Scottish COVID-19 inquiry Impact hearing| Health and social care|23 May 2024

Two impactful sessions. NHS Glasgow porter Neil Craig and an anonymous witness who was employed as a carer.

Session 1

Introduction

Neil Craig is a Porter for NHS Glasgow and union representative for UNITE. Mr.Gray works within the Glasgow Royal Infirmary and has been a porter for 25 years.

Testimony highlights

• Half empty wards in 2020.

• Even with COVID patients admissions were still below pre pandemic levels.

• No testing = No COVID.

‘‘At first as you remember it you and your colleagues were not getting COVID?’’

Reply- ‘‘Not at first.’’

‘‘They thought the workload was going to be higher…it turned out we we weren’t really needed.’’

‘‘Alot of patients were discharged out of the hospital either to home or care homes…the workload was definitely not as bad.’’

‘‘Your everyday general medicine patients…we were used to these wards being full to capacity most days

..but you’d go into those wards and they’d be half empty.’’

‘‘We had lots of free down time.’’

Even WITH ‘COVID’ patients wards still remained below normal capacity.

‘‘Gradually the workload would increase but still wouldn’t be anywhere near a normal day.’’

‘COVID’ deaths

Designated ‘COVID’ wards

‘‘If one patient had COVID in a ward then that ward would become a COVID contact ward you couldn’t place patients in there.’’

‘‘Wards were changing sometimes you’d come in the morning but by the afternoon it was a COVID ward because someone tested positive.’’

‘‘You wouldn’t know you were going into a COVID ward at first unless you were told.’’

First ‘COVID case’ in a porter.

• 5 months for first ‘COVID case’ working on the front line.

‘‘My first recollection of a porter with COVID was August 2020.’’

More staff sickness in 2023

• Mr.Gray also mentions in his statement that staff sickness has been increasing from 2023.

See this study post vaccination in healthcare workers.

Session 2

Introduction

Anonymous witness HSC0249 worked as a care assistant during lockdown and is a union representative for the GMB. She has been a care worker for over 8 years which was her first role in the sector. HSC0249 was employed within a private care home which houses 60 beds and is a nursing home.

Once again the harms from lockdown not any virus is evidenced and those harmed the most subsequently went on to die the most ‘involving COVID-19’ without even being tested for the presence of a novel pathogen.

NB: The following was not mentioned during oral evidence.

‘‘The residents seemed isolated and lonely and staff felt guilty for being unable to give the residents the cognitive care they deserved. We felt as if we were failing the residents. I feel this isolation resulted in residents' health deteriorating.’’

-Paragraph 20 of statement

‘‘Care homes were given a fee for taking hospital patients into the home. I am not aware of this being how things worked before the pandemic.’’

‘‘It was commonly dementia residents who came in and some would arrive and deteriorate quickly before passing away.’’

-Paragraph 30 of statement

See Melanie Hunter's testimony where it was mentioned care homes were being paid £1500 per patient to accept rapid hospital discharges.

‘‘On reflection, I can recall crying almost every day when I was working there during the pandemic. I kept asking myself why I was doing it. I loved being a carer, but I felt that I was no longer making a difference and was playing a part in the service users' deterioration, which I believe was down to the lack of empathy and care from the government at the time. I felt like they did not care about anyone or any of the elderly. I believe the home mostly contributed to their deterioration too.’’

-Paragraph 49 of statement

Testimony highlights

• Dementia residents impacted most by social distancing restrictions.

• All activities for residents in the home stopped.

• Staff shortages.

• Care home management favoured some families over others.

‘‘It was up to carers like you to make sure they stayed in their room, yes?’’

‘‘And that means all activities in the home stopped.’’

-Counsel to the inquiry

‘‘Some of them did enjoy socialising quite alot..sometimes we just went against management.’’

‘‘I thought there was alot of favouritism from management to some of the residents and their families..the ones that WEREN’T complaining were the ones being punished.’’

-HSC0249

Testing ‘positive’

• No symptoms.

Hospital discharges March-April 2020

• Suspected COVID.

• COVID only increased after the rapid discharge policy of already sick, frail elderly patients into care homes during March-April 2020.

‘‘When patients were discharged from hospital without testing we didn’t actually know if they were COVID positive or not.’’

Why were they in hospital to begin with?

‘‘Nine time out of 10 they were coming in with a lot of symptoms similar to COVID-19.’’

Like typical colds and flus etc?

‘‘We never actually had any proof or evidence they were doing so (spreading covid).’’

‘‘I remember a lot of residents being BROUGHT IN not very well and i remember that our death rate just kept going up and up…when these patients started coming in from hospital they were passing away in their droves.’’

End of life

• Lack of staff meant residents died alone.

‘‘They were’’t allowed their family members in…sometimes a resident might have to pass away alone.’’

Statement highlights

‘‘Prior to the pandemic if we did infection control, because of flu/bugs amongst residents, then we would bag up clothing differently, into yellow bags and a separate trolley for cleaning. We never normally wore masks.’’

-Paragraph 10

Social distancing and isolation

‘‘The death of residents and the rate at which they were passing away had a significant mental impact on the staff members. We were unable to support residents through palliative care the way we would prior to the pandemic. We were unable to sit with residents and as their families were no longer visiting, residents would often die on their own.’’

-Paragraph 33

‘‘I had a few panic attacks when I was at work and one day I walked out because I could not do it any longer. I had an absolute breakdown. I was at the point where I could not keep doing it because it was too much. I was going home every day and crying.’’

-Paragraph 40

‘‘I can remember wishing to be hit by a bus every day rather than having to work. I just wanted something to happen to me that meant I could not go to work.’’

-Paragraph 41

‘‘There were not enough staff in that day. It was just me, the nurse and one other member of staff for the 30 residents.’’

-Paragraph 45

‘‘Throughout the pandemic, there was such a lack of staff. I take the job very seriously. I love caring for people but we were not able to meet their needs. There was no time to spend with them. We had to just rush the most basic care needs, let alone spend the normal time on them. We had no time at all for other needs like stimulation, activity, chats, attention and so on.’’

-Paragraph 47

‘‘There was a lot of stress related illness. People started phoning in sick and saying they were positive for COVID-19 even if they were not because they just couldn't handle the pressure.’’

-Paragraph 51

A pregnant woman

‘‘In the 10 days I was in hospital, I was not allowed to go outside for fresh air and that was the worst experience I've ever had in my life. I thought I was going to go insane. By the ninth day that I was in hospital I think the doctors probably thought I was crazy because I said I was going to run across the car park out of the hospital if they didn't discharge me.’’

-Paragraph 62

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Thanks for your attention.

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Links:

Neil Craig full statement- https://www.covid19inquiry.scot/sites/default/files/ev-documents/sci-wt0118-000001.pdf

Anonymous HSC0249 full statement - https://www.covid19inquiry.scot/sites/default/files/ev-documents/sci-wt0921-000001.pdf