"We are still knowingly endangering old people": Nurse's revelation on Covid testing
30 July 2020, 15:31
District Nurse: We're still going into care homes without Covid tests
Shelagh Fogarty warned the UK is still endangering old people after a district nurse revealed they are still routinely going into care homes with no Covid testing.
The LBC presenter had been baffled by the government's testing rules, with the rules stating that those without symptoms cannot get a test. But the official portal allows you to tick "no symptoms" and are still offered a test.
That led her to ask the callers for their experiences of testing - and she was shocked by what she heard.
Monique called in from Hertfordshire to say that, as a district nurse, her NHS trust has stopped systematically testing staff. Which means that when they go into care homes, they don't know if they've got coronavirus or not.
Shelagh responded to the call: "You're going into care homes and you're not being tested? Oh my goodness me! Seriously, I'm speechless.
"I did wonder whether I was imagining this because I felt like I was speaking into a hole in the wilderness when I was talking about the lack of testing in the Health Service and care sector.
"Ministers are blithely giving the impression that is not the case. And it is very much the case that there isn't enough testing in the NHS or the care sector.
"And it's clearly very much the case that the Department of Health doesn't know what its own website allows and disallows."
Watch the full, revealing clip at the top of the page.
