Families on care home investigation: We have not heard a word
Families of care home residents killed by Covid are still waiting for answers, two years after a criminal investigation was ordered.
The probe was launched in May 2020 by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and now has a dedicated team of 18 staff looking into 4,042 deaths.
However, most families are still waiting to learn if criminal charges will follow. Spokesman for relatives’ group Covid-19 Bereaved Families For Justice, Alan Wightman, whose 88-yearold mum, Helen, died of Covid in May 2020 in a Fife care home, said: “I contacted the Covid Deaths Investigation Team (CDIT) in October 2020 and they said they were investigating my mum’s death. In the 18 months since, I’ve not heard anything from the team, other than an update which said we’ve got no update for you. So, what exactly is going on there?
“I’m delighted that the High Court in England ruled moving untested patients to care homes was unlawful. It’s now highly likely it was unlawful to transfer untested patients in Scotland.
And it’s completely unforgivable to knowingly send people who had tested positive with Covid into care homes.
“I think there is a case for saying it may be well be a criminal activity. I think the CDIT inquiry should get to the truth and once we’ve got to that truth, charges against individuals should follow.”
The family of Rodger Laing, who died of Covid after being transferred from hospital to a care home which had already had cases, have heard nothing from the Crown Office for 18 months.
Mr Laing, 80, a former gamekeeper and car salesman, died 22 days after he was
moved from a dementia ward at Midlothian Community Hospital in Bonnyrigg to Drummond Grange Care Home in Lasswade in May 2020.
His daughter Gail Law, 56, said: “I haven’t even heard from Crown Office officials involved in the inquiry since they talked to me at the end of 2020.
“We should not have to live with this heartbreak a moment longer because an inquiry will take years. Criminal action should be taken immediately. Those responsible should be prosecuted. Thousands of people paid for this scandal with their lives.”
In August 2020, The Sunday Post revealed Mr Laing’s family was suing Scottish Government ministers for their part in the hospital bed clearance policy.
Ms Law said: “Officials basically sentenced my dad to death, overriding our wishes and sending him to an infected care home.”
Mr Laing, who gave a negative Covid test before leaving hospital, died on May 27, two days after testing positive. His family say photographs from the home show he was not properly isolated and was allowed to mix with other residents.
Lawyer for Covid-19 Bereaved Families For Justice, Aamer Anwar, last week wrote to the Lord Advocate, the Covid public inquiry chair, Lady Poole, and the First Minister about delays to the criminal investigation.
He said: “Bereaved families have a right to know that this is not going to be kicked into the long grass. But the Crown Office excuse that this is a complex inquiry and then you’re potentially talking about five, maybe even 10 years before they get answers. That’s just not good enough.”
Anwar also wants the First Minister to publish advice she received before the Covid guidance for care homes was issued, and he has sought assurances from Lady Poole that she will investigate Covid deaths during the inquiry.
The Crown Office said: “While a small number of cases had been closed, the majority are open as investigations are ongoing.”
The public inquiry said the transfer of residents to or from care homes is in the terms of reference for the inquiry and will be covered.
Barchester, the firm which owns Drummond Grange care home, said it is deeply saddened but is unable to comment further. NHS Lothian and Midlothian Health and Social Care Partnership has previously said Mr Laing had not been discharged simply to free up a bed but because he was medically fit to be discharged.