Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry|Impact hearing|Health and social care|26 March 2024 (morning session)

Shocking testimony from Independent Care Homes Scotland and Central Scotland care homes.

1.Independent care homes Scotland

The first four witnesses from Independent Care Homes Scotland (ICHS) are Mary Rodgers (Manager, Blenham House nursing home Edinburgh), Carol Anne Currie (Principal carer, Randolph Hill, Dunblane), Madeana Laing (Manager and registered nurse at Beech Manor care home, Blairgowrie) and Peter McCormick (Managing Director Randolph Hill nursing homes).

‘COVID’ deaths

Below is the National Records of Scotland data made available for some of these premises which registered deaths ‘‘involving COVID-19’’ covering the first 15 months of ‘the pandemic.’

Testimony highlights

No medical care

In the following extended video segment it is very disturbing to discover that during lockdown, from March 2020, many care home residents were cut off completely from all medical care and 90% admittedly in one home, were later placed on ‘‘just in case’’ aka end of life medications by a GP without even being seen and regardless of symptoms.

DNACPR orders

It is also stated by managers Blanket DNACPRs were in place in some homes because they ‘‘would not be going to hospital if they became unwell.’’ Complete bans on ambulances arriving at care homes is also mentioned which was agreed to be without precedent.

‘‘People wanted their care escalted but were told by GPs they couldn’t get it.’’

-Madeana Laing

‘‘Even when residents who maybe didn’t have COVID just became unwell it was very much a cut and dry..they were’nt going to hospital when you could clearly see if they went to hospital they had a really good chance of improving, of getting over what was making them unwell in the first place….it was almost like you were playing god..NO you can’t go.’’

-Madeana Laing

‘‘In your understanding the lack of ability to access an ambulance, paramedics or hospital was the reason for these DNACPR decisions put in place?’’

-Faryma Bahrami -Junior counsel to the inquiry

Reply-‘‘Yes’’

‘‘In one of our homes we received DNACRPs for all of our residents that hadn’t already got one in place.’’

-Peter McCormick

‘‘There was a restriction in terms of access to care for people in care homes a decision that must have been made by the NHS. That was not a discussion held in the full public light.’’

-Peter McCormick

‘‘Family members became concerned why is my relative not going to hospital?’’

-Madeana Laing

Ms Laing goes on to explain it was ‘‘quite a long time’’ before any residents were able to goto hospital, around 9 months. It is further explained this has very likely led to many preventable deaths.

'‘You would like to think some residents would have got better had they had the opportunity to go to hospital.’’

-Madeana Laing

‘‘Over a number of people this must have made a difference.’’

-Peter McCormick (in relation to preventable deaths).

—90% of residents placed on end of life drugs—

As if these revelations were not shocking enough it is further described by Ms.Currie the policies put in place at her home meant they had no GP visits at all and…

'‘9 times out of 10 regardless of what the residents symptoms were they were (GP) prescribed ''just in case'' medication.'‘

-Carol Anne Currie

‘‘We really, really struggled it was months and months before we got a GP into our home.’’

-Carol Anne Currie

Was consent applied?

If not, this could be referred to as involuntary euthanasia, which is illegal in all four nations of the UK typically treated as murder.

‘‘Euthanasia has no particular status under the law in the UK, and cases of euthanasia are typically treated as either murder or manslaughter depending on the circumstances. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment.’’

NHS under pressure?

Mr.McCormick explained how ‘‘pressures on the NHS’’ in 2020 was the main reason for ambulances not arriving at care homes. This however not supported by the official data. eg-Overall hospital admissions in Scotland fell to their lowest level on record during lockdown 2020. The ambulance service was also most definetely NOT busy.

Why were hosptials refusing to admit and treat care home residents and at least make an attempt to save lives?

‘‘At the very beginning when we did have very sick people that did have COVID we were told they couldn’t goto hospital as it would take too long to clean the ambulance…so they wouldn’t be going’’

-Mary Rodgers

No testing

Here it is mentioned that during the main lockdown period March-June 2020 there was no ‘COVID’ testing regime in place. So how were residents being diagnosed with a novel disease? Is it not more likely the already frail were succumbing to the unprecedented lack of NHS care and or extreme isolation and would later be added as a ‘presumed or suspected’ ‘COVID’ case or death?

‘‘Testing at care homes didn't come in until June 2020.’’

-Page 30 of statement

‘‘On page 8 it is stated it took 3 or 4 months for a testing regime to be put into place.’’

-Faryma Bahrami-Junior counsel to the inquiry

PCR testing harm

Of note in the witness statement is evidence of harm upon care home staff due to regular PCR testing of the nostrils.

‘‘We were testing staff 3 times per week. Some had nosebleeds from the tests.’’

-Page 9 of statement

Lockdown deterioration

‘‘Huge’’ harms of lockdown isolation is explained to be occuring which directly led to many residents ‘‘fading away’’.

‘‘Resident's activities and external stimuli were diminished during the pandemic or taken away altogether. This included the loss of the inward support formerly coming from the wider local community such as visits by school children. This, in combination with the visiting restrictions and difficulties narrated above, only served to further shrink and diminish the quality of life enjoyed formerly by residents.’’

