Care home admissions to hospital fall by a third during pandemic

Care home admissions to hospitals have fallen by more than a third during the coronavirus pandemic.

Figures obtained from health boards by Scottish Labour show there was a 39% reduction in the number of care home residents being admitted to hospital for treatment in March to June compared to the same period last year, down from 4,554 to 2,782.

Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Monica Lennon said: “The Scottish Government’s response led to thousands of older people being denied medical attention and that’s a disgrace.

“The Health Secretary is hiding behind clinicians but her guidance resulted in care home residents not getting the healthcare they needed. It’s no wonder many families are angry and are demanding answers now.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Admission to hospital for care home residents is a clinical decision in conversation with the patient and family. Care home residents have been admitted to hospital during the pandemic, and any suggestion to the contrary is simply not true.

“Hospital admissions are not a decision government directs or makes and it has never been advised that care home residents should not be transferred to hospital when it is clinically assessed to be in their best interests.”

The Sunday Post previously revealed how doctors were ruling out sending care home residents to hospital if they caught Covid-19. Families of were told there was no point in sending them to hospital and they would only try to make them comfortable in the home.