First minister issues further defence of transfers of hundreds of hospital patients, including dozens in Borders, to care homes without Covid-19 testing

Both the UK and Scottish governments have been criticised for their policies in the early days of the pandemic of discharging patients into care settings untested in a bid to stop hospitals being overrun by Covid-19 patients.

That mass clearout of hospital beds saw more than 25,000 hospital patients UK-wide moved to care homes without testing between mid-March and mid-April.

In Scotland, 921 such patients were transferred in March untested, with a further 510 following the month after, though some of those were checked out as testing was made mandatory later on in April.

Those 1,400-plus discharges included almost 70 untested patients moved from NHS Borders-run hospitals to more than 20 care homes both in and outwith the region, though both the health board and Scottish Borders Council bosses insist their transfers, as far as they know, didn’t lead to any outbreaks of coronavirus afterwards.

When asked about that practice on BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Scottish Government first minister Ms Sturgeon said she regrets and apologises for every death from Covid-19 this side of the border, but she added: “What I absolutely refute is that there was some particular problem in Scotland or that we didn’t take great care.”

That latest defence of her government’s record followed a rebuke directed at Borders MP John Lamont last week for using the discharge figures for the region as a basis for criticism of Holyrood’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis, describing a press release he put out as “an attempt to politicise something that is inappropriate”.

At her daily briefing on the pandemic last Wednesday, she told ITV Border political editor Peter MacMahon: “We had very difficult decisions to make. We took those decisions on the best knowledge and evidence we had at the time, and we’ve had in place lots of things to protect care home residents.

“The death toll in care homes, and the death toll overall, has been awful and I would be the first person to acknowledge that and there will be lessons that we all have to learn from that.

“Anybody trying to make this an issue of party politics should really take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror.”

That rebuke came in response to Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk MP Mr Lamont saying earlier that day: “These revelations show just how negligent the Scottish National Party has been when it comes to the issue of care homes.

“It was clear early on in this crisis that once coronavirus got into care homes, the consequences were catastrophic, yet here we see, in the Borders alone, dozens of patients were sent into these facilities without even being tested.

“NHS Borders will have taken some kind of lead from the SNP government and if it’s happened here, it will have happened elsewhere too.

“It’s no wonder residents, their families and hard-working NHS and care home staff are so furious with the Scottish Government’s shambolic approach.”

In a joint press release, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire MSP Rachael Hamilton added: “The SNP should have issued robust guidance to councils on testing discharged patients much sooner.

“I was shocked to read that such a high number were transferred into Borders care homes when coronavirus was rampant.

“It is even more shocking when it appears that patients were transferred to 17 different care homes, including those we subsequently know became the worst hit.

“Families who have lost loved ones have been severely let down.”