FLAWS in the Scottish Government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic led to many “unnecessary” and “painful” deaths of residents in care homes, according to a report published today.
Nick Kempe, a former head of service for older people in Glasgow, says a delay in a decision by the Scottish Government to intervene in the crisis, as well as inadequate provision of medical services which could have administered oxygen to the sick, were among the factors which contributed to the high number of fatalities.
His study, commissioned by the pro-independence Common Weal think tank, concentrates on Scottish Government response in the first eight weeks of the pandemic. The Scottish Government said the report “painted a wholly misleading picture”.
The study blames a failure to implement pandemic preparation warnings, shortcomings in the supply of personal protective equipment and failing to ensure at the outset that all staff were tested for Covid-19.
Kempe said: “Care home residents were not taken to be a government responsibility and so the use of palliative measures to make deaths as comfortable as possible was left to providers. This almost certainly means many old people faced an absolutely unnecessarily uncomfortable and painful death. Health staff were not instructed to take the clinical lead in care homes until May 17.”
Figures from the National Records of Scotland showed 45% of total fatalities up to May 10 were in care homes. Nicola Sturgeon has repeatedly said the figure is similar to other countries. Last week, the Scottish Government unveiled emergency plans for care homes deemed to be risking the lives of residents during the virus outbreak to be taken over by the state.
Ministers would be able to apply for a court order giving them the right to intervene and manage services. The move followed concern about the time it took NHS Highland to intervene at the Home Farm care home on Skye where 10 residents have died.
Today’s Common Weal report said that based on quality ratings at the outset of the crisis more than 25% of care homes could have been expected to be unable to properly protect older people. For the first eight weeks of the crisis the Scottish Government stressed providers were responsible for protecting care home residents.
“This meant that medical treatments which could have been delivered in care homes (such as the provision of oxygen) were not supported by the Scottish Government which left treatment to the discretion of private companies geared around property finance,” said the report. “In addition the mental wellbeing of residents was not made a priority, with people being locked in rooms alone for indefinite periods (as a result of Scottish Government advice), with some being told or knowing they would be likely to die before seeing family members again.”
Kempe concluded: “This represents the single greatest failure of devolved government since the creation of the Scottish Parliament. Decisive action might have helped reduce the risk and would have prevented deaths.”
The report called for the Government to develop a national plan to protect older people in care homes from Covid-19 and future pandemics.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “This report paints a wholly misleading picture. The Scottish Government has from the outset taken firm action to protect care home staff and residents. In early March we issued clinical and practice guidance for care homes setting out the clinical and practical steps to be taken. That guidance was updated on March 26, and again on May 15. Each iteration is a reflection of our growing understanding of the virus and of the situation on the ground.
“On May 1, the First Minister announced enhanced outbreak investigations in care homes and on May 17 the Health Secretary introduced enhanced clinical and professional oversight for all care homes in Scotland.
We’ve taken a number of other steps such as direct delivery of PPE, a step-ped increase in testing, with the intro-duction from next week of testing for all care home staff, and emergency legislation to ensure continuity of care in the event of a care home failing.”
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