A woman missed the death of her mother by seconds because of care home Covid rules, an inquiry has heard.

Natasha Hamilton had to await the results of a Covid test then ‘wait her turn’ to visit her mother Anne Duke, 63, as she lay dying in November 2021.

The Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry yesterday heard the 37-year-old missed the chance to say a final goodbye to her mother.

She told Stuart Gale, KC, the inquiry’s co-lead counsel: ‘I was up in my in-laws’ house because I wasn’t able to enter the care home until a certain point.

Natasha Hamilton missed the death of her mother because of care home Covid policy

 Natasha Hamilton missed the death of her mother because of care home Covid policy

Mrs Duke died on November 13, 2021, with her cause of death given as Alzheimer’s and pneumonia

Mrs Duke died on November 13, 2021, with her cause of death given as Alzheimer’s and pneumonia

‘I had to take a PCR Covid test and I got to my mum’s room, opened the door and my dad was frantic and I looked at my sister and my sister just nodded at me. 

I’d missed being with my mum by seconds because we had to stagger who was coming into the care home.’

Mrs Duke died on November 13, 2021, with her cause of death given as Alzheimer’s and pneumonia.

Her husband Campbell Duke, 68, told the inquiry of arriving at the care home on March 13, 2020, to discover the doors had been locked.

From then on, he said there was a power imbalance between staff and residents’ families.

He criticised the ‘garden visits’ which offered no privacy, had staff watching them and were held in a car park, with him having to stand yards away.

Mr Duke told Mr Gale: ‘My wife never saw a ­smiling human face for the last 20 months of her life. Simple as that.’

Alison Leitch, 46, of Care Home Relatives Scotland, told the inquiry her mother was stripped, showered and isolated after she touched her during a visit. 

She said: ‘I reached out and touched her with my fingertips and a nurse shouted, “What is she doing in here, get her out”.’

Ms Leitch said she was told over the phone the nurse had reported her to ‘head office’ and ‘your mum has been taken away, stripped, showered and isolated for 14 days’.

After Ms Leitch took a Covid test, which was negative, her mother was released after five days.

The inquiry, before Lord Brailsford, continues.

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