‘Buck stops with Sturgeon’ over care home errors
NICOLA Sturgeon must take responsibility for the ‘unforgivable’ decision to empty hospital patients into care homes without Covid tests, it was claimed last night.
Opposition leaders said the ‘buck stops’ with the First Minister after an admission from Health Secretary Jeane Freeman over the decision to move 1,300 untested patients to such facilities.
Speaking to the BBC just weeks before she steps down, Miss Freeman said the move had been a ‘mistake’ and admitted the Scottish Government had failed to ensure transfers of patients were safe, or to understand the social care sector. She added: ‘We didn’t take the right precautions to make sure that older people leaving hospital going into care homes were as safe as they could be and that was a mistake.’
More than 10,000 Scots have died from Covid-related symptoms – a third in care homes.
In the initial wave of the pandemic, patients were discharged before testing systems were in place in a bid to free up beds for an expected wave of coronavirus patients.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: ‘It’s an unforgivable decision and someone has to take responsibility.
‘The buck stops with the First Minister. She has some serious questions to answer.’
Speaking before the death of the Duke of Edinburgh had been announced, Mr Sarwar said: ‘It’s basic common sense that you do not send Covid positive patients into a care home where you are housing the people most vulnerable to the virus.’
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said: ‘For almost a year, grieving families have been left without answers on how their loved ones were put at risk.
‘The public deserve upfront honesty when a grave mistake like this is made.
‘Instead, the SNP hid their errors, tried to spin and manipulate a report on care home deaths, and they’ve kept everyone in the dark.’
Care home boss Robert Kilgour, executive chairman of Renaissance Care, said: ‘I give credit to Jeane Freeman for her honesty, but there was a time between the first and the second waves when she could have held an inquiry into care homes but she did not.
‘It’s not right that those who lost loved ones have not yet had an inquiry into what happened.’
His call for an inquiry was echoed by the son of Helen Smith, 74, who died during an outbreak at Almond Court care home in Drumchapel, Glasgow, a year ago.
George Hillhouse, 53, was at his mother’s side, wearing PPE, when she died. He said: ‘We need to know what mistakes were made, which homes were affected, which patients were involved and which care home residents became infected and died.
‘We need a full investigation for that.’
Meanwhile, Miss Sturgeon told LBC radio yesterday: ‘We took decisions that we thought were best, in good faith and based on evidence we had.
‘As we have learned more about this virus, if we could turn back the clock there are undoubtedly things we would do differently.’
She added: ‘We have learned lessons. The number of care home deaths in the second wave of the pandemic because of some of what we learned in the first were much lower.’
‘Tried to spin and manipulate’