UK Covid Inquiry: Former health secretary Jeane Freeman to be questioned on care home deaths

Jeane Freeman and UK Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove set to appear at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry in Edinburgh

Former health secretary Jeane Freeman is due to appear at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry today.

Ms Freeman was the Scottish Government’s health secretary from the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic until the Scottish election in 2021.

She was involved in a number of key decisions made in the early days of the pandemic, such as discharging hospital patients to care homes without testing them first for the virus.

Former health secretary Jeane Freeman and former first minister Nicola Sturgeon. Image: Andy Buchanan/Press Association.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar says this was “one of the worst atrocities of the pandemic”.

Speaking ahead of Ms Freeman’s appearance, he said: “At the heart of this inquiry are the people who lost their lives and lost their loved ones - and so far they have been badly let down by the SNP circus playing out.

“One of the worst atrocities of the pandemic was the SNP government’s decision to allow untested and Covid-positive patients to be discharged into care homes.

“Thousands of vulnerable people were put at risk and lives have been lost - we need to know the truth about how and why this catastrophic decision was made.

“Jeane Freeman and Nicola Sturgeon were responsible for this decision and this week they will have the opportunity to give families the answers they deserve.

“Every single person who made sacrifices and suffered losses during the pandemic deserve answers from this inquiry - the SNP must end the culture of secrecy and cover-up and come clean.”

According to the inquiry, 82 per cent of the 3,595 patients discharged from hospital between March 1 and April 21 2020 were not tested for the virus.

A further 100 who had tested positive for the virus were discharged from hospital to a care home, according to a 2020 Public Health Scotland report.

Last week the inquiry was dominated by deleted WhatsApp messages, including by Ms Sturgeon and former deputy first minister John Swinney.

However the inquiry says Ms Freeman has retained “some” of her messages, including from a WhatsApp group of health secretaries from all four UK nations, but added there are “no other WhatsApp groups or other informal messaging with key decision-makers”.

UK Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove is also due to be questioned by the inquiry today.

Mr Gove served as Cabinet Office minister during the pandemic and is likely to be questioned on how the Scottish and UK governments worked together during the pandemic.

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is sitting in Edinburgh for three weeks to examine the Scottish response to the pandemic - this is the last week it will be in Scotland.

On Tuesday the inquiry is due to hear from Mr Swinney and former finance secretary Kate Forbes, and from Scottish Secretary Alister Jack on Thursday.

An entire day will be dedicated to questioning Ms Sturgeon on Wednesday.