Question reference: S6W-08383
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 11 May 2022
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Current status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 20 May 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions have taken place regarding its ministers' responsibility for (a) discharging untested patients to care homes and (b) the overruling of family power of attorney, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer
Decisions to discharge patients are not made by Ministers, they are made by health and social care professionals, alongside the patient and their family, or their legal representative where applicable.
As was the case before the pandemic, where someone is most appropriately cared for after discharge is based on a multi-disciplinary assessment of the individual’s needs and wishes. There are a range of factors that clinicians will consider as part of this assessment, including clinical readiness for discharge and the best setting for meeting the individual’s needs.
If an attorney is unhappy with the decision to discharge a patient they can raise a complaint against the person or organisation who has taken the decision, or apply for directions from the sheriff under section 3(3) of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000.
Public Health Scotland undertook an analysis of discharges to care homes and found that care home size is very strongly related to outbreaks. That is, the risk of a care home outbreak increased progressively as the size of care home increased. Furthermore, there was no clear statistical evidence that hospital discharges were associated with care home outbreaks. The analysis was published on 21 April 2021 and can be found here: Discharges from NHSScotland hospitals to care homes - Between 1 March and 31 May 2020 (revised) - Discharges from NHSScotland hospitals to care homes - Publications - Public Health Scotland