Dozens of hospital patients discharged into care homes after testing positive for Covid, Scottish officials admit

Dozens of hospital patients in Scotland who tested positive for coronavirus were discharged into care homes during March and April, a Public Health Scotland report has said.

The study found that between 1 March and 21 April there were 3,599 discharges from hospitals to care homes, with the majority of patients (81.9 per cent) not being tested for Covid-19.

Of the 650 patients who were tested, 78 received a positive result for the virus while in hospital.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, said the report concluded that allowing for other factors, such as the size of a care home, hospital discharges “were not found to have contributed to a significant higher risk of an outbreak”.

“The analysis does not find statistical evidence that hospital discharges of any kind were associated with care home outbreaks,” Ms Sturgeon said, quoting from the report.

The study found that care home size had the “strongest association” with Covid-19 outbreaks, with the risk of an outbreak increasing progressively as the size of a care home increased.

The first minister added: “Nothing in [the report] detracts from the tragedy of the deaths that have occurred in care homes over the course of the pandemic, and nothing ever will detract from the heartbreak of those bereaved.”

She said Public Health Scotland would now carry out further work to produce a more detailed understanding of coronavirus outbreaks in care homes.

The report also noted that between 22 April and 31 May, a further 1,605 patients were discharged from hospitals to care homes.

However, it said in these cases 93 per cent were tested for Covid-19 before being discharged in line with changes to guidance.

The new policy introduced in April required patients to have two negative tests for coronavirus before leaving hospital, with self-isolation guidance for new care home admissions.

Of these patients, 1,215 tested negative and 278 tested positive - with 233 of those who tested positive receiving a negative test result before being discharged.

The report added that there were “valid clinical reasons” for why some individuals were not tested prior to discharge, “relating to their capacity to consent to testing and avoiding causing distress, and to appropriateness of testing, e.g. in end of life care situations”.

Additional reporting by PA

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