Family’s pain as mum caught and died from coronavirus in hospice

Lorraine McNamee, from Glenrothes, passed away aged 61 after she contracted the virus at the Kirkcaldy facility on Saturday, May 2.

Her family were told that the cancer patient had months to live, and had tested negatively for covid19 in both Edinburgh’s Western General and Dunfermline’s Queen Margaret Hospital before she was moved to Victoria Hospice.

When Lorraine’s family were informed she had caught the virus, the hospice sent 19 staff members home who had tested positive for it but hadn’t displayed any symptoms.

Her daughters told the Press that families were only told that the virus was in the hospice after their loved ones had tested positive.

Kirsty McNamee said: “If we’d known the virus was in the hospice we would never have considered moving her anywhere near it.

“We were told that mum was getting moved from Queen Margaret to be at the hospice because we would be able to visit, stand in the garden and talk to her.

“When we got there we were treated very very badly and told to go away.

“The hospice never let us in to visit her, even in the garden where we could keep a safe distance. The only time they did let us in was when my mum was heavily sedated and couldn’t talk to us, say ‘goodbye’, or ‘I love you’.

“They just took everything away from us. The only time they wanted us  was when they couldn’t cope anymore and then we were good enough but we should have been given the option to be by her side. She was on her own and she was scared.”

Kirsty’s sister Katrina said that her mum tested positive on Saturday, April 25. Katrina spoke to staff to find out what had happened.

“I asked how she’d caught it in there because nobody is allowed in to visit anyone. They were really strict on that.

“They said that half the staff members had tested positive on that Saturday but they had no symptoms, so they all got sent home.

“They said that she wasn’t in a position to be moved to the Victoria Hospital, and they weren’t prepared to take any ventilators into the hospice, so they were just left with nothing. They just sedated her. There was nothing that they would do.”

The family were then caused further pain by being unable to communicate with their heavily-sedated mum, and were only allowed in to see her the day before she died

Kirsty: “I left her at about 11pm on Friday. They said to me they’d try to call me if anything got worse, and I went home. I had a phonecall at 1.26am to tell me that she’d passed away. I’d just missed it.

“I went in to say my goodbyes. Near the end my mum only had a pyjama top on because she had a catheter.

“She gets buried in what she died in, because the funeral home won’t dress her. We’re only allowed six family members by the graveside and it’ll only be short.”

Katrina: added: “It’s hard enough going through the whole cancer situation on a normal day, but to have all those restrictions - I understand they’re trying to protect people, but you’ve got to have some sort of respect and feelings for the family as well. 

“At the time they didn’t tell us about any other cases, when my mum tested positive, I asked if anyone else had tested positive as I was worried that she’d maybe given it to someone. They said they couldn’t discuss it. There was a lot of hesitation, whereas if it was a ‘no’, they would have just said so.

“I would have thought that had one member or patient tested positive, it would have been protocol to phone everyone’s families to make them aware. But people weren’t finding out until it was their family member.”

NHS Fife confirmed that over the last week a number of staff in the Victoria Hospice were tested for covid19 after displaying symptoms consistent with the virus.

A spokesman said that the hospice has been operating well below its normal capacity, with greater numbers of patients cared for in the community supported by clinical teams, as part of a proactive effort to help protect those most at risk of the effects of the virus.

The spokesman added: “As part of our enhanced screening all inpatient staff were subsequently tested and some additional asymptomatic staff were found to be carrying the virus.

“A total of 19 staff who work within the Hospice have tested positive for covid19 and are isolating at home.

Director of Nursing, Helen Buchanan, said that efforts are currently being made to stop the virus spreading further at the hospice.

She said: “NHS Fife can confirm a cluster of staff and patients at the Victoria Hospice have tested positive for covid-19 virus.

“All inpatient staff in the hospice have been screened for covid19and those who are symptomatic or who have tested positive are currently isolating at home.

“None of the affected staff have required admission to hospital and all are recovering well.

“Only a very small number of patients are currently being cared for in the Victoria Hospice and measures are in place to reduce the opportunity for the virus to spread.”