Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 09 March 2022
The Scottish Conservatives recognise the impact that Covid restrictions have had on care home residents and their families, and we gladly support the principles that underpin Anne’s law.
During the height of the pandemic, care home residents were unable to see their loved ones. Steps were taken to protect staff and residents from infection but, with hindsight, they undoubtedly caused much anguish for many residents and their families. Anne’s law is the product of a petition to the Scottish Parliament that was lodged by Natasha Hamilton, who was unable to see her mother for prolonged periods during the height of the pandemic. The petition called on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to allow a designated visitor into care homes to support loved ones.
We agree that residents’ rights must be strengthened to give nominated relatives or friends the same access rights to care homes as staff, while following stringent infection control measures. It is unacceptable that residents and families have been subject to a postcode lottery. We must ensure that contact between residents and their close family and friends is not subject to haphazard and fluid policies. Family and friends provide critical support to residents’ mental and physical health and wellbeing, and there is no doubt that prolonged isolation from friends and family has a detrimental effect on care home residents.
With that in mind, we are disappointed that the SNP Government has taken so long to make good on its commitments and now appears to be dragging its feet on introducing the legislation to the Scottish Parliament, despite cross-party support. The commitment to deliver Anne’s law is nearly a year old, but the Scottish Government has not set out a timetable to deliver it. It has merely said that
“Anne’s Law will be introduced to Parliament as soon as is practically possible”.
The SNP allowed more than 100 Covid-positive hospital patients to be sent to care homes at the beginning of the pandemic. A report from Public Health Scotland found that from 1 March to 31 May, 113 hospital patients were discharged to care homes despite testing positive for the virus in hospital. A further 3,061 were not tested at all prior to discharge.
Former health secretary Jeane Freeman admitted that the SNP Government failed to take the right precautions when moving elderly patients from hospitals into care homes during the pandemic. Despite all that, the SNP has refused to order a public inquiry into deaths from coronavirus in Scotland’s care homes. The Scottish Parliament voted for
“the Scottish Government to hold an immediate public inquiry to find out what happened in Scotland’s care homes during the course of the pandemic”,
but Nicola Sturgeon merely said that
“we take note of the Parliament’s view”
and that the SNP Government was seeking
“early discussions on whether and how such an inquiry could be established”.—[Official Report, 5 November 2020; c 22.]
Of course, it is not only our elderly who are in residential care or nursing homes. Many young adults with physical and learning disabilities are also in care. They, too, deserve the right to see their families. Just as isolation from friends and family has a detrimental effect on care home residents, it has a negative impact on young people in similar care settings. There are stark differences between how the public and how care home residents are restricted, as Carol Mochan has rightly pointed out.
Anne’s law has cross-party support. The SNP must stop dithering and bring forward the legislation so that residents and families can have confidence that we are moving beyond what has been a failed and broken approach.
16:50