25th September 2020
Dear Resident,
New COVID-19 Test Centre: The Greenlaw Works Business Centre, 6 Greenlaw Way, Newton Mearns, GLASGOW, G77 6EF
Over the past week, a number of people living nearby the Greenlaw Works Business Centre have contacted me in relation to the establishment of a COVID-19 test centre at this location.
A number of concerns have been expressed to me about this development including the proximity of the test centre to residential housing, a significant increase in traffic and parked cars outside people's homes when it first opened on Saturday and in one example, an individual who was displaying symptoms of COVID-19 leaving a motor vehicle to approach residents for direction to the site at the weekend.
Following the correspondence I received on this matter, I wrote to the Chief Executive of East Renfrewshire Council, Lorraine McMillian to relay the practical experience of local people and to seek further clarification on the appropriateness of the Business Centre to host a COVID-19 test centre.
I received a prompt and comprehensive reply from the council's Chief Executive who has advised me that the significant difficulties experienced last weekend was because the test centre should not have opened on the Saturday and only did so in error.
I have been informed that the operation of the test centre has been running smoothly since it re-opened on Monday and the site has been re-organised so it is based further away from local homes.
I have also been informed that there should be sufficient parking provision within the grounds of the Business Centre to prevent people leaving their motor vehicles at the adjacent residential development and I understand signposting to the facility has now been put in place.
In a separate communication from the council on Wednesday afternoon, it was relayed to me that the test centre will be on site for an initial period of two weeks. It is not immediately clear whether the test facility will remain at Greenlaw Works for longer than this and I have sought clarification from the local authority on the matter.
I will continue to engage closely with this issue and should any more difficulties emerge then please do not hesitate to contact me and I will raise further concerns directly with the Chief Executive.
I have enclosed a copy of my initial e-mail to the Chief Executive and the detailed response that I received.
Kind Regards,
Jackson
Jackson Carlaw CBE MSP
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Eastwood
F: @Jackson4Eastwood
T: @Jackson_Carlaw
W: www.jacksoncarlaw.org.uk
The Office of Jackson Carlaw MSP will process (collect, store and use) the information you provide in a manner compatible with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK Data Protection Act. We will endeavor to keep your information accurate and up to date, and not keep it for longer than is necessary. The office of Jackson Carlaw MSP is required to retain information in accordance with the law, such as information needed for income tax and audit purposes. How long certain kinds of personal data should be kept may also be governed by specific requirements and agreed practices. Personal data may be held in addition to these periods depending on individual needs. For further information on the privacy policy of Jackson Carlaw MSP please refer to https://www.jacksoncarlaw.org.uk/privacy.
From: McMillan, Lorraine <[email protected]>
Sent: 23 September 2020 21:13
To: Carlaw J (Jackson), MSP <[email protected]>
Cc: Corry, Andrew <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: New COVID-19 Test Centre: The Greenlaw Works Business Centre, 6 Greenlaw Way, Newton Mearns, GLASGOW, G77 6EF
Jackson, thank you for the email.
I hope that the information below will be of use.
As you know mobile testing centres have been provided in areas of Scotland where the rates of coronavirus are high. When the rates in East Renfrewshire increased, I let all councillors know that we were keen to get access to a mobile testing centre locally and began to identify suitable locations. Testing centres sites have a certainspecification that must be met, including access to welfare facilities for their staff, andafter much work to identify a suitable site, the carpark at the Greenlaw Business Centre was identified as meeting the specification.
We were then informed late last week that a mobile testing was available for Monday morning (21st) and we made plans to open the Greenlaw centre carpark and facilities, coordinated with the Police in terms of traffic etc. and also let local businesses know. We were asked by the NHS not to publicise the site until bookings were available which was expected to be on Sunday evening.
Unfortunately, due to an error at the NHS, the mobile centre arrived on Saturday morning, unannounced. The person concerned is very apologetic about the error and I know like me you will appreciate the pressure that NHS staff are under and that human error can occur when people are very busy. My team were called out and worked hard to resolve the situation by opening up the site, as by this time queues of people, who had booked tests, had begun to build up . I was kept in touch with the situation and once the mobile testing centre opened, I understand that the queues reduced very quickly. The operators agree that the centre would not open on Sunday and would resume testing on Monday as originally planned.
I understand that everything worked smoothly on Monday. One of my colleagues went down to check on the site today and he said that it was working very efficiently with no queues.
I am concerned that people parked in a residential area and walked to the centre as this was never the intention. I think that this most likely occurred on Saturday morning when there were queues of cars and before the signposting was up. People were perhaps confused about where they should be going. We have confirmed with the operator that there is no need for anyone arriving to park and walk onto the site.
My own team have also raised concerns that the site has been used for people on foot which we had not expected. Our understanding was that the site was to be used only for people arriving in cars and who would stay in cars during testing.
I spoke to the Chief Executive of relevant NHS organisation on Monday and my colleague followed up yesterday with the NHS lead on Mobile testing, to see what changes could be made to the site and to understand the reasons why people may walk to the site. The following actions have been taken.
·People book a test through the National Booking System and are allocated a slot depending on local availability. The site does recommend that people attend in a car where possible, but there is always a possibility that there may be a small number of appointments for those without access to a car. The NHS team are looking to see if this option can be removed from the National site for Greenlaw.
