Support resources launched to help north-east people during coronavirus pandemic
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New resources have been launched, providing people across Grampian with information on how to access social, practical and emotional support during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The assistance hub is now live, pulling together links to the latest advice from a range of partners including all three local authorities in the region, police, health, Red Cross, volunteers and community information.
It is a site for anyone in Aberdeenshire, Moray and Aberdeen, with information for residents and businesses
The website address is www.GCAH.org.uk or call 0808 196 3384 from 8am-8pm seven days a week.
The main objective is as a focal point for information and assistance for anyone affected by Covid-19. It is also a way for residents to offer support which they can safely deliver in their communities.
Staff are on the phone to provide callers with up-to-date information, or to link them up with the right person to quickly answer questions.
Another important feature is that the site can be used to request help on behalf of someone else, allowing friends and neighbours to guide services to someone in need.
Amanda Croft, chief executive of NHS Grampian and chairwoman of the Grampian Local Resilience Partnership, which set up the new assistance hub, said: “Partner agencies who are providing first line care for people came together, virtually, and as a result we have, together, established a single source of support.
“In a pandemic, we know that people feel isolated and scared, and I am hopeful that they will see this virtual assistance hub as somewhere they can go to get the help they need.”
Meanwhile, NHS Grampian has become one of the first health board’s in Scotland to undertake its own Covid-19 testing.
Specialist scientists, based at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, have started checking and declaring their own patient samples after their methods were nationally approved.
Previously the process was carried out in Glasgow but up to 160 samples can now be tested in the north-east each day, with plans to increase that figure in the coming weeks.
Noha EL Sakka, NHS Grampian’s consultant and service clinical director for medical microbiology and virology, said: “There is an essential need, in order to manage this outbreak, for having prompt diagnostic technology.
“Prior to this we were sending samples to the reference lab and there is a high turnaround time and time is wasted on transportation – that has all been cut off. It cuts down on work for the lab with packaging and also in terms of reporting results too."
Dr El Sakka praised the ability and dedication of her colleagues to get the testing up and running swiftly in the north-east.
