Scotland’s Covid care home death toll is a scandal

A BBC documentary about the appalling number of deaths in Scottish care homes from Covid-19 was hard to watch and a full inquiry into the failings of the Scottish and UK Governments must be held. But first we must learn from our mistakes, writes Ian Murray MP.

Ian Murray is the Labour MP for Edinburgh South (Picture: Ian Rutherford)

I’ve written recently about the test of a compassionate society being how it treats its elderly and vulnerable citizens.

Late on Tuesday night, the BBC broadcast a harrowing and upsetting documentary about how the Scottish Government catastrophically failed this test.

The failings mean that thousands of families across Scotland have said goodbye to loved ones too soon – grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters, husbands and wives.

The Disclosure Scotland documentary laid bare the extent to which those in care homes were let down.

I hope the First Minister and the Health Secretary stayed up late to watch it, even if they refused to be interviewed for the programme.

It was very hard to watch and left me emotionally drained.

More people died with coronavirus in Scotland’s care homes than in hospital – with Covid-19 listed on nearly 1900 death certificates. With Scotland having one of the highest death rates in the world, the elderly has borne the brunt.

Nearly half of all Covid-19 deaths were in care homes, compared to just 28 per cent in England.

To free up hospital space, the SNP Government’s policy was to discharge elderly patients to care homes. But the care homes weren’t given the support they needed for this.

It meant patients weren’t tested for Covid before leaving hospital, meaning they could unknowingly spread the virus to those that it affects the most. And staff didn’t have the necessary PPE, placing them at unacceptable risk. Furthermore, staff and residents were promised regular testing, but it is still not happening fully as we enter August.

There were so many tragic stories in the documentary that should utterly shame Scottish ministers. Take the case of 80-year-old Rodger Laing, who had dementia and had been in Midlothian Community Hospital for about seven months.

As this paper revealed, he was moved to Drummond Grange care home in Edinburgh, where he caught Covid-19 and died.

His son Rodney Laing told the BBC documentary: “I said to the social work department ‘you cannot take a human being out of an environment that he’s healthy in and put him in an environment that is riddled with Covid. There’s elderly people in there dying. You’re sending my dad to the gallows’.”

The human rights of thousands of care residents in Scotland have been disregarded.

The SNP Government has failed its duty to protect the lives of the most vulnerable in our society. As I have said time and time again, the Scottish Government’s failure to protect elderly citizens is one of the worst scandals of modern times.

I agree that Nicola Sturgeon has been a consummate performer at the podium, with her scripted daily briefings broadcast on TV with little scrutiny, but the performance of the government she leads has been found wanting. Too many people are frightened to scrutinise and challenge the Scottish Government on Covid on behalf of bereaved families and too many have bought the “they have done wonderfully” line, despite one of the worst excess death rates in the world. That’s why the families and workers deserve credit for speaking out in an environment where criticism of the Scottish Government is silenced quickly.

So too has the UK Government made catastrophic errors.

There were similar care home failings in England, with Westminster’s cross-party Public Accounts Committee rightly branding it an ‘appalling error’ to discharge patients from NHS hospitals at the start of the pandemic.

Both Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon should be held responsible for their decisions.

The time will come for a full inquiry into the failings of both governments.

But what matters now is learning from these mistakes, especially as the threat of a second coronavirus wave increases.

There are still concerns about PPE, for example, with doctors in Scotland this month reporting out-of-date masks crumbling on their faces.

Everyone in both governments must redouble efforts to prioritise the wellbeing of the most vulnerable in our society. Care staff are underpaid, undervalued and are on the frontline in this pandemic. It’s time to care about care. The BBC documentary is yet another wake-up call.

Ian Murray is the Labour MP for Edinburgh South

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