Freeman ‘a bit too tired’ to get her figures right
SCOTLAND’S Health Secretary got key figures wrong about patients being transferred to hospital because she was ‘a bit tired’, Nicola Sturgeon said.
The First Minister yesterday claimed Jeane Freeman wildly underestimated the number of patients transferred from hospitals into care homes because she has been working ‘round the clock’ dealing with the coronavirus crisis.
But opponents said the excuse ‘will simply not wash’ with families who are not getting answers to key questions about the care of their relatives.
The Scottish Government revealed last week that 921 patients were released from hospitals into care homes in March.
Miss Freeman apologised following the release of the figure, as it was around three times higher than she had initially suggested.
Asked on BBC Good Morning Scotland yesterday why she got the numbers so wrong, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘The Health Secretary has for the last three months been working round the clock on this.
‘Sometimes you get a bit, maybe, tired when you are saying something in parliament and mistakes happen. She apologised for that. She gave the right figures.’
The error comes after previous concerns were raised about Miss Freeman not being aware of care home guidance which was sent to operators and published by the Scottish Government earlier this month which suggested patients can be discharged from hospital into a care home before receiving the results of a coronavirus test. Last week, the Scottish Tories said Miss Freeman has now ‘lost the confidence’ of the public.
Yesterday, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘Scrutiny is vitally important, but for opposition politicians during a pandemic to almost try to deliberately undermine a Health Secretary I think is a bit regrettable.’
Scottish Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘Doctors are tired, nurses are tired, people working in care homes are tired. So I’m not sure Nicola Sturgeon blaming tiredness for these repeated mistakes and issues will wash with people.’
The Scottish Daily Mail has repeatedly asked the Scottish Government for figures showing how many patients moved from hospital had one or two negative tests for coronavirus first.
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘We will release as much data as we can and when we do release that data we want to ensure it is robust and reliable.’
Miss Freeman said: ‘One of the issues around this virus is the incubation period for the virus, and so it is not straightforward to be clear whether or not someone who is in hospital who subsequently has Covid-19, where that was acquired.’