Coronavirus in Edinburgh: Bus drivers, NHS staff and police left without masks, gloves and hand sanitiser

FRONTLINE workers in the fight against coronavirus have been left without protective kit to protect themselves, the Evening News has been told.

Bus drivers transporting emergency workers, NHS staff and police are working without masks, gloves and hand sanitiser.

Bosses, meanwhile, sought to assure measures are being introduced to protect staff.

“I worry for my colleagues, I’ve had them come to me very close to tears,” one Lothian Buses driver said. “They’re worrying and panicking because they’re so exposed.

“They don’t think they’ve got any protection – they don’t have gloves, they don’t have sanitiser. They’re worried about their own children and families.”

The driver said deep cleans on buses have left steering wheels still dirty while screens with holes offer little protection.

“We’re not having a go at Lothian, we want to do the job, we’re just asking if they’re aware of what they’re asking these guys to do,” he added.

“We have to be looking after the key workers and people who we rely on but nobody is looking after ourselves which defeats the object.”

The wife of another driver raised her own fears about how and what measures are being put in place at depots.

“Drivers are feeling concerned and let down by the lack of organisation,” she said:

“Everybody knows this has been coming, but for some reason there is no urgency for the buses. Drivers are not feeling safe. No gloves, masks, sanitiser for drivers and buses not getting cleaned inside properly. There’s no two-metre distance inside the garage.

“One antibacterial spray and a blue wipe roll was put in the garage for everybody to use.

“We do get that some buses for key workers are needed but skeleton shifts and volunteers should be used for this as drivers with families are feeling they have to go in.

“It feels like they are playing Russian roulette with our lives. The bandit screen will not protect drivers. It has holes in it.

“Plus drivers have to check the bus before they start and during the shift, touching everything.

“Nicola Sturgeon stated in her speech to the nation that coronavirus is the biggest challenge of our life times and the measures we take to tackle it must reflect that.”

Another driver told how canteens still open at depots across the Capital are busy with drivers after services were cut with no social distancing in operation.

“They’re sat in there four or five to a table, chatting, having their lunch, it’s a recipe for disaster,” he said.

And another driver was left questioning why all engineering staff are still expected to turn up for work despite a reduced service.

The Evening News understands Lothian Buses held crisis talks with union officials yesterday morning.

Lyn Turner of Unite said: “I’m working with the company to sort out the problem, which we’re confident of doing.”

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A secretary at the Royal Infirmary also contacted the Evening News with concerns for support staff at the hospital.

“The clerical staff in the hospitals are being given no protection from Covid 19 virus,” she said.

“The hospital has no measures in place for practising safe distances of two metres – most of the clerical and nursing staff are sharing small offices together.

“The lifts in hospital are still being used for the general public, all patients and staff with no safe distances in place.

“Why are NHS staff being treated differently from other employees that have options to work from home?”

She said that colleagues have been told that the NHS lacks the necessary technological capacity for staff to work from home.

“Does the government think NHS staff have some sort of magical immunity to the virus?” she fumed.

A spokeswoman for NHS Lothian said Across IT systems across the UK have been under additional strain as unprecedented numbers of people are homeworking.

She added: “In the past few days, we have trebled NHS Lothian’s network capacity and have been working hard to secure extra hardware to enable those staff in a role that can be undertaken from home to do so.

“This work is ongoing and as we continue to boost that capacity we will be able support ever greater numbers of staff in essential services with the capability to work from home as well.

“In service areas where it is not yet possible to support homeworking for all staff, managers have been asked to phase homeworking to reduce numbers in the workplace and to create more physical space within departments.

“If a member of staff has concerns, we would always encourage them to speak to their manager in the first instance so any problems can be addressed.”

The Evening News revealed yesterday, meanwhile, how police officers are being put in harm’s way by a lack of protective kit.

The Scottish Police Federation reported officers splitting up fights in supermarkets and even being coughed on by self-isolating suspects. East Area Committee chair Andy Malcolm said the global shortage of hand sanitiser, masks and gloves is being felt across the force.

“We’re seeing more and more officers responding to incidents where people are self-isolating,” said Mr Malcolm.

“Police are called to deal with it but they don’t have the personal protection equipment. In certain cases, they’ll cough on an officer deliberately, there’s no doubt about it.

“There are more and more domestic incidents or mental health incidents where people are threatening to self-harm and are displaying the symptoms,” he added.

Lothian Buses has been contacted for comment.