20 May 2021
Hospital patients were unlawfully discharged into care homes in Scotland, which experienced a disproportionate loss of life during the coronavirus pandemic.
The revelations come following an investigation by the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, a statutory body which “monitor[s] the Mental Health (Care & Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 and the welfare parts of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000”, among other duties.
For its report, titled
Authority to Discharge, the Commission took a 457-patients sample of the thousands of people who were discharged from hospitals into care homes in the early stages of the pandemic, often without being tested, and found that a score of them were unlawful, spanning 11 separate Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) areas across Scotland.