A worried daughter has spoken out about her mum’s difficulty in securing supermarket delivery slots, despite her vulnerable status and measures which should be in place to put her at the top of the list.
Leanne Tervit’s 72-year-old mother Margaret has had three transplants and recently survived sepsis and pneumonia, yet she is struggling to get hold of vital daily items.
The Fife woman is on the Scottish Government’s “shielded” list, but those details have not been shared with supermarkets, meaning Ms Tervit has to spend hours online in the hope of a slot opening up for her mother.
She is a member of a UK-wide transplant network, and has learned counterparts south of the border are not facing the same difficulties because the UK Government has informed supermarket chains of England’s most vulnerable patients.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said yesterday that the Scottish Government was taking steps to introduce a similar system here in the coming days.
Ms Tervit, an SNP member from Dunfermline, said she felt “let down” by the approach to date. She lives with her mother and cannot leave the house herself for fear of picking up the virus and passing it on.
She said: “The only way I can get a delivery slot is by checking all the big supermarkets several times a day in the hope one opens up.
“When the letters telling us to shield came out, the people in England could register and are now able to get priority delivery slots online.
“There are people in Scotland with no support, so their only alternative is to risk going out to the shops when that’s specifically against official advice.
“I’m feeling let down right now by the Scottish Government. There should have been something in place before we were told to shield.”
Scottish Conservative shadow economy secretary Maurice Golden said: “This family are in an impossible position purely because the SNP hasn’t shared the list of vulnerable people with supermarkets.
“The UK Government has managed it for shielded people in England, so there’s no reason why the Scottish Government can’t follow suit.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon revealed during First Minister’s Questions on Thursday more than 130,000 vulnerable people would receive a text about sharing their details, and that a system should be up and running by next week.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We understand that this is a difficult time for many people, especially those who are vulnerable or at risk but are not part of the shielded category, such as older or disabled people, and detailed work is under way to support them.
“This includes work to allow supermarkets to implement the necessary arrangements to allow them to prioritise their delivery slots for those who are in the high clinical risk group, as well as those being shielded, and we will be sharing a list with supermarkets of those who have opted in to this service so deliveries can start next week.”
