THE CARE HOME CATASTROPHE

Why is the death rate so much higher in Scots facilities than south of Border?

‘They are the most vulnerable’

SCOTLAND now has a significantly higher rate of care home deaths than that of England.

A staggering 42.8 per cent of all coronavirus deaths north of the Border have taken place in care homes, compared with less than 25 per cent of deaths in England.

The comparison has been made for the first time following the publication of figures for England by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In Scotland, the figures are published weekly by National Records of Scotland.

Last week, it was revealed that up to May 3, there had been 1,195 Covid-19 related deaths in care homes in Scotland.

The number of care home deaths in Scotland was even outstripping hospital deaths, according to recent figures.

The ONS yesterday revealed that there had been 7,903 similar deaths in England – 24.9 per cent of the total.

Scottish Labour Leader Richard Leonard said: ‘The stark disparity in the proportion of coronavirus deaths in care homes between Scotland and England poses very serious questions over the Scottish Government’s approach to this pandemic.’ He added: ‘We are all committed to defeating the virus, and it is in the spirit of collective national effort that we call on the First Minister to take urgent action to protect those in our residential care homes.

‘They are the most vulnerable and we must protect them and the staff who care for them.’

Yesterday, Nicola Sturgeon announced an extra £50million to ‘help meet extra costs’ as the care sector tackles Covid-19.

Speaking at the Scottish Government’s daily coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh, the First Minister said the social care sector was ‘under immense pressure’ as a result of the virus.

As of Sunday, 65 per cent of Scotland’s care homes have alerted the Care Inspectorate to at least one suspected coronavirus case since the start of the outbreak and 44 per cent have a current suspected case.

Miss Sturgeon said the Scottish Government was ‘working hard to support the sector in every way we can’, with increased testing in care homes and supplies of personal protective equipment.

The extra cash will go to all 32 of Scotland’s councils to cover both care homes and care at home services.

‘It will help to ensure that care services around the country can cope with the immense pressures that they are facing at this time,’ Miss Sturgeon said.

Yesterday, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman admitted that it was previously not possible to tell if care home residents had contracted Covid-19 from people being transferred from hospitals. All those being sent to care homes from the community or hospital are now tested.

But the Mail told earlier this month how Scotland’s chief nursing officer Professor Fiona McQueen admitted people were moving to care homes before receiving the results of their coronavirus tests.

Miss Sturgeon had previously said anyone going into a care home would be tested for Covid19, while those recovering from the virus or being moved from a hospital must have two negative tests before being admitted to the facility.

Speaking yesterday, Miss Sturgeon said the care home death figures in Scotland ‘do not appear to be out of step’ with international comparisons. She added: ‘There are many countries that are reporting the percentage of deaths that are happening in care homes are similar to the percentage we are reporting here in Scotland.’

Miss Sturgeon said that although the percentage of deaths in care homes had gone up last week, the number of deaths had started to fall. She said she ‘very much hopes’ the figures show a decline when published today.

Care home bosses have claimed that there could be hundreds more deaths in Scotland, while staff working in them say a lack of personal protective equipment has left them forced to buy their own.

THE true scale of the appalling tragedy unfolding in our care homes becomes more shockingly clear by the day.

Now it emerges that the proportion of Covid-19 deaths in the Scottish care sector is substantially higher than south of the Border. Official statistics show the figure is almost 43 per cent for Scotland, compared with a quarter in England.

As Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said yesterday, this is a ‘stark disparity’ that poses some major questions for the Scottish Government. It has failed to tackle the spread of coronavirus, which has killed hundreds of the most vulnerable section of our population.

Behind these bleak statistics lies the suffering of families robbed of cherished elderly relatives in the most cruel of circumstances.

And yet the performance of Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has done little to inspire confidence in the ability of ministers to put an end to this outrageous scandal.

She may be right when she insists the publication of draft guidance on care admissions before it had been officially approved was an ‘error, not a conspiracy’.

But that’s hardly likely to be allay the fears of those living in fear of the virus.

The document, which advised on testing, was sent to industry bosses despite not being signed off by ministers. It suggested that patients could be discharged from hospital into a care home before receiving the results of a Covid-19 test.

Yesterday, Miss Freeman admitted she had no idea how many of the residents who have tested positive for the virus in homes were infected in hospital.

Meanwhile, dedicated staff have had to contend with a lack of personal protective equipment.

A damning UK-wide survey showed a third of homes have been forced to take patients with Covid-19 – and more than two out of five could not get hold of PPE.

The Scottish Government’s response to the care homes crisis under Miss Freeman’s watch has been shambolic.

It’s vital that she gets this desperate situation under control – before all confidence in her capacity to manage it is lost.