Own up to these terrible mistakes

Death toll hits 4000 as SNP Government record blasted

YESTERDAY was another grim chapter in a story of anguish and heartbreak for Scotland.

Even though the numbers are moving in the right direction, news that the death toll had reached 4000 was still a shocking development.

Four thousand families are grieving and struggling to make sense of the chaos of the last few months.

However, it is inevitable that Scots will pore over the numbers and wonder how many of the deaths were avoidable.

It is unrealistic to expect perfection but an assessment of the early decisions is sensible.

Allowing patients to move from hospitals to care homes without being tested was a tragic error.

Not equipping all NHS and care home staff with PPE was another blunder.

Across the UK, a slowness to go into lockdown was almost certainly another mistake that cost lives.

Professor Neil Ferguson estimated that going into lockdown one week earlier could have halved the UK’s death toll.

A similar conclusion was reached by Edinburgh University academics last month. Caution, perhaps brought on by fear, has proved fatal.

The pain of those who have lost loved ones is acute, and the least they deserve is an honest account of what went wrong, and why.

SCOTLAND’S coronavirus death toll hit 4000 yesterday – with more than half of the fatalities in care homes.

The “grim milestone” was reached as criticism of the Scottish Government’s record on testing intensified.

Barely a fifth of care home staff have been screened since a rollout of testing was promised weeks ago.

Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Scotland’s tragic death toll represents thousands of families losing loved ones, often without even being able to properly say goodbye.

“On care home admissions and testing, there have clearly been significant failings. At the end of this crisis it is inevitable we will need a public inquiry.”

The harrowing National Records of Scotland figure (NRS) covered cases where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

Men accounted for a majority of the deaths and more than 3000 of the total were in the 75 plus age group.

No one under 14 has died of coronavirus based on the NRS measurement.

A further breakdown revealed that while 1854 of the deaths were in hospitals, 1861 occurred in care homes.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman had said all the country’s care home staff would be tested but the promise has not been delivered yet.

At First Minister’s Questions, Nicola Sturgeon said more than 11,000 care home staff – about 20 per cent of the total – had been tested so far.

She added that about 15,000 care home residents had also been tested.

After being criticised by Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw on the low numbers, Sturgeon said: “The Health Secretary and I have been very clear that we want health boards to accelerate their progress.

“That is why publishing data health board by health board will allow us to track and, indeed, the public to scrutinise, that progress.

“I certainly want to see progress accelerate but, more than anything, I want to make sure that it is happening in a way that we can sustain over a period of time.”

She added: “This testing will be on-going, and it will have to be done week in, week out, for as long as we are continuing to live with the virus.

“Again, this is not a point of criticism, but an observation – we are not simply doing that by posting testing kits out to care homes.”

The clash came as the latest daily figure for all tests came in at 4747 – even though full capacity is 15,500.

The Scottish Government has also been under pressure to say when health service staff will routinely be tested.

Hospitals may have helped spread the disease after the Government confirmed about 900 patients in non-covid wards had contracted the virus.

About the same number of NHS staff may have been infected at work.

Sturgeon said routine testing of NHS staff will be introduced in Scotland if an expert group recommends it.

She said: “If the nosocomial review group recommends that, I give a guarantee I will implement that recommendation.

“But we will do that on the basis of expert advice we have asked for.”

Labour MSP Monica Lennon said: “Tragically behind these statistics are 4000 people who will be sadly missed by their families and communities.

“We need the Scottish Government to be honest about the things it should have done better, like on PPE and testing, and quickly deliver on all the promises it has made.”

Tory MSP Miles Briggs said: “This is another grim milestone, and one which shows the devastation this disease has caused.

“Many of these deaths could have been avoided with a better testing system, particularly in care homes.”