Warning about patient safety ahead of Glasgow City Council pay strikes

The family of a vulnerable 90-year-old woman fears lives will be put at risk due to care services being withdrawn during a planned strike.

Glasgow City Council has sent letters to those affected informing them their care will be withdrawn for two days next week as around 8,000 workers walk out in an equal pay row.

The letter states: "The strike action is definitely taking place and unfortunately we have been unable to secure sufficient homecare staff to provide the cover we expected to.''

It asks recipients to make alternative arrangements with family, carers or friends if possible, apologises for the disruption and warns there will be no response to calls or emails regarding homecare arrangements during the strike on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The family of one woman who received the letter said they fear lives will be put at risk as people may not be able to access medication.

Amy Coid, 90, is recently out of hospital and normally receives four care visits a day as she is blind in one eye and suffers from slight confusion, so is given meals and help to dress and get to bed.

She is not allowed to deal with her own medication which is kept in her house in a padlocked box to which only her carers have the combination.

Her family is now trying to get the code for this so they can give her the 14 tablets a day she needs but are worried for others who will be left without care.

A relative said: "It looks like lives of many old people will be put at risk as they will not receive their medication.

"We are fortunate and will be able to make two 30 mile round trips each day to give her meds in morning and night.

"But how will confused elderly people with no relatives, neighbours or friends cope? Some will be on meds without which they might become seriously ill or worse.

"Some might not even understand the letter or not be able to do anything about it.''

He added: "I wonder how many lives may be at risk as a result and the council seems to be washing their hands of the potential deadly consequences for these vulnerable people who live alone.''

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said the way the union leaders had approached the strike was "hugely disappointing''.

He said: "We believed we had an agreement on providing life and limb cover for our most vulnerable citizens - indeed, the unions told the public that cover would be in place. It won't.

"There has been absolutely no meaningful effort from the unions to work with us and their membership to ensure that life and limb cover will be in place.

"As a result, we are writing urgently to many of the most vulnerable people in the city to tell them that we now have no way to provide them care they desperately need during the strike.

"Rather than the reduced service we expected to be able to deliver with support from the trade unions, for many more people, there will now be no service at all.

"We are deeply concerned about the impact but we have absolutely no alternative.''

Around 6,000 people have homecare services affected.

The unions have agreed to all council requests to support the life and limb plan, the GMB union said, adding the offer from union members to work through the strike to support vulnerable homecare users still stands.

Rhea Wolfson, GMB Scotland organiser, said its members would never do anything to cause harm to homecare clients.

"Glasgow City Council management is in meltdown,'' she said.

"It has misrepresented the offer our members have made to keep services running for our most vulnerable clients.''

She added: "The council's officers have been incapable of putting in place the most basic cover despite having three weeks to prepare and the offers we have made every single day to resolve the dispute.'