The number of deaths in individual care homes linked to Covid-19 has been revealed for the first time.
Figures were obtained through a Freedom on Information (FOI) request by the BBC to the Crown Office unit set up to gather information on the circumstances of all Covid deaths in care homes.
Since March 2020 care homes in South Lanarkshire have recorded 267 deaths linked to the virus.
Scandal-hit Whitehills Care Home in East Kilbride had the second highest number of deaths in South Lanarkshire with 25 - behind Rutherglen Care Home which had 29.
Whitehills – operated by Thistle Healthcare Ltd – was the eighth highest in Scotland according to the figures.
It comes as the daughter of a Covid-19 victim has demanded a public inquiry into Whitehills, which she described as like a "war zone".
Patricia Walls, 78, was one those who lost their lives in a coronavirus outbreak at Whitehills Care Home.
Cat McRoberts has told how she found her mum slumped in bed on the day she died, with a piece of pizza lying in her lap.
She said: “Mum was frightened, scared and alone in her final week of life.
“She didn’t understand why she was locked in her room.
"It was like a war zone. It was dirty. It wasn’t a nice place to be whatsoever. I feel like my mum deserved much better.
"The feeling that she was completely let down is something I can’t shake off.”
Mum-of-two Patricia, a retired hotel worker, went into care in 2019 after developing vascular dementia.
Cat added: “My mum is marked down as having Covid but wasn’t tested – something I repeatedly asked for. We need to have a full inquiry because this can never be allowed to happen again."
Other care homes in East Kilbride also recorded deaths linked to Covid-19.
Lindsayfield Lodge and Rosaburn House – both operated by Northcare – recorded 15 and 12 deaths respectively.
Kingsgate operated by Larchwood had eight deaths, as did Westwood House Nursing Home, which is operated by Sanctuary Care, while Forefaulds Care Home, run by Sanctuary Care, had five deaths.
South Lanarkshire Council-run Meldrum Gardens and McKillop Gardens recorded six deaths and one death respectively.
Labour politician Monica Lennon has backed families' demands for answers – reporting Whitehills to the Care Inspectorate last year and calling on the Lord Advocate to investigate.
“Finally, over a year from the beginning of the pandemic, vital information about care home deaths in Scotland has been published. Thousands of people still have unanswered questions.
“This is information which I have consistently called to be made available, despite NHS Lanarkshire calling my freedom of information request for more transparency ‘manifestly unreasonable’. We have a right to know which care homes received Covid patients and why the Scottish Government let this happen.
“What is unreasonable is the fact that these details were held back for so long.
“Warnings over hospital discharges were not heeded and there must be a full public inquiry. It’s not good enough for SNP ministers to admit that “mistakes” were made. Scottish Government guidance put people at risk and ministers must be held to account."
A spokesman for Whitehills Care Home said: “We have consistently and robustly followed the available guidance to safeguard the health and wellbeing of all our residents and staff.
"Whitehills has received several announced and unannounced inspections, including one from the Care Inspectorate, which endorsed the high quality of care being provided.”
