CARE home residents were kept behind windows and paraded like “exhibits in a reptile house” when their loved ones visited during the pandemic, the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry heard on its first day.
Amber Galbraith KC told yesterday how those in elderly hubs suffered an “unnecessarily disproportionate” impact on their lives due to rules that left them feeling “isolated, unheard and discriminated against”.
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She was speaking on behalf of Care Home Relatives Scotland as the probe, chaired by Lord Brailsford, began to examine the Scottish Government’s response to the health emergency.
Coronavirus has been mentioned on around 24,000 death certificates, with around a third of fatalities occuring in care homes.
Ms Galbraith said a member of CHRS sat two metres away from her mother and “watched as she was physically restrained” from walking towards her for a cuddle.
At the time, regulations brought in to tackle the spread of the bug meant residents were not able to touch visitors.
Ms Galbraith said: “A carer was able to sit beside her and hold her hand — but not her daughter. What is that if not discrimination?
“Why were carers considered less of a risk to health than parents or children?
“Their mental state may have been such that all the residents knew was them being suddenly left with no visits, no touch, not even allowed to see others in the home.”
The advocate added: “Perhaps they would be paraded out behind glass like an exhibit at a reptile museum or a prisoner.”
Later, Ms Galbraith also made an opening statement for the charity Promoting a More Inclusive Society Scotland, which works with people with profound learning disabilities.
And she revealed some families became so worried during the pandemic that they even considered suicide pacts.
Margaret Waterton, 67, told the Edinburgh hearing how she lost her husband David, 71, and mum Margaret Simpson, 86, to the virus.
She said: “Covid has been devastating for me and my family. Every man, woman and child in Scotland has felt its impact.”
Mrs Waterton, of Bothwell, Lanarkshire, hailed the opening of the inquiry as a landmark day for Scottish Covid bereaved”.
And she added: “We are looking now for it to deliver truth, justice, accountability, so the decision-makers can learn from our lived experience the impact that their decisions, or lack of decision-making, had upon us.”
Solicitor David Di Paola told how “years of under-investment” had hindered CrossReach, the Church of Scotland’s organisation which runs a number of care homes.
And he criticised the Scottish Government’s approach to drawing up rules.
He revealed representatives had to intervene late on a Friday to stop them coming into force by the following Monday.
Mr Di Paola said: “It took a significant effort to implement guidance which came thick and fast, was often unclear and sometimes unhelpful and came with short implementation windows.”
He said CrossReach had problems sourcing personal protective equipment due to the unprecedented demand — with some firms charging seven times more than normal.
Speaking for Scottish ministers, Geoffrey Mitchell KC admitted questions had arisen about whether people’s suffering was “too great”.
He said: “The Scottish Government is well placed to explain the strategic decisions made during that time.
“They are well aware of the loss and suffering experienced in the health and social care sector and in Scotland as a whole.”
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Lord Brailsford offered “my sincere condolences and those of the inquiry team to those who lost loved ones to Covid-19”.
The inquiry is expected to last more than a year.
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