To consider the following Notice of Motion, which has been submitted by Cllr Sophie Porter pursuant to Standing Order 9 (1):
“In the light of evidence about:
· the recent difficulties faced by Rushmoor residents in accessing COVID-19 testing; and
· the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Rushmoor, particularly Aldershot Town and Hawley Lane & Fox Lane areas;
this Council resolves as a matter of urgency to establish a Covid-19 testing site in the Borough in cooperation with NHS Test and Trace, but, if necessary, independently, so that all Rushmoor residents who have COVID-19 symptoms can access the testing they need when they need it.”
Minutes:
The Council was asked to consider a Motion which had been submitted by Cllr Sophie Porter in accordance with the provisions of Standing Order 9 (1):
“In the light of evidence about:
· the recent difficulties faced by Rushmoor residents in accessing Covid-19 testing; and
· the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in Rushmoor, particularly Aldershot Town and Hawley Lane and Fox Lane areas;
this Council resolves as a matter of urgency to establish a Covid-19 testing site in the Borough in co-operation with NHS Test and Trace but, if necessary, independently, so that all Rushmoor residents who have Covid-19 symptoms can access the testing they need when they need it.”
In moving the Motion, Cllr Porter made an amendment to the wording, as follows:
“In the light of evidence about:
· the recent difficulties faced by Rushmoor residents in accessing Covid-19 testing; and
· the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in Rushmoor;
this Council applauds the work done to date to establish a Covid-19 testing station in the Borough in co-operation with Test and Trace as rapidly as possible, in order that all Rushmoor residents who have Covid-19 symptoms can access the testing they need when they need it.
Should it prove to be necessary, this Council resolves to seek all other means by which to establish such a testing station.”
The amended Motion received the support of the seconder, Cllr Sue Carter and, with the leave of the Council, the amended Motion therefore became the substantive Motion for debate.
Speaking on her Motion, Cllr Porter stated that, in view of
the imminent announcement regarding a mobile testing site, she wanted to thank
publicly the emergency planning and engineering teams for their hard work on establishing a mobile testing site
in the Borough.
Cllr Porter advised
Members that the previous month some residents had reported that they had been unable to get a
Covid-19 antigen test. A survey of the
local area had showed residents being offered tests in Scotland, the Isle of Wight
and Northern Ireland; the latter two would have involved a ferry ride, putting
others at increased risk of contracting the virus.
Members were
advised that Covid-19 tests were carried out through a number of different
routes:
·
Pillar 1 - Swab tests in Public Health England labs and
NHS hospitals
·
Pillar 2 - Swab testing for the wider population
·
Pillar 3 - Serology testing for antibodies
·
Pilar 4 - Surveillance testing
Information about these pillars was outlined in the Department of Health
and Social Care paper titled “Coronavirus: scaling up our testing programmes”, which also stated that “anyone who needs a
test should have one”. Cllr Porter
questioned this statement as Rushmoor residents had
been unable to access tests. Cllr Porter stated that the Council would
like to establish a permanant Pillar 2 testing site
for those who had symptoms as per the Government guidelines.
Cllr Porter said
that the track, trace and isolate system had been developed to reduce the risk
of transmission of Covid-19 and was of the opinion that, if one element of this
did not function, the whole system would break down and the virus would be at
risk of getting out of control. Cllr
Porter advised Members that an article in the British Medical Journal on
Covid-19 mass testing had summed up local testing sites well - “The system must
ensure that testing is accessible, trusted, and tailored to all sections of
society (especially ethnic minority groups and those at disadvantage) -
otherwise those who most need testing will not be reached”. Cllr Porter queried why Rushmoor’s
residents were expected to travel long distances to be tested and felt that localised testing was important. This was because it allowed for a local
positive rate to be confirmed which was a crucial metric as it measured how
adequately regions were dealing with the virus relative to their population
size.
Cllr Porter said that her passion to improve the offerings on testing capacity and improve the test, trace and isolate system locally stemmed from her personal battles with Covid-19, which she detailed for Members. Cllr Porter also referred to the sad death of the former Deputy Mayor, Cllr Frank Rust, who lost his life to the virus. As a NHS employee, Cllr Porter stressed how important testing was within the system of test, track and trace and urged Members to support the Amended Motion to ensure that, if the Council was unable to secure a permanent testing site in the Borough, the Council would use any means at its disposal to establish a testing site in Rushmoor.
During debate, it was announced to Members that, thanks to the efforts of officers who had worked so hard on this issue, the Borough had been successful in securing a mobile testing unit on two days per week. In summing up, Cllr Porter stressed the need therefore for the Council to get a permanent testing station for the Borough. This would be the best outcome for the Borough’s residents.
The Motion was put to the Meeting. There voted FOR: 34; AGAINST: 0 and the Motion was DECLARED CARRIED unanimously.