125 picked up virus in separate wards

FIGURES showing the spread of coronavirus in Scots hospitals were revealed last night, prompting concerns about testing and the transfer of patients to care homes.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said 125 people had been infected with Covid-19 while being treated in a noncoronavirus ward, with the first in mid-March.

She insisted the NHS was “alive” to the risk of hospital infection and took strict steps to limit any outbreak. The cases had been declining since the start of May, she added.

Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Monica Lennon said: “The first known incident happened in the middle of March, when hundreds of older patients were discharged into care homes without being tested.

“This revelation raises serious concerns around PPE, testing of hospital staff and the ability of the virus to spread in institutions such as hospitals and care homes.

“It is clear the concerns of patients, families and care home residents have not been listened to and, as a result, lives have been put in danger.”

Freeman was pressed by members of Holyrood’s health committee yesterday about the discharge from hospital of care home residents.

But she insisted that it was “entirely appropriate” to discharge people who were “clinically fit to be discharged”.

The patients were sent to homes at a time when bosses feared hospitals would be swamped with Covid patients. Freeman said it was “a reasonable judgment to make at that point”.