I inadvertently put my mum in its line of sight

AT THE height of the pandemic, I temporarily placed my mum in Fullarton Care home.

She had gone completely blind over Christmas 2019 and broken a hip in a fall and when Covid hit, I could no longer cope.

I had tried to work and look after her but became so mentally and physically unwell that I feared if I caught the virus, I would not survive.

A social worker assured me and I agreed it was the safest place for her as the virus spread across the UK, bringing fear and panic.

So many like me placed their loved ones in care homes, confident we were sheltering them from the virus, unaware we had placed them in its line of sight.

I was in Glasgow’s George Square when the call came that she had tested positive for Covid and I slumped to the pavement and said aloud: “My God, what have I done?”

Some employee from the UK’s largest care company hC-One, which operates the home, called me and read out a standard letter.

Her young voice was emotionless and I didn’t blame her, given the thanklessness of the task.

I was convinced my mum would die and I imagined a small humanist funeral, restricted in numbers, where I would give a poetic eulogy.

Miraculously, my mum did not become seriously ill but my heart aches for the families of the 22 people who died in that home and I am sorry for their pain and the ocean of tears they must have shed.

Now the police are investigating Fullarton and the

other homes where so many lives were lost. It feels too little, too late.

Were the residents’ deaths unavoidable or was there criminal neglect?

Who is to blame? There were chronic staff shortages, infections were not kept under control, and underpaid and frightened staff were not even properly trained to use PPE.

I for one do not blame minimum wage carers, many of whom became seriously ill and inflicted with long Covid.

Does the fault lie with large corporate companies who prioritise profits over people or with a government which negligently released Covidinfected elderly from hospitals into homes?

Forgive me if despite their best efforts, police officers don’t find the answers these many years later.

The evidence is long gone, the threshold for prosecution is so high, it is unlikely any owners of care homes will ever stand in a dock.

Whatever happens, what we do know for sure is the dead and their families deserved better.