The “reckless” discharge of Covid patients from hospitals to care homes is leading to calls for an urgent inquiry.
Health chiefs are under mounting pressure this week to explain why they moved patients who’d ALREADY tested positive into homes.
The revelation shows NHS Ayrshire & Arran chose to transfer 17 people who’d previously proven to have the virus between March 1 and April 21.
Figures obtained through Freedom of Information have exposed decision making at the peak of lockdown with hospital bed space at a premium.
An investigation showed five Scottish health boards moved patients after positive tests – with Ayrshire & Arran having by far the highest number.
Ayr MSP John Scott this week called for an immediate inquiry into the figures.
He said: “With such a high proportion of deaths taking place within care homes, here in Ayrshire and across Scotland, the families of patients and residents who have died will rightly want answers.
“It’s understandable that there was a huge effort to free up space within hospitals in advance of what was expected to be an onslaught of Covid patients that could overwhelm the NHS.
“But the decision to discharge Covid-positive patients into care homes, even when backed by advice that infectious patients should be isolated within care homes for 14 days, now looks to have been a reckless one.
“Clearly an inquiry will need to fully investigate these decisions, the Scottish Government guidance around them, and answers given to the families of those who have tragically lost loved ones.”
We told in June how 168 patients had been discharged from Ayrshire hospitals to care homes without being tested for during the early weeks of the pandemic.
A Scottish government spokesman said patients were discharged when clinicians judged care homes as the best place to meet their needs.
They added: “No evidence of any kind has been given to the government that would substantiate the serious accusation that any clinicians withheld test results and it is not acceptable if full information was not passed on.”
Dr Crawford McGuffie, medical director at NHS Ayrshire and Arran, said clinical teams completed a risk assessment with care homes before discharges took place.
He also stressed the importance of 14 days of isolation and “robust infection prevention and control measures”.
He added: “NHS Ayrshire and Arran has followed the national guidance on testing, including testing for patients who had finished their acute care and were ready for discharge to a care home.”
