'I cannot fault them' - Daughter whose mother died in latest Edinburgh care home deaths praises staff

A woman who recently lost her mother in the latest COVID-19 care home deaths said she cannot fault the efforts of staff who cared for her right up until she died.

A woman who recently lost her mother in the latest COVID-19 care home deaths said she cannot fault the efforts of staff who cared for her right up until she died.

Cathy Clarkson, 86, was one of the coronavirus victims at the Jewel House care home in Bingham, Edinburgh.

Her daughter, Cathy Hope, said the care workers at the home were “amazing” and wanted to thank them for all their hard work looking after her elderly relative.

Cathy Clarkson, 86, was one of the recent coronavirus victims at the Jewel House care home in Bingham, Edinburgh.

“I just cannot fault them,” the 54-year-old from Gilmerton said.

“They certainly made my mum feel so welcome there and she loved it.

“She had her favourites and they were all there when she died.”

Cathy, who is a self-employed kilt maker, had to keep her distance from the care home due to government guidelines.

Yet she said the staff always managed to keep her updated on how her mother was doing.

“Nothing was a bother for these staff,” she said.

“They were always happy to pick up the phone and let me know how mum was doing.

“The last time I saw her was on Mother’s Day, but since then the care workers were so lovely at making sure I was told about what was happening with mum.

“I just couldn’t fault any of them, they stuck to government guidelines and they made mum so happy.

“It can’t be easy for them making these relationships, bonding with these elderly people and seeing so many of them die.

“What those staff go through, it’s so tough for them, but I just cannot fault them, they are true heroes.”

Cathy paid tribute to her mother who lived in Craigmillar and who worked as the housekeeper at the Beehive in Grassmarket for many years.

“She was still very much there and always looked out for me and my siblings, even at her old age,” she said.

“She was a hard-working woman, she didn’t retire until she was 72.

“My dad passed away in 1999 from flu when there was a really bad outbreak that year. Over the years there have been several moments where mum has caught something and doctors have said, ‘family should be here, this it it’ but it never was.

“We used to say it would take a pandemic to take her down.”

Cathy, and her sister Liz Brown and brother George Clarkson attended the funeral of their mother on Friday with just a handful of others.

The three would like to thank all the staff at Jewel House care home for looking after their mother until her death.

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