HEALTH bosses say all local care home residents and staff have now been tested for Covid-19 in a bid to prevent more deaths.

At the start of the coronavirus outbreak 30 patients were moved from hospital into ten care homes in Inverclyde, as part of contingency plans to cope with the crisis.

But testing on patients moving from hospitals to care homes was not mandatory until April 21.

With no new deaths from Covid-19 recorded over the last two weeks in care homes, the death toll in these establishments remains at 38, out of a district-wide total of 112 fatalities.

The Scottish Government has come under pressure over the decision to move hospital patients into care homes and council leader Stephen McCabe says these issues will be looked at in the investigations to come.

Members of the council's policy and resources executive committee, which has temporarily replaced all the routine committees during the crisis, have been told in an official document that all care home residents and staff have now been tested.

It stated: “We have currently tested all residents and staff in 14 older people care homes.”

It was also confirmed that at the time of publication of the report there were 111 vacant beds in Inverclyde care homes.

Health and social care partnership senior officials have admitted they are now concerned for the future of the service in the aftermath of the crisis.

There are growing fears that some local care homes could close.

A report to councillors written by HSCP director Louise Long said: "It is likely that the recovery process will take many months or years.

"The impact of this increase in vacancies will have a drastic effect on the sustainability of the care home sector and it potentially reduces the income to a number of care homes and may result in them becoming financially unsustainable and may result in care homes closing.

"This in turn leads to a risk of not having the necessary capacity in this sector for the needs of a growing elderly and frail population now and in future years."

Nursing homes have been a vital part of the successful local strategy in recent years to combat delayed discharge and get patients out of hospital more quickly, or prevent them from going there in the first place.

This model was used to free up beds in hospital as coronavirus arrived in the community.

Inverclyde subsequently found itself with the highest Covid-19 death rate in the country.

The HSCP originally drew up plans to use 50 care home beds, with another 20 optional, at a cost £3 million.

In the end only 30 beds in total were needed during the emergency.

Local care home deaths in total rose from 22 last April to 74 in the same month this year.

More recent figures show that between March 18 and May 21 there were 120 deaths in our care homes.

Inverclyde has recorded 112 Covid-19 deaths so far, with 38 of them in care homes, 12 in people's houses and 62 in hospital.

Council leader Stephen McCabe recently announced an investigation was under way into the high number of Covid-19 deaths in the district.

The HSCP has been working with Public Health Scotland, National Records of Scotland and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde on the probe, which is due to report back soon.

Mr McCabe said: "The decisions taken around care homes will be looked at in some detail as inquiries continue."