by BILL HEANEY
Baroness Hallett published the findings of her inquiry into the COVID pandemic today, which revealed that the public were being lied to and that patients and their relatives were ignored and neglected by public servants who took their instructions from an uncaring government, including Health and Social Care Partnerships and councils such as West Dunbartonshire.
The Dumbarton Democrat, which pettifogging West Dunbartonshire Council ignored and banned from answering important questions, while elected representatives sat on their hands and did nothing, carried on with their continuing anti-democratic ban on speaking to our journalists.
The council ignored custom and practice in relation to public meetings, which should be set up in a manner that members of the public can see and hear what is being discussed.
The council had nothing to say to us about the number of deaths or why relatives of elderly vulnerable residents of care homes such as Crosslet House in Dumbarton were not allowed to visit them and were banned from residents’ bedsides and left sitting outside in the cold looking through windows. Some residents were left to die alone.
The number of deaths during the pandemic was as follows:
Privately-owned and council-run facilities – under strict orders from council officers – were told to stay silent about how many residents died from confirmed or suspected Covid-19.
Figures were released by the Crown Office to the BBC under freedom of information laws, which are designed by civil servants to release as little information as possible over the longest period of time..
About a third of Scotland’s 10,000 recorded coronavirus deaths happened in care homes, but West Dunbartonshire Council and the Care Inspectorate have never confirmed the exact numbers.
A total of 12 lives were reported to the Crown Office as having been lost at Castle View care home in Dumbarton, 11 at the council-run Crosslet House facility in Dumbarton, and 11 at Balquhidder House in Alexandria.
There are no figures at present for Helensburgh and Lomond as these areas come under Argyll and Bute Council.
Crosslet House halted admissions last year after reports that 15 residents had died of suspected Covid. The figure of 11 is what was reported to the Crown Office.
Because of “privacy rules”, where the number of deaths at a care home is fewer than five, the exact number of deaths is not recorded.
But there would have been at least one death at each facility on the list, meaning the actual total could still be higher.
Strathleven Care Home in Dumbarton and Sunningdale Retirement Home in Balloch were the only facilities in West Dunbartonshire where no deaths linked to Covid were recorded.
At least 3,400 fatalities in care homes were reported to the Crown Office, which decides whether there should be a fatal accident inquiry or prosecution.
The figure takes into account more sources than the National Records of Scotland, which says there were 3,292 lives lost in care homes between March 2020 and April 8, 2021.
Twenty-six lives at Hillview Care Home, in Dalmuir, were lost to confirmed or suspected Covid. It was the fifth-highest across all homes in Scotland. Erskine Hospital in Bishopton was hardest hit with 32.
According to the data, West Dunbartonshire care home deaths were: Hillview Care Home: 26; Castle View: 12; Crosslet House Care Home: 11; Balquhidder House: 11; Kingsacre Luxury Suites: 9; Edinbarnet: 8; Queens Quay House: 1; and Clyde Court Care Home: 1.
There were no recorded deaths for Mount Pleasant House or Frank Downie House, which merged into the new Queens Quay House in November.
“We must remember that behind these numbers are human beings, and each loss will be felt deeply by their families, friends, and those who cared for them.”
Perhaps he should have campaigned harder and briefed his SNP colleagues in Edinburgh in relation to what he perceived to be happening.
He added: “It’s critical that as we seek to learn lessons from the pandemic, the voices of all those who have lost loved ones are heard.
“The need for a robust public inquiry into the handling of the Covid crisis is clear, and the situation in care homes must be a key focus of that.
“I hope the UK Government agrees to work with the devolved nations to ensure a full public inquiry can get under way as soon as possible and provide families with the answers they need.”
The then, often arrogant SNP First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has previously said she would support a Scottish public inquiry starting by the end of this year, but has also called for a UK-wide inquiry to deflect any blame for this catastrophe to the Westminster government at the time.
A spokesman for the Crown Office said: “The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) established a dedicated team to deal with reports of Covid-19 or presumed Covid-19 deaths in care homes or where the deceased may have contracted the virus in the course of their employment.
“The Covid Deaths Investigation Team receives and deals with those reports and is working with the relevant agencies to ensure that all necessary and appropriate enquiries are made as quickly as possible.”
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Ministers’ claims of there being a “protective ring” around care homes at the start of Covid were unfounded, according to the Covid inquiry
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Baroness Hallett says the Covid pandemic “totally disrupted” the lives of people in care homes and had a “devastating impact”
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Her latest report, on the UK’s adult social care sector, says care homes seemed “something of an afterthought”, and patients were moved there from hospitals with no early guidance to isolate arrivals – read key findings from the inquiry
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Care workers had to resort to desperate measures to get PPE, with some using festival waterproof ponchos, painters’ overalls and bin bags
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The government at the time knew the care sector was “extremely vulnerable” to a pandemic but still failed to act until it was too late, a campaigner for the families says
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Current Health Secretary Yvette Cooper says the government will respond to the report’s recommendations and says adult social care has “for too long been undervalued”
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There were more than 43,000 deaths involving Covid in care homes between March 2020 and July 2022
Top of page picture: Jane Morrison, whose partner died during the Covid pandemic.