Thousands receive apology after being incorrectly told to stay indoors

Thousands of people who were incorrectly told to remain completely indoors to protect them from coronavirus have received a written apology from the Scottish NHS.

The Scottish Government has admitted that over the course of the pandemic, 9,221 people have been sent letters advising them that it had not been necessary for them to 'shield' from the virus, despite initially being told that it was.

In total, around 180,000 people have been shielding in Scotland, due to their increased risk of developing serious health problems if they caught Covid-19.

While protecting them from the virus, SNP ministers have acknowledged people shielding are also at risk of developing mental health problems such as extreme loneliness, while a lack of opportunities for exercise can lead to physical problems.

The figures were uncovered by Miles Briggs, the Scottish Conservative health spokesman, in a response to a written question at Holyrood.

“It’s pretty clear that from the start the SNP government has made serious mistakes when informing and managing the shielding community,” Mr Briggs said.

“Letters have gone to the wrong people, the text service didn’t work and now we know that 9,000 Scots were wrongly told to shield.

“That’s incredibly confusing and worrying for those individuals and their families, not to mention inconvenient for those who did shield for no reason.”

In total, 3,361 people were given incorrect advice as they were misidentified as having had radical radiotherapy for lung cancer, the Scottish Government said. Another 80 were wrongly believed to have recently had a transplant. In other cases, patients were taken off the shielding list following discussions with doctors.

The Scottish Government said identifying those who should shield had been a “complex” process. A spokeswoman said it may have been appropriate for some people included in the figures to shield initially, only for advice or understanding of coronavirus to change.

However, Mr Briggs said the error was “typical of the SNP government’s mismanagement.” He added: “Along with their failures on testing and their failure to protect care home staff, the SNP government’s handling of this vulnerable group has been nothing short of shambolic.”

Those shielding were initially advised to stay at home in March. They were required to also distance themselves from other members of their own household, with food deliveries organised by councils.

People that should have been shielding include those who had received transplants, had certain respiratory diseases or some forms of cancer.

They were told not to go outdoors for exercise until June 18 and have only recently been told that they can stop distancing from people they live with and meet up with others outside, although they will continue to face tougher rules than others until at least the end of this month.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: “The implications of shielding have been enormous for every person affected, and their loved ones, and we do not want to ask anyone to live under those restrictions longer than they have to.

“In some cases people who were originally asked to shield have been removed from that list, either due to ongoing discussions with their clinicians, or because their condition was wrongly identified as being part of the highest risk group.

“Those who were mistakenly asked to shield have been sent apology letters from their board.”