Health service and social care workers who are double-vaccinated and test negative could be exempted from the requirement to self-isolate after contact with positive cases, Nicola Sturgeon said yesterday.

The First Minister said a so-called ‘test and release’ model was under “active consideration”, as part of efforts to ease pressure on essential services that in recent weeks have struggled with high numbers of staff isolating.

An exemption could be brought in for “key groups” of workers ahead of the 9^th of August target date, when the Scottish government hopes to scrap the blanket requirement for everyone else.

In recent weeks several hospitals have issued rare ‘code black’ warnings, meaning they have no available beds left, amid a high staff absence rate and surges in patient numbers.

Changes to the rules have been backed by a range of leaders across the NHS and social care.

Yesterday Dr Chris Williams of the Royal College of GPs in Scotland said it would be “worth considering” to prevent GPs and their teams who have had both jabs having to isolate if they are identified as a close contact.

The issue was raised by Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie at Nicola Sturgeon’s coronavirus update given to a virtual meeting of the Scottish Parliament yesterday.

The First Minister said she hoped to drop the blanket requirement for double vaccinated close contacts who test negative to isolate when the country goes ‘beyond level zero’, currently pencilled in for the 9^th of August.

She added: “We are considering, perhaps ahead of that, whether that could be introduced for some key groups in our workforce, and obviously health and social care fall into that category.”

Any changes would be announced to Parliament, Ms Sturgeon said. 

The body representing most social care providers in Scotland requested a suspension of the rules last week, warning care services were becoming “increasingly stretched”.

It followed a warning from the BMA that rising rates of staff isolation were  a “risk to patients and of course puts huge pressure on remaining staff”.

In response to the update, Willie Rennie said: “The situation is urgent now, so my concern is that the First Minister is taking too long.

“If people test negative and have been double vaccinated, as most health and social care workers have, then it would be appropriate to consider a return to work for them.

“People are desperate for treatment and care, so the damage of cancelled operations and services is considerable.”

Read more: Extra NHS beds and staff funding; Ministers urged to update care staff isolation rules; Call for NHS staff self-isolation rethink

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