126 patients sent to care homes untested
Lanarkshire’s care homes received more than 120 patients discharged from hospital who weren’t tested for coronavirus at the start of lockdown.
In March and April this year, 167 people were discharged to care homes across the region but 126 of them weren’t tested.
Of the 41 who were, three came back positive.
The figures were obtained following a freedom of information request from the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
In total, 97 patients were discharged to care homes in South Lanarkshire and 70 in North Lanarkshire.
Figures for the number of patients tested weren’t broken down by local authority area and given only for Lanarkshire as a whole.
According to the National Records of Scotland, 586 people in Lanarkshire had died from coronavirus including 143 in South Lanarkshire care homes and 95 in North Lanarkshire care homes.
Shadow health secretary and Central Scotland MSP Monica Lennon has written to NHS Lanarkshire this week to find out which care homes in the region have accepted discharges.
She said: “It is a scandal that so many untested patients were discharged from hospitals to care homes at the very height of the pandemic.
“The very least that the Scottish Government and local health board should do is be upfront about which care homes received patients.
“In tragic high-profile cases where dozens have died then the least the health board could do is either confirm or deny that these organisations were involved in receiving potentially positive cases from hospital – and if they’re able to rule this out then they should do so for the benefit of families who are desperate for answers.”
Gabe Docherty, NHS Lanarkshire director of public health and health policy, said: “Due to patient confidentiality, we cannot discuss individual patient cases. Testing of all patients prior to discharge, including a clinical risk assessment, is conducted in line with the existing Health Protection Scotland guidance at the time of discharge.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The cabinet secretary announced from April 21 that all admissions to care homes from hospital should be tested for coronavirus (Covid-19), regardless of symptoms.
“While this was announced as a policy for all hospital discharges from April 21, testing for Covid-19 had been available for a significant time before then, and clinical decisions around testing were for hospitals to make on a case-by-case basis.
“At all times our actions have been guided by the best and most up to date expert scientific and medical advice and as we learned more about the impact of the virus, we ensured all guidance and decisions followed that changing landscape.
“While there will undoubtedly be lessons to learn when a new virus is encountered, care was taken to put guidance in place that was considered to be appropriate at each stage. From mid-March that included guidance requiring clinical screening of patients being transferred from hospitals to care homes.
“Scottish Ministers have already confirmed that there will be a public inquiry into all aspects of the impact and handling of Covid-19, and this would include care homes.
“Our immediate focus is on continuing to do everything necessary to save lives for the remainder of this pandemic, learning lessons and applying the knowledge that we have. It would not be appropriate to divert our attention from this, to an inquiry, at this time.”