Our hidden heartache: Care home company reveals the true toll of Covid on residents and staff
He might have been the boss at work but mum was always a match for him at home
Kenny’s eldest daughter, sports broadcaster Kelly Cates, says that while her dad was unparalleled on the field, at home it was mum Marina who called the shots.
“Maybe, through football, people will think he’s a certain way or a little grumpy, but when he comes home my mum is more than a match for him,” said Kelly. “In a house with a wife and three daughters, he didn’t get the chance to throw his weight around without there being a rabble of us taking the mickey out of him.
“Family has always been his priority, making sure we’re all right. He was the kind of dad a lot of people will recognise. If I was to talk of a Glasgow dad, people will know what I mean. It was quite oldschool in that he would go to work and my mum ran the house.”
Kelly and brother Paul were babies when their parents moved from Glasgow to Liverpool, and she remembers going to games at Anfield from a young age. She said: “When they first moved down, they didn’t have a babysitter, so we’d go to the games with them and that’s when it all started. I suppose it’s quite rare for your kids to turn up at your workplace, but we did it every other week. Football was always part of our lives, not because it was dad’s job, but because it was something we were all interested in as a family.” Kelly remembers going to a Rod Stewart concert at Ibrox with her parents when she was young and finding it strange that people in the crowd were shouting out to him, because where she grew up the residents tended to leave him alone. “No one was bothered about him where we lived, so it wasn’t something Paul and I had, but my sisters probably experienced it more when he went to Newcastle and then back up to Celtic.” The pandemic will prevent the entire family coming together on Thursday to celebrate Kenny’s 70th, but Kelly says they are all trying to get together virtually – if football doesn’t get in the way. “My brother is in Miami, so we are dealing with different time zones and trying to work out when it’s not too late for my sister’s boys and my girls, but not when Paul’s twins are at school,” she added. “We’re leaving all the logistics to mum.
“Dad always pretends he doesn’t want a fuss around his birthday, but really he does want a song and dance. Now there’s a Liverpool match arranged on his birthday, and so I think he’s quite excited that when he goes to Anfield everyone there will know it’s his birthday. He always pretends he’s not bothered but he loves the attention!”
The devastating toll of the coronavirus pandemic has been detailed for the first time by the largest Scottish care home group.
Staff have spoken of the stress they suffered after 41 elderly residents died during outbreaks at 10 of Balhousie Care Group’s 26 facilities. That trauma has left some suffering ongoing problems with depression, and in some cases still needing treatment for conditions such as night terrors. The operator said 160 residents and 146 staff contracted the virus in the past year and the additional financial burden of the pandemic is estimated to be £500,000. The deaths of more than 3,000 elderly residents have been linked to Covid-19, the majority in the first wave when hospital patients, many who had tested positive, were transferred to care homes in their hundreds. The Scottish Parliament voted last year for an immediate judge-led inquiry but the Scottish Government has said the time is not right to begin this process. Balhousie is the first Scottish care home group to reveal detailed figures and chief executive Jill Kerr has called on other operators to do the same. She said: “We felt the time was right to be fully transparent with how the last year has impacted us, in the hope that other care providers will follow.
“The public and politicians need to understand more fully what we as care home operators have been through and continue to go through and how the Covid19 pandemic has reshaped our sector forever.” The Sunday Post can also reveal Scotland’s information watchdog is investigating whether the