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Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760

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Churches to shelter swine flu sufferers?

December 10 2009
Winter shelters not consulted Rough sleepers suffering from swine flu could be forced to rely on churches for shelter and care, the Department of Health has said. The national director of pandemic flu preparedness, Professor Lindsey Davies, said local councils were being advised to consider using churches as shelters for homeless swine flu patients when the second wave of the pandemic hits, according to an article from the British Medical Association (BMA). However, serious concerns have been raised about the proposals. Sally Leigh, London Coordinator for Housing Justice, said: "Rough sleepers with swine flu should be treated with dignity in medically-led provision. It is inappropriate to stow them away in side rooms of church halls to be cared for by well-meaning but medically untrained volunteers". She added, "We [Housing Justice] do not have the facilities, people, funds, training or medical expertise necessary to provide 24-hour medical care in an infection-controlled environment. The NHS must take the lead on this, not the church and its volunteers." The proposals were outlined in a letter from Professor Davies to BMA public health medicine committee chair Richard Jarvis, in response to his letter raising BMA's concerns about where rough sleepers could stay after contracting swine flu, a key issue considering the official advice for those who contract swine flu is to stay at home, drink plenty of liquids and rest. Professor Davies is reported to have replied: "The [Department of Communities and Local Government] is advising local authorities to consider use of B&B placements, single rooms in hostels, emergency beds in day centres or churches etc. PCTs [Primary Care Trusts] may need to provide support/ advice, should larger numbers of rough sleepers become ill." She also drew attention to a short guide for people working with rough sleepers, titled Faith Communities and Pandemic Flu. However, Church of England spokesman Steve Jenkins said there was no mention of using churches as shelters in the guide and that the church has received no information about the proposals. A meeting to explore the proposals was held by Ms Leigh and Alistair Murray, from Housing Justice; Maff Potts, from the Salvation Army; and Mick Clarke, from The Passage. Although they accepted that it would mean rough sleepers with swine flu had somewhere to go, they also highlighted a long list of weaknesses, such as the inadequate living/nursing conditions a church could provide, the difficulty of finding volunteers to provide 24-hour care, the health risk to volunteers, and lack of budget for vital equipment and basic supplies. Carinya Sharples
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