A TOTAL of 185 people have died from Covid-19 in Renfrewshire care homes since the start of the pandemic, a new report has revealed.

These include 34 deaths at the Erskine Home, in Bishopton, which is the most anywhere in Scotland.

Another 16 people died at the Erskine Park Care Home, also in Bishopton.

Both facilities are run by veterans charity Erskine.

In the same 14-month period, there were 425 Covid-related deaths at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, in Paisley.

The figures were published by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) after a ruling by the Information Commissioner.

The highest number of Covid deaths at Renfrewshire care homes have been in Paisley, with 89 residents in 10 homes falling victim to the virus.

There were also 20 deaths at care homes in Johnstone, nine in Inchinnan, eight in Linwood, five in Renfrew, four in Erskine and one in Elderslie.

Overall, 21 care homes in Renfrewshire had patient deaths linked to the virus, with the majority of the victims being elderly.

A spokesperson for Erskine told The Gazette: “Erskine has one of the largest care homes in Scotland and has operated within Scottish Government guidelines and spared neither effort nor resource in our whole team’s valiant, year-long battle against this terrible virus.

“Continuing to care for our residents and support visiting in a safe and secure manner is still our utmost priority.

“We join families in mourning the loss of every single resident who died, due to either a presumed Covid-19 infection or after a positive test.”

The same NRS report, which covered the period from March 16, 2020, to May 23 this year, shows there were 3,317 coronavirus-related care home deaths across Scotland.

Opposition parties at Holyrood have called for an immediate public inquiry into the care home death toll.

A spokesman for The Care Inspectorate, which is responsible for the regulation of homes, said: “The Care Inspectorate has worked closely with care providers, the Scottish Government and partners to support care services to respond to and recover from the pandemic and continues to do so.”