At least 3,400 care home residents have died of Covid and yesterday the Crown Office released figures which show the shocking breakdown of deaths home by home.
There have been deaths in 480 of the country’s care homes with some experiencing devastating outbreaks which left numerous people dead in their wake.
The greatest number of deaths have been in Erskine Hospital for ex-service people in Bishopton, Renfrewshire where 32 residents lost their lives to the virus.
But 25 care homes have seen the deaths of 20 or more residents.
The Crown Office statistics detail how many have died in each care home except where homes have four or fewer deaths for reasons of confidentiality.
There are 198 care homes with fewer than five deaths but if each of those lost four residents to Covid the true picture could be nearer 4,000 deaths.
A special Crown Office unit has been established to examine all deaths in care homes.
The care home industry said they felt let down by the Scottish Government at the start of the outbreak while unions have said their members felt let down by both the government and some care home bosses who did not respond to the pandemic as promptly as members were demanding.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has admitted mistakes were made during the pandemic.
She said discharging people from hospital to care homes in the early stages of the pandemic was one of those mistakes with more than 1,300 elderly people sent to care homes before a proper testing regime was in place.
Sturgeon has already committed to an inquiry before the end of the year if she is re-elected next month.
But yesterday she said: “I am committed to establishing in Scotland a judge-led public inquiry to examine all aspects of our handling of the pandemic - including the situation in our care homes - and to have this under way before the end of this year.
“However, there is no doubt it would be beneficial to have an inquiry that could look across the four nations as well as at specific issues within each nation.”
While Erskine had the highest number of deaths in a single premises, care home operators HC-One have had 523 Covid deaths across their 56 Scottish care homes- including the one they no longer own on Skye.
Home Farm care home was purchased by NHS Highland after 10 residents died during a Covid outbreak.
The Care Inspectorate was so concerned about the home it initially took steps to have HC-One’s registration removed but this was dropped after improvements at the home.
Among other HC-One homes are Highgate, Glasgow where 26 residents died, Ailsa Craig, Glasgow which lost 25 residents, Springfield Bank, Bonnyrigg, 23, Orchard, Tullibody, 21 and Drummohr, Musselburgh and Fullarton, Irvine, which each lost 20.
There is no statutory obligation for homes to notify residents, or their families, of an outbreak or deaths.
The Daily Record has highlighted the problems in care homes since almost the beginning of the pandemic as staff called to raise fears about the lack of PPE.
Last night GMB Scotland Secretary Gary Smith, said: “Before the first lockdown, care home staff were ringing the alarm about the vulnerability of services users and themselves. Those concerns were dismissed and even derided by the Scottish Government and care industry representatives.
“The reality is that while Ministers were clapping for carers, staff were having to fight for the proper PPE and workplace testing, the basic tools needed to try and protect their health and safety and their service users too.”
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “The SNP catastrophically failed to keep our care homes safe and thousands of people have now paid the price of their decision.
“It is unacceptable and offensive for the First Minister to claim that there was no alternative to the actions of her government.
"She was Health Secretary when C.Diff raged through hospital wards and care homes so she should have known what would happen. We also know that several pandemic planning exercises went unheeded.
“At too many times in this crisis, the First Minister has had her eye off the ball.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said this would be the first time many families learned the true extent of what was happening in their loved ones’ care homes.
He said: “I warned at the time about the danger of admitting untested residents into care homes but the government insisted it was doing the right thing.”An Erskine insider told the Daily Record last year that staff were not being provided with “correct” PPE.
She said: “We have been expected to use regular aprons and gloves and we are not being provided with appropriate masks.”
A spokesperson for Erskine, said: “We are and always have been extremely privileged to care for our frail and elderly residents. We know that continually hearing stories about Covid-19 deaths is harrowing for the families who have lost loved ones, and we deeply regret any additional distress they feel.
“Erskine has operated within Scottish Government guidelines and spared neither effort, nor resource in our whole team’s valiant, year-long battle against this terrible virus.”
They admitted: “ There may be lessons to draw from our pandemic experience in the future, but now is not the time, as continuing to care for our residents in a safe and secure manner is still our main priority.”
At Scottish Care a spokesman said the data “demonstrates the terrible toll” which has been felt by residents, families and care home workers over the past 13 months.
He added: “We have heard in recent days acknowledgement that ‘mistakes’ were made in ensuring that care homes were as ready as they could be to receive the hundreds of people who were discharged from NHS hospitals.
“We very much regret that insufficient attention was given to the needs of the care sector when compared to the preparation given to and focus upon the NHS.”
HC-One have been approached for comment.
Care Homes with 20 or more deaths
Erskine (Hospital), Bishopton: 32
Rutherglen, Glasgow: 29
Elderslie, Paisley: 28
Darnley Court, Glasgow: 26
Highgate, Glasgow: 26
Hillview, Clydebank: 26
Ailsa Craig, Glasgow: 25
Braid Hills, Edinburgh: 25
Torry, Aberdeen: 25
Whitehills, East Kilbride: 25
Berelands House, Prestwick: 24
Guthrie House, Edinburgh: 24
Lornebank, Hamilton: 23
Springfield Bank, Bonnyrigg: 23
Braemount Nursing Home, Paisley: 22
Victoria Manor, Leith: 23
Burlington Court, Glasgow: 21
Caledonia Court, Larbert: 21
Drummond Grange, Lasswade: 21
Orchard, Tullibody: 21
Drummohr, Mussleburgh: 20
Fullarton, Irvine: 20
