Jeane Freeman and Humza Yousaf both admitted their part in a failure to provide all NHS workers in Scotland with FFP3 masks during the Covid pandemic, according to a newsagency report from the UK Covid Inquiry.
The debate around the use of FFP3 masks – which provide the highest level of protection – instead of fluid-resistant surgical masks (ie regular face masks also worn by the general public) was raging in medical circles from the very start of the outbreak.
Giving evidence at the UK Covid Inquiry last week, Mr Yousaf was asked by inquiry counsel Emma Price: “Do you think that this policy should have been introduced sooner, whether by you or your predecessor?”
Earlier, the inquiry – which is looking at the impact of Covid on the NHS in this module – heard from Mr Yousaf’s predecessor in the role, Ms Freeman. And it was clear during her evidence that FFP3 masks had been an “issue” from the very earliest days.
Asked when she first became aware of the debate that ALL healthcare workers be supplied with FFP3, Ms Freeman replied: “I don’t have the exact date to mind but it would be very early in the emergence of that debate.”
‘No, but it sounds like a good thing to me’
Ms Price then asked: “Did you understand that FFP3 masks were more protective than fluid-resistant surgical masks?”
Ms Freeman: “Yes.”
Ms Price: “And who was it who briefed you on that?”
Ms Freeman: “It would be most likely our national clinical director [Jason Leitch].”
Ms Price then said: “Ultimately in April 2022, nearly a year after you left your role, a workforce policy was introduced in Scotland which allowed for healthcare worker access to FFP3 masks based on personal preference. When this update about the – first of all, are you aware of the fact that that happened after your departure?”
Ms Freeman replied: “No, but it sounds like a good thing to me.”
However, when questioned by Claire Mitchell KC on behalf of the Scottish Covid Bereaved Group, Ms Freeman said it was never brought to her attention that low stock levels were a factor in the decision not to equip every health worker with an FFP3 mask.
Ms Mitchell pointed out that in December 2020, a top-level UK expert group recommended wider use of FFP3 masks. However, Ms Freeman admitted that she was not “spurred into action”.
‘Forgive me, I don’t recall…’
Mr Yousaf was also asked about the “deaths of healthcare workers from Covid-19, whether data was being collected looked at, monitored, by any particular department, directorate or organisation”.
He replied: “I certainly do remember reports coming in giving us detail of deaths of NHS workers but I’m trying to struggle to remember whether that was done with any regularity or was ad hoc at the time. So, forgive me, I cannot recall if it was done with regularity.”
In view of their failure to remember this information, the Scottish Daily Express provided some answers:
Covid-19 deaths 2020-22
- Care workers and care home workers – 92
- Nurses – 35
- Nursing auxiliaries and assistants – 26
- Lab technicians – 7
- Hospital porters – 6
- Medical practitioners – 5
- Social workers – 4
- Senior care workers – 4
- Care escorts – 3
- Paramedics – 2
- Occupational therapists – 2
- Pharmacists – 1
- Pharmacy and other dispensing assistants – 1
- Podiatrists – 1
- Medical radiographers – 1
- Medical and dental technicians – 1
- Medical secretaries – 1
The figures are from the National Records of Scotland and are not an exhaustive list. More care workers died in the pandemic than any other occupation, ahead of cleaners and domestics (49) – some of whom may have worked in hospitals or care homes – and sales and retail assistants (46).
Also of interest during their testimonies was the fact that both Ms Freeman and Mr Yousaf went out of their way to insist that they alone were in charge of the NHS in Scotland during their time in office.
Ms Freeman said she used “emergency powers” under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 on March 17, 2020 to allow her “to direct directly… the National Health Service in Scotland”. She explained that this meant that “decision-making at board level was superseded by my decisions”.
This continued until the end of April 2022, when Mr Yousaf took the NHS off its emergency footing. This was just a few days after the 160,000 NHS workers in Scotland were finally told they could have an FFP3 mask if they wanted one.
The admission of full liability may also be of interest to campaigners who are pursuing allegations of corporate homicide against the Scottish Government and ministers including Ms Freeman and Nicola Sturgeon.
“I was a health and safety rep for Unite and I raised this with both Jeane Freeman and Nicola Sturgeon in August 2020 after it was brought to my attention by members, so they knew the masks didn’t offer protection. All this evidence has done is confirm that Freeman and Yousaf have no conscience and no moral compass.”