m aware that areas of my constituency, including Wester Ross and parts of Sutherland, are not well represented in the Highland Council’s list of pop-up LFD collection points. I will be raising this with the local authority and its key partner, NHS Highland, to see what can be done to improve access for my constituents.”
But Highland Council and NHS Highland have reaffirmed their position that mobile Covid-19 clinics and LFD collection points are to provide further access, and should not be thought of as people’s primary and regular means of accessing LFD tests.
A joint statement read: "Highland Council and NHS Highland have been working in co-operation to provide further access to LFD tests in the Highland region.
"In deciding where to deploy mobile Covid-19 clinics and, more recently, LFD collection pop-ups, many factors have been considered on a weekly basis using the latest information and guidance.
"While it is important to make clear that the presence of a mobile Covid-19 clinic or LFD collection point should not be seen as evidence itself of any particular outbreak in that area, the nature of the virus and the way it has spread has meant that the three mobile units and teams have had to be deployed to certain areas more often than others.
"LFD tests can also be accessed from pharmacies and can be delivered to your home, by ordering online at nhsinform.scot/testing or by calling 119.
"While we understand that stock shortages across the UK in previous weeks have made it more difficult at times to access LFD tests, we recommend trying these methods again at a later time if tests are not immediately available."