-Page 12 of statement

‘‘The residents became very disengaged as lockdown and the pandemic went on. The effect of lockdown and the pandemic on the residents was huge, they all felt very isolated and very lonely. After the pandemic,residents were not interested in going out and about. I feel that many residents faded away as the lockdown restrictions took such a huge toll on their mental health.’’

-Page 15 of statement

Further soul destroying lockdown cruelty is noted.

‘‘Staff found birthdays and Christmas particularly hard. It was incredibly upsetting for them enforcing the rules and telling people they couldn't come and see or be with their loved ones. It could be a residents last birthday and their children and grandchildren weren't allowed to be with them.’’

- Page 24 of statement

COVID mortality was not a problem

Despite these very real and verifed and extreme harms occuring in residents directly from policies the severity of ‘COVID’ was tame by comparison as explained by one manager who tested ‘postive’ after a mandatory PCR test.

‘‘I suffered from covid twice during the pandemic. The first time was absolutely fine, you had to isolate, there was no question of that. The first time I got Covid was roughly 2 and a half years after the pandemic started, maybe Autumn 2022.’’

-Page 26 of statement

She goes onto explain with regards to ‘COVID’ symptoms in her residents.

‘‘You wouldn’t know half of them were positive.’’

Continued….

‘‘Public health did visits, they had to have all of the protective gear on like the people working in the home. They were quite brutal with care homes and picked up on small things like if there was a dirty mark under a chair rather than focus on the bigger issues. I think it was deflating for staff when we got the first report picking up on small issues, as the staff had done well (we hadn't had a Covid case till quite a while into the pandemic - about a year and a half).’’

- Page 30 of statement

Conclusion-no investigation into deaths

The managers are very clear that the care home sector does not support any investigations into ‘COVID’ deaths.

‘‘Operation Koper makes some staff feel like suspects in a criminal investigation. This surely cannot have been its intention and, although individual staff are often not placed under caution, they do not understand the distinction and they are not people who are accustomed to providing statements to police officers for onward transmission to Police Scotland.’’

-Page 35 of statement

Normal call cause mortality

Admitted here by managers (NB: Independent Care Homes cover 166 homes) is that all cause mortality (the more reliable metric to judge the severity of any new disease) during ‘the pandemic’ was no greater than prior years which is astonishing given the brutal nature of the lockdown policies which unarguably have resulted in gross harms.

‘‘Many of the Group homes came through relatively unscathed with (overall) annual mortality rates no worse than normal pre-pandemic.’’

-Page 22 of statement

2.Cenral Scotland care homes

Introduction

The second testimony is from Central Scotland Care Homes Lissa Di Giacomo, Managing Director Oakminster Healthcare and Scott Finnigan Group General Manager (Operations & Quality Improvement) Thistle Healthcare Limited. The members of CSCH operate 21 care homes throughout the Scottish central belt, with the majority concentrated in the Greater Glasgow area. Occupancy of their homes ranges from 24 to 106.

Testimony highlights

Both managers confirm that ‘COVID’ deaths registered from March-June 2020 are more likely as a result of untreated chronic conditions and prolonged isolation. It is was stated the inability for medical care to be provided to care home residents during lockdown had extremely serious consequences for their health.

‘‘There was some services where all visitations just stopped…the majority of cases it moved to telephone assessment.’’

‘‘Physical assessments being missing had a HUGE impact.’’

Erroneous COVID death recording

The below demonstrates why care home ‘COVID’ deaths cannot be taken seriously and should be fully investigated. As both managers discuss the implications of Operation Koper the following stunning admissions are made.

‘‘The numbers of people who died of ‘COVID’ are very SCREWED….

…Lots of people who just took unwell were classed as suspected COVID without any test being carried out.’’

'‘Other health conditions didn't exist during COVID.’'

'‘If you took unwell living in a care home you were automatically considered as being COVID positive.’

-Scott Finnigan

‘‘It was suspected COVID or COVID related where it may have been another underlying health condition.’’

-Lissa Di Giacomo

Lockdown

‘Massive’ impacts are explained along with the creation of plastic ‘‘cuddle curtains’’ so loved ones could ‘make contact’.

‘‘Not being with family was almost as deterimental as the virus to their wellbeing.’'

'‘Residents deteriorated as a result of the restrictions placed upon them.’’

Statement highlights

DNACPR orders were cited to be ‘deeply concerning.’

‘‘The common thread that runs through all of our group members' experiences of DNACPRs during the pandemic is that they felt like care home residents were simply written off. CSCH members found the issuing of blanket DNACPR instructions to be inhumane and deeply concerning.’’

-Paragraph 83 of statement

‘‘Thistle also recalls several instances where residents were refused admission to hospital. On one occasion, a paramedic and an A&E consultant jointly refused to take a resident to hospital with no reason given other than"clinical assessment." On another occasion, a resident was taken to hospital in an ambulance by paramedics, however upon arrival an A&E consultant refused admission based on their age, general frailty and having a DNACPR in place. The resident was returned to the care home and was placed on end of life care the next morning.’’

-Paragraph 37 of statement

Media reporting

A brief overview of the 26th March 2024 session evidence was featured in the Mail online with many additional details going unreported inluding the entire ommission of evidence submitted from Central Scotland care homes.

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Links:

Full video Youtube-Scottish COVID-19 inquiry-Impact hearing | Health and social care | 26 March 2024 (morning session)

Full statement- ICHS

Full statement- Central Scotland care homes