The ruling will be devastating for families who lost loved ones discharged from hospitals to care homes early in the pandemic. It raises important questions about what information and advice was given to and heeded by politicians at this time. It will be crucial that the issue of hospital discharge without appropriate testing or isolation is also examined in a Scottish context and we look forward to this being taken forward as part of a robust public inquiry in the coming months. It will be very important that the voices and experiences of frontline care staff, managers and families are prioritised in this process, given it was these individuals who bore the weight of grief, trauma and distress as a result of these discharge decisions, the general prioritisation of the NHS, and these subsequent deaths. This ruling serves as another reminder of the enormous human cost of the pandemic and decisions that were taken, and our thoughts remain with everyone affected.
