'It will kill her' - Daughter fears mother will easily catch Covid-19 at Edinburgh care home hit with multiple deaths

“I am very worried and, every time I get a phone call from family my heart starts racing”

The daughter of an 86-year-old dementia sufferer in an Edinburgh care home hit by 13 suspected Covid-19 related deaths fears her mother could contract the virus and die.

Margaret Urquhart is concerned that her mum, also Margaret, might catch coronavirus in Guthrie House given the advanced nature of her condition.

She voiced her growing concerns after it was revealed that the number of coronavirus-related deaths Scottish care homes had almost doubled – to 537 – since last Wednesday.

Miss Urquhart, speaking to the Edinburgh Evening News, said her mother is vulnerable and being given oxygen due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which causes long-term breathing difficulties.

“She is always looking for people to talk to and it’s quite hard to keep her in her room, she is going to get it (the virus) and it will kill her because she is frail and weak. I do fear the worst,” she said.

“I am very worried and, every time I get a phone call from family my heart starts racing, I’m just waiting on the bad news but then they will say something else.”

13 people died after experiencing Covid-10 symptoms at Guthrie House

Miss Urquhart, 65, said she learned about the suspected Covid-19 deaths at the 88-room care home after reading about it in the Evening News.

Four Seasons Health Care, which runs the Liberton facility, said it has strict protocols in place on infectious diseases and regulations at its 187 homes across the UK.

Miss Urquhart said family members have been unable to visit the care home since lockdown measures were introduced in March.

She says her mother, who has lived in the home for two years, is confused about the lack of family visits and she has told her there is a stomach bug going round to allay her concerns.

Four Seasons Health Care, which runs the Liberton care home, said a number of people have died who were displaying symptoms of the virus

Miss Urquhart suggested that testing in the home would help the current situation greatly, allowing staff to potentially keep those with the virus in one part of the building and those without it in the other, minimising the transmission risk.

Guthrie House, which cares for both publicly-funded and private residents, charges from £1,010 per week for nurse-attended care. Figures for other types of care are not available.

It successfully met all the expected standards in its most recent Care Inspectorate report, compiled in February of this year.

In a statement following the deaths at Guthrie House, a spokeswoman for Four Seasons Health Care said: “With deep sadness, we can confirm that a number of residents who were displaying symptoms associated with coronavirus have passed away in our homes across the country.

“Our thoughts are with the families and friends of these residents and we are providing them with ongoing support at this difficult time.

“We are providing daily updates to care authorities on all confirmed and suspected cases of coronavirus among our residents and colleagues.”

She added: “Our strict protocols on infectious diseases are in place in all of our care homes, including social distancing and barrier nursing, and we are closely monitoring the health of the other residents and colleagues.

“We would like to thank our colleagues, who are working tirelessly to support our residents under difficult circumstances and we will continue to put all our resources and energy into supporting and protecting everyone in our homes.”

A daily coronavirus guidance document issued to Four Seasons care homes includes techniques for caring for those with dementia. This includes allowing residents to still have an areas of the home so they can safely move around while remaining isolated from others.

Staff are also advised to wear photographs of themselves so that residents know who they are, or to introduce themselves from a distance before putting their face masks on.

A third of Covd-19 linked deaths in care homes

Scotland has now lost 1,616 people to the virus with more than a third (33%) occurring in care homes. UK-wide, there were 759 more coronavirus deaths announced yesterday, taking the total fatality count to 18,100.

Scottish Government statistics show 308 care homes have had more than one case of Covid-19 among residents and there were 2,085 cases reported in care homes as of Tuesday, an increase of 212 on the previous day.

Last night, Age Scotland called for a redoubling of efforts to protect care home residents

The charity’s chief Executive, Brian Sloan said: “It must be absolutely terrifying for residents, staff and families as they wonder where the next outbreak will be.

“These are not just statistics – each one is a mother, father, grandparent, sibling or friend who will be deeply missed.

“It is so important that older people in care homes or who are receiving social care in their own home are given every opportunity to get the medical treatment they need to beat this virus and are not written off.

“Every person’s life matters and many older people have made full recoveries with the right treatment. Decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis, and any blanket policies based on a person’s age or residence would be blatant discrimination.”

Despite the grim statistics, Ms Sturgeon insisted that deaths in care homes are not inevitable.

Speaking at her daily briefing at which she revealed the figures, she said: “It’s not unusual for people to become sick in care homes, residents are often frail and nearing the end of their lives.

“But that does not mean that we consider any of these cases to be inevitable or that we don’t do everything we possibly can to prevent them.

“Older people in care homes require as much, if not more, support and protection as anyone else in our society and we’re working with care homes and other partners to provide that.”

The First Minister said 35 per cent of Scotland’s care homes have a current outbreak of the virus – meaning at least one resident has the virus – the equivalent of 384.

Ms Sturgeon said the number of deaths recorded by Health Protection Scotland (HPS) – which reports on cases of Covid-19 confirmed by hospital testing – was 1,062 an increase of 77 from the previous day.

HPS also found 9,038 people have tested positive for the virus, an increase of 366 on Tuesday’s figures.

Despite the increase in cases and deaths recorded by HPS, the First Minister remained “cautiously optimistic” given reductions in the number of people being treated in hospital and in intensive care.

She said listening to reports of the figures was “really horrible”, adding: “I know it is hard to see progress when the numbers of deaths we are reporting are so grim but the other statistics I am reporting on daily, particularly on hospital and intensive care admissions, do show that we are making progress.”

Noting the number of deaths recorded in Scotland is higher than usual for the same time of year, the First Minister said the Scottish Government will “do further work” to find out why this is the case.