Ruth Cadbury Raises Issue of Younger People in Care Homes
Presses Health Secretary on lack of Covid-19 testing for those under 65
Brentford and Isleworth MP addressed an urgent question to the Health Secretary this week on the issue of coronavirus testing for under 65 year olds in residential care homes and other similar settings.
Addressing Matt Hancock in a socially distanced House of Commons she urged him to introduce a programme as soon as possible.
Mr Hancock acknowledged the importance of the issue an confirmed that the Government would begin rolling out testing for younger people being cared for in residential settings.
Speaking after her question Ruth said, ‘‘After being contacted by a local residential home who were unable to access coronavirus testing for their residents, I made sure to raise this issue in the House of Commons urgently.
“It’s vital that everyone in a care home setting can access testing- especially those who have additional needs, disabilities or those who are at higher risk from covid-19. It’s equally important that staff in these settings can access testing too.
“I am pleased that the Health Secretary announced in response to my question that testing for under-65s in care settings would now be rolled out.
“The key issue now is the speed at which this is done. We’ve seen before that people have had to wait too long to get tested and too long to get the results.’’
June 12, 2020