·The security staff at the entrance to the site are advising those on foot that it is easier and quicker to bring their car into the site if it is clear that they have arrived by car. There is also parking at the entrance to the site which will be useful for anyone who is confused about whether they needed to leave their car for the test.
·The operator has reorganised the site so that the test centre staff are now based further away from the nearby properties.
I hope the above information explains the situation on Saturday and that since Monday that the site has operated efficiently. The numbers arriving by foot are now very small.
If you need further information, please do not hesitate to give me a call
Regards
Lorraine
From: Carlaw J (Jackson), MSP
Sent: 22 September 2020 19:55
To: McMillan, Lorraine <[email protected]>
Subject: New COVID-19 Test Centre: The Greenlaw Works Business Centre, 6 Greenlaw Way, Newton Mearns, GLASGOW, G77 6EF
Dear Lorraine,
New COVID-19 Test Centre: The Greenlaw Works Business Centre, 6 Greenlaw Way, Newton Mearns, GLASGOW, G77 6EF
I have received a number of representations from constituents regarding a recently introduced COVID-19 test centre at the above location and concerns have been raised with me that this may not be the most appropriate site for such a facility.
I am taking the unusual step of raising this issue directly with yourself as Chief Executive of East Renfrewshire Council due to the nature of the concerns that have been expressed to me by local people.
The Greenlaw Works Business Centre is in close proximity to residential development and it has been brought to my attention that people visiting for a COVID-19 test are having to park outside the houses of local people in order to access the site. I understand this is partly due to the car park at the facility being used to carry out testing. As such, I have been informed that the placement of the test facility at Greenlaw Way has led to a marked increase in traffic and parked motor vehicles in front of local homes.
I have been advised that when the test centre first opened on Saturday, there was a very significant increase in motorists leaving their cars at the estate and in residential parking bays. I have also been advised that a situation of traffic gridlock on local roads was present on Saturday due to the volume of cars seeking to access the site, which had the impact of preventing residents from exiting the street where they live. One example brought to my attention involved a local resident not being able to exit their own driveway in a motor vehicle for a period of 15 minutes because of the number of cars that were attempting to access the test site.
The issue of people parking their vehicles at the adjacent housing and walking on foot to the Business Centre has also raised health and safety considerations for local residents. People visiting and parking at the residential development will be attending the Business Centre because they may have unfortunately contracted COVID-19 and a test at the site should serve to confirm this.
Therefore, should there be any close contact with local residents who do not have symptoms of COVID-19 then this could increase their own likelihood of catching the virus and in circumstances that may only transpire due to the placement of the test centre at Greenlaw Works. For instance, one local resident has informed me that a person who was parking at the nearby housing to visit the test centre and who was displaying symptoms of COVID-19 approached them to seek direction on how to enter the site. This contact with a person who may subsequently have been diagnosed with COVID-19 has left my constituent with a sense of anxiety for their own wellbeing.
Moreover, I understand that there are families with young children resident at the nearby housing. Thus, the development whereby people who may have contracted COVID-19 are walking past local homes when children are outside playing within the estate and in their garden is a further source of anxiety for residents.
On top of this, I have been informed that residents were given no notification that a test centre was to be established at Greenlaw Works and that it effectively appeared overnight. This has caused some frustration locally and added to the concerns of local people that a test centre has been put in place adjacent to their homes.
It is clearly a matter of key importance to public health in Scotland that testing capacity is increased and the establishment of new testing centres is vital to this. Testing remains of fundamental importance to the collective national efforts to reduce the spread of the virus and as the MSP for Eastwood, it is a priority for me that constituents can easily access COVID-19 tests if it is possible they have come into contact with the disease.
Nonetheless, the concerns that have been raised with me about the introduction of a test centre at Greenlaw Way do seem entirely justified and the practical experience of residents does suggest that this may be an inappropriate location for the testing facility.
I would be grateful if the council were in a position to offer any information as to why this particular location has been chosen as a test centre and provide some detail on what dialogue has taken place between the local authority and the Scottish Government in relation to the establishment of a testing site at the Greenlaw Works Business Centre.
In light of the concerns that have been raised with me about the close proximity of the test centre to residential housing, it appears to me that there should perhaps be an early reassessment of whether this is the most appropriate location to host such a facility and consider if any alternative locations would avoid the issues experienced here by residents.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
Jackson
Jackson Carlaw CBE MSP
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Eastwood
F: @Jackson4Eastwood
T: @Jackson_Carlaw
W: www.jacksoncarlaw.org.uk
The Office of Jackson Carlaw MSP will process (collect, store and use) the information you provide in a manner compatible with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK Data Protection Act. We will endeavor to keep your information accurate and up to date, and not keep it for longer than is necessary. The office of Jackson Carlaw MSP is required to retain information in accordance with the law, such as information needed for income tax and audit purposes. How long certain kinds of personal data should be kept may also be governed by specific requirements and agreed practices. Personal data may be held in addition to these periods depending on individual needs. For further information on the privacy policy of Jackson Carlaw MSP please refer to https://www.jacksoncarlaw.org.uk/privacy.