Livingston Care Home report Covid-19 outbreak after it is revealed patient was sent back to the home from hospital with the virus
The Courier reported yesterday that a patient had been returned to the home from hospital after recording a positive test
John-Paul Clark
Livingston Care Home in Livingston
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A West Lothian care home already had a Covid-19 outbreak when a patient was returned from hospital with the virus.
The Courier revealed yesterday (November 25) that a patient who had tested positive for coronavirus at hospital was returned to Livingston Care Home.
The patient tested positive at St John's Hospital in Livingston the day after admission from the care home, and was returned to the facility the following day.
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A family member of a resident at the home has since revealed that there was already an outbreak of Covid-19 on the premises before this happened.
The concerned relative said: "We had already heard of a Covid outbreak at the home before last week.
"We were told all residents who had tested positive were living in the upstairs quarters and that they were being isolated and everything was okay.
"The first email a fortnight ago said that there had been one positive test returned.
"Shortly after that we got another saying that there were four staff and three carers who had tested positive.
"We were quite content that they were putting place the correct measures at that point.
"Staff were being asked to use different entrances, food was not being handled in the same way and it all seemed to be contained but then we heard the news about this woman being returned to hospital after testing positive and it is really concerning."
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The Courier understands that Covid-19 positive patients will only be transferred in certain circumstances.
For instance, someone who is admitted to hospital Covid-19 negative would never be released with a positive test.
Only if a patient comes from somewhere with an outbreak, such as Livingston Care Home's, might they be released back into the setting from which they arrived, whilst testing positive for the virus.
A spokesperson for Livingston Care Home said: "Unfortunately there are a number of staff and residents who have tested positive for Covid-19. To respect and maintain resident confidentiality no further details will be released at this time.
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"However, I can confirm we are working closely with Health Protection Scotland, and NHS Lothian to monitor the situation. We continue to rigorously adhere to the guidelines in place regarding PPE, and infection control. Weekly staff testing is in place at the Care Home.
"We would like to thank our frontline Care Staff for their exceptional efforts during this pandemic."
A spokesperson for the West Lothian Health and Social Care (HSCP) partnership added: "The care home is privately owned and, as we would with all care homes in West Lothian, the HSCP is providing advice and support to assist them at this challenging and difficult time."
The Courier reported earlier in the week reported that local MSP Neil Findlay had found out about the 70-year-old patient being returned to Livingston Care Home, despite previous assurances from the Scottish Government that patients would no longer be returned to care homes with Covid-19.
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After questioning Nicola Sturgeon on that matter at FMQs, Findlay was told to put his complaint into writing but days later the Health Secretary, Jeane Freeman, revealed to the BBC that in certain circumstances patients would be returned to such care facilities whilst testing positive.
Deaths in care homes have now accounted for 42 per cent of Covid-related deaths in Scotland.
Two West Lothian nursing homes, Redmill in East Whitburn and Heatherfield in Armadale, have had fatal outbreaks in recent months.
Meanwhile, the latest Public Health Scotland data as of November 24 shows that there were 24 new cases reported in West Lothian, with 315 over the past seven days and a total of 3278 since the first positive test was returned in the region on March 9.
This means 172 people per 100,000 of the population have tested positive in the past seven days, above the national average of 126.