Renton Main Street and Cllr Jim Bollan. Pictures by Bill Heaney
Following a steady decline in the number of COVID 19 cases – there were no new deaths reported in Scotland today – and a corresponding fall in attendances across Community Assessment Centres (CACs), the Health Board NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has taken the decision to close some centres.
The move comes as some centres – which were initially mobilised to cohort and care exclusively for COVID-19 patients – have seen just a handful of attendances per day in the last week, with numbers continuing to fall across sites.
Renton Integrated Healthy Living Centre and Clydebank Health Centre will remain open. The centres can be rapidly re-mobilised should they be required, a Health Board spokesperson said.
Cllr Jim Bollan, who represents Renton at West Dunbartonshire Council, said: “After some initial concerns expressed by some locals to the setting up of the CAC in the centre of Renton Village, it is fair to say those concerns have reduced given the reassuring information provided by the health professionals in the CAC and the measures put in place to stop cross-infection.
“The vital work being carried out by the staff has been welcomed by patients and locals alike and the service has played its part in combating the CV-19 virus.”
Dr Jim O’Neil, a lead clinician, said: “Staff who had been redeployed to the CACs can move back into other roles as we adapt into a recovery phase to allow us to scale back up services which have been impacted by the pandemic.
“The CACs were designed to serve a short-life span and have been very effective in helping treat people with COVID-19 symptoms throughout the pandemic.
“However, numbers have been steadily declining and in line with planning, services have been reduced to meet falling demand.
“We have retained a full service across other sites [such as Renton] and we will continue to review the situation on a daily basis to inform and allow us to scale back up, if required.
“We’d like to thank all the staff involved in helping mobilise and run the CACs so effectively and in such a short space of time.”
That’s as clear as mud. The Masons aren’t as secretive as these people.Was this some kind of Gov experiment? Where’s the research evidence they were “combating the CV-19 virus?” It looks like they were treating infected people with symptoms, after the fact. How? What was the treatment? Typical. More questions than answers!