Age Scotland condemns unlawful moves from hospital to care homes

The national charity for older people has expressed deep concern after a new report revealed that decisions to move vulnerable patients lacking mental capacity from hospitals to care homes had been taken illegally or without due consent at the beginning of the pandemic.

The report, published yesterday by the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, found the transfer of at least 20 patients between March and May 2020 to be unlawful.

The report also found that hundreds more transfers had taken place without the appropriate legal safeguards or due consent, resulting in a potential breach of patients’ human rights.

Age Scotland’s Head of Policy and Communications, Adam Stachura, said:

“The rush and determination to discharge older patients from hospital into care homes and other settings, largely in anticipation of an influx of covid patients, was an area of particular concern at the beginning of the pandemic and, yet again, investigations are highlighting its true impact.

“It’s become increasingly apparent that, in this rush, poor practice, inconsistent application of guidance and a lack of understanding of legislation resulted in bad decisions being made and in some extreme cases laws were broken. The cases identified in this report are unlikely to be the only instances.

“Moving vulnerable people unlawfully and without due consent, especially at what was an already distressing time is wholly unacceptable and ran roughshod over their rights.

“The report raises a number of further questions, particularly around the inconsistency of how each Health and Social Care Partnership implemented guidance and practice. It beggars belief that for months one HSCP took it upon themselves to skirt the courts and decide on guardianship orders internally.

“The apparent lack of awareness of Power of Attorney and Guardianships from some working in hospital discharge is very worrying indeed.

“It’s abundantly clear that we have a long way to go, not only in ensuring the rights of older people are upheld and protected but also in properly recognising these vital roles.

“Protecting and acting upon the human rights of those without mental capacity isn’t a choice. We cannot afford to sit idly by and allow anything like this to happen again, and echo the Mental Welfare Commission’s call to action for the report’s recommendations to be taken into careful consideration and acted upon.”

The full report is available here.