‘Veil of secrecy’ over true rate of victims in council facilities

MINISTERS have been accused of throwing a ‘veil of secrecy’ over crucial information about the scale of deaths in council-run care homes.

A leading private sector operator yesterday condemned the Scottish Government for failing to produce data on the extent of the crisis in homes run by local authorities.

Robert Kilgour, chairman of Renaissance Care, which has 15 homes in Scotland, also accused SNP ministers of taking a ‘Stalinist’ approach towards private operators.

The Government has rejected requests to show the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths by private and council-run care home, and has refused to say how many tests have been carried out on staff and patients in each sector.

Mr Kilgour condemned new guidelines giving NHS and councils greater ‘oversight’ of private sector care homes. He said: ‘It seems like we are fighting a war where we are not just being fired upon by the unseen enemy in front of us, Covid-19, but we are also being fired upon from behind by our own side, the Scottish Government.’

He said it was crucial figures be published showing infection rates in council facilities, adding: ‘These are the same local authorities that are covered in this veil of secrecy and won’t release staff and resident testing numbers and the sad deaths that have happened, other than the ones that have leaked out. There has been a deafening silence.

‘Local authorities account for 20 per cent of care homes in Scotland but the public have no idea. Why are the staff and patient testing figures not being made available? There are no data protection issues at all. The public have a right to know.’

Data published yesterday showed 59 per cent of Scottish care homes have reported a suspected Covid-19 case since the outbreak began. On Monday, 482 care homes – or 45 per cent of the total – had a current case.

Scottish Government guidance that NHS boards and councils will ‘have a lead role in the oversight for care homes in their area’ was ‘quite Stalinist’, Mr Kilgour claimed.

He said: ‘We are fighting in the front line of the war against Covid-19 yet they are giving more financial support to pubs, coffee bars and nail salons that are closed than they are to care homes that are open.’

The Scottish Government said: ‘Once key information that we are confident is accurate and robust is available, we will always try to publish where possible.’