A shocking new report has revealed that life expectancy in Scottish care homes has been cut by six months.
The study revealed that due to Covid-19, people living in care homes in Scotland are now expected to live for an average of two years, down by six months.
The analysis by top academics also warned about the impact of visiting restrictions on care home residents’ quality of life.
The findings have prompted more urgent calls for Anne’s Law human rights legislation to be fast-tracked by the Government.
The report – carried out by academics at Glasgow and Edinburgh universities as well as Public Health Scotland officials – is the first time deaths in care homes have been measured in years of life.
It found men in care homes now have average life expectancy of less than two years and women just over two years.
More than 3000 people died in care homes from Covid and thousands passed away after little contact with family or friends.
One local lost his dad Iain to complications from Parkinson’s disease at a care home in Edinburgh last February.
He said: “Do I think my dad was going to die? Yes, eventually. But would he have died so soon? Probably not.
“During the first lockdown the visits we were allowed were equatable to prison visits.
“As a country, we were able to protect workers through the furlough scheme. We should have protected people in care homes similarly.
“At some points during lockdown, I was allowed one visit a week through a window. It was just inhumane.”
Last month the Scottish Government’s Open With Care report said some care homes were still not allowing proper visits.
Cathie Russell, of Care Home Relatives Scotland, said: “The figures in this new report are shocking.
“We believe isolation has been as big a cause as Covid for deaths.
“Yet despite guidance that would allow visiting to be near normal now, there are still care homes limiting relatives to 30 minutes or an hour once a week – if they’re lucky enough to be one of the two ‘designated’ visitors.
“Care homes not pulling out all the stops to maximise family contact have, quite frankly, lost their moral compass.”
Dr Donald Macaskill, chief executive of Scottish Care, said: “I think what is critical is the finding that ‘life expectancy in care home residents during the pandemic fell by almost six months’.
“We also need to consider the extent to which prioritising the risk of the virus, which was understandable and laudable in its own terms, disproportionately affected the health of residents.”
