Ministers haven’t ruled out inquiry into virus in care homes, MPS told

The Scottish Government has not ruled out holding a separate public inquiry into how coronavirus has spread through care homes, MPS have been told.

Constitution Secretary Mike Russell told a Westminster committee that ministers have “not rejected anything” with regard to calls for a specific investigation into how decisions have impacted on the care sector.

His comments came as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon who has already confirmed a public inquiry into Covid-19 will take place in Scotland - spoke of the “sense of anguish and heartbreak” of bereaved families after their loved ones died in homes.

Questions have been asked about the Scottish Government’s decision to shift hundreds of elderly patients from hospitals to care homes in March and April without testing them to see if they had the virus.

Mr Russell was pressed on the issue when he appeared before the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.

Scottishconservativemp David Mundell told him: “The First Minister herself acknowledged that nobody had ever told her moving asymptomatic patients from hospitals to care homes could in fact increase the spread of the disease in care homes.”

He said this “self-evidently appears to have led to that very large number of care home deaths in Scotland”.

Mr Russell responded that while the deaths were “immensely sad and immensely regrettable”, care home residents had also died in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Mr Russell said: “It is the Scottish Government’s position that we need to learn as much as we can as we go along.”