'Revised' version of report examining Covid positive discharges into care homes to be released

A report that claimed there was no “statistically significant” link between hospital patients being discharged into care homes and Covid-19 outbreaks and deaths is to be re-released by Public Health Scotland.

The report, used by the Scottish Government to defend their guidance in the early days of the pandemic, which saw patients discharged into care homes without a Covid-19 test, was criticised by the Office for Statistics Regulation for giving “too much emphasis to the non-significant finding”.

It was also said to highlight data around hospital discharges that was “consistent with a causal relationship between positivity and outbreak”.

The report’s republication on Wednesday follows the first publication of care home deaths broken down by provider and specific home and after both Nicola Sturgeon and health secretary Jeane Freeman admitted mistakes had been made around the Scottish Government’s handling of care homes during the pandemic.

A report into care home deaths is due to be rereleased by Public Health Scotland

In a statement on its website, Public Health Scotland states: “Section two of the report has been revised to ensure the findings are presented in more accessible language.

"Additional analyses have been carried and further information has been included on based on where people lived before they were admitted to hospital; outcomes of those who were discharged and information on genomics.”

The SNP was accused by the Scottish Conservatives in February of spending almost a week “plotting how to spin” the results of the original report after it emerged officials had been briefed on its contents five days prior to its publication and had sight of the full report the day before it was released.

This was rebuffed by the health secretary, with Ms Freeman labelling it “absolute nonsense”, adding the government "didn't spend any time trying to spin anything”.

Asked about the fresh publication of the report at a Covid-19 briefing, the First Minister said she had not read the revised report and did not know if its conclusions had changed.

She said: “I certainly haven’t read it, but even if I had if it is published tomorrow under the rules of government publications I wouldn’t be able to tell you today what was in it.

"We will see that tomorrow and I am sure if you have questions around the Public Health Scotland report tomorrow, we will respond to them.”

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