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Residents in large swathes of the north are unable to access Covid-19 home testing kits, a situation branded “disgraceful” by an MSP.
Regional MSP Rhoda Grant said that in more than 100 postcode areas throughout the region a request for a kit is a “useless exercise”.
Mrs Grant asked the Scottish Parliament’s information centre to research the situation. While Inverness and Moray were covered, a huge area, taking in 119 Royal Mail exclusion postcodes, were not.
These included parts of Caithness, Sutherland, Ross-shire, Skye, Lochaber, Argyll and Bute and the northern and western isles.
There is concern the issue may become more critical as winter approaches if people cannot get a home kit and are unable to travel to the nearest testing centre.
The MSP investigated after two constituents living in different areas 50-60 miles from Inverness said they could not get a home-testing kit.
“However, I wasn’t prepared for the research to find that most of the region could not get a test delivered to their door which is disgraceful and shows, once again, how we are just missed out of Government planning and development.”
She said if people can’t access tests it “makes a mockery” of government announcements to get tested if they have symptoms.
Mary Purdon, 60, from Mallaig, tried unsuccessfully to get a home test kit after losing her sense of taste.
Mrs Purdon, who cares for her husband John, 60, a diabetic who has suffered a stroke, said her nearest test centre is in Fort William, more than an hour’s drive away.
“How can I get there without endangering someone else or using public transport which could be even worse?”
She was told a home kit could not be delivered as the test would be null and void by the time it was sent out and returned.
Mrs Purdon added: “I’ll never know if I had the virus or not. Thankfully I’m feeling a bit better, but what would have happened if had got worse? It’s a really poor service and I feel we are being disadvantaged by living in the Highlands.”
The first minister was challenged on the issue during her daily coronavirus briefing.
She said: “The home testing delivery system is operated by the UK Government and we work constructively with the UK Government to try to resolve all of these issues, and that is ongoing.”
She said efforts are being made to make testing sites more local and accessible, adding: “This is ongoing work. We were always trying to make testing not just more widely available but more accessible as well, and we continue to work closely with the UK Government in trying to continue that progress.”
Mrs Grant was told by public health minister Joe Fitzpatrick: “Clearly the pressure on the UK system is intense and we need the testing programme to work for all of the UK, to be able to flex to meet the changing profile of this virus and to be accessible to all people regardless of circumstances.
“We agreed to take part in a UK wide testing network in good faith, foregoing consequential funding as a result, as this was and ideally remains the most effective efficient way of securing access to test kits and lab capacity.”
NHS Highland chief executive Pam Dudek said: “I am afraid that access to postal Covid testing as part of the UK Testing Service is still not possible in many parts of NHS Highland and we have not been able to get access across the whole area.
“This relates to the configuration of the UK postal testing system and is not connected to the way local laboratory tests are carried out.”
She added: “We are continuing to look for ways to expand testing and to facilitate home testing in areas without access to the postal service, but I am sorry that this is not yet in place and recognise the frustration that it causes.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “NHS Highland can support local communities to access testing if they are unable to access UK Government home test kits. Arrangements are in place or being finalised to make testing available more easily for our island communities.
“In addition, Mobile Testing Units are currently stationed at Fort William, Ullapool, Dornoch, Kingussie and Thurso twice weekly, and in Portree on a Monday and Broadford on a Thursday.
“NHS Highland can in many cases provide transport to these test sites for those who do not have access to a car. Officials are working on further rollout of walk-through Local Test Sites and a number of locations are under consideration, including sites within the Highland Health Board area.”
