Covid: Hospital-linked deaths in Scotland under investigation

A special Crown Office unit set up to probe Covid-linked deaths is considering 827 cases in Scotland's hospitals, latest figures show.

The unit was set up to consider the circumstances of Covid-linked deaths such as those in care homes. But the prosecution service has also received reports of hundreds of hospital-related virus deaths.

Prosecutors will eventually decide if these deaths should be the subject of a fatal accident inquiry or prosecution.

As of 7 October, Crown Office figures show Scotland's biggest hospital, the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, has the highest number of reported Covid-linked deaths at 113.

This was followed by the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley and Glasgow Royal Infirmary which both had 71 Covid-related deaths referred to the Crown Office.

The figures do not include deaths at home addresses or hospices, or where a care home resident died in hospital after contracting COVID-19 in a home.

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Source: BBC News, 4 November 2021