A QUANGO has been ordered to release the details of Covid deaths by individual care home after Scotland’s information watchdog criticised it over a “lack of transparency”.
National Records of Scotland has repeatedly refused to release the data for nearly eight months as part of a joint media investigation by the Herald, Scotsman, DC Thomson and STV.
The public body, funded by the Scottish Government, warned that the disclosures may “result in substantial prejudice to the commercial interests” of care home providers and cause “damaging publicity” for the sector, leading more premises to close and a “substantial risk that care homes run by the voluntary sector would be lost altogether in Scotland”.
ANALYSIS: Freedom of information shouldn't be such a battle
It insisted that it was not in the public interest to provide a breakdown of the number of confirmed and suspected Covid-19 deaths by individual named care home because this could be detrimental to the mental and physical health of staff, residents and families of the deceased, and could lead to the disclosure of data which was “highly misleading when presented out of context”.
Sector regulator, the Care Inspectorate, and Scottish Care - which represents private care providers - were among those to make representations to the NRS, urging it to reject the freedom of information requests.
In a ruling, however, the Scottish Information Commissioner said the NRS had engaged in arguments that were "speculative in nature", and ordered that the data must be handed over by June 28.
The initial FOI request was submitted on September 28.
In a statement, the SIC said: "The Commissioner considers there is a strong public interest in disclosure of the information, to ensure that older people and their relatives have the necessary information to make an informed decision when choosing a care home or care home provider."
The notice continues: “He considers that to deny those individuals the access to this relevant information would indeed be a lack of transparency, which is not in the public interest.
“In his view, it does not follow that disclosure of the specific information requested in this case would result in the adverse impacts on the care services, staff members, residents and families claimed by the Registrar General.
“The Commissioner does not see how the provision of the information requested on its own can be correlated to the harm claimed by the Registrar General, and to make such a connection based on the disclosure of the information requested appears purely speculative.”
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The NRS is responsible for the official recording of all deaths in Scotland and is one of the few sources of accurate information on the scale of coronavirus’ impact on the care sector.
To date, 3,315 people are registered as having died with the infection in a care home - equivalent to one in every three Covid deaths in Scotland.
However, throughout the pandemic there has been no statutory obligation for homes to notify residents, or their families, of an outbreak or deaths.
Some operators, such as HC-One, released details proactively but others, both public and private, did not, leaving families in the dark or reliant on word-of-mouth.
In the eight months since the information request was first submitted to the NRS, 1,340 care home residents have died from the virus.
A similar freedom of information request blocked by the Care Inspectorate is currently subject to an appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner.
A spokesman for NRS said it "continues to publish a range of information on Covid-related mortality, including where the location of death is a care home".
He added: “Our statistical analysis provides valuable information on characteristics of the deceased as well as presentation at health board and local authority level.
"Following review by the Scottish Information Commissioner of an FoI request to release data on individual care homes, NRS will make this data available in line with the original FoI request and the timeframe set out by the SIC.”
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In a statement, Scottish Care said did not support the disclosure of what it considers to be "highly sensitive" data which "risks identifying individual residents where small numbers are involved".
It added: "This can potentially impact the privacy of individuals involved, the care home and frontline workers.
"There is a real risk to the health and wellbeing of staff, residents and relatives of the deceased...[this data] does not tell the full story of the professionalism, sacrifice and dedication of frontline nursing and care staff who daily put themselves at risk and on the line to protect some of our most vulnerable citizens facing the threat of this deadly global virus."
A spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate said it had been concerned about the impact which publishing the data would have "on the physical or mental health or safety of people experiencing care and those who provide care", but would now do so having been told it could be lawfully released.
He added: "Following that confirmation and after internal review, we are preparing data for publication.
"We have a legal duty to handle any data we hold with care and sensitivity."
The Scottish Government declined to comment.
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