A GROUP has gathered outside a city centre hotel to commemorate the homeless people who have died in Glasgow hotels over the last three years.

The Glasgow Times exclusively revealed that 36 people had suddenly died while being housed in hotels as a result of the Covid pandemic since March 2020.

To mark the memory of those individuals, members of the Scottish Tenants Association and Wyndford Residents Union stood outside the St Enoch Hotel on Howard Street to lay flowers.

Glasgow Times:

The group, led by Sean Clerkin and Ian McInnes, feels that the figures reflect a failure by the local authority to protect people in temporary accommodation. 

Since March 2020, eight sudden deaths were recorded at the St Enoch Hotel, while nine people died in sudden deaths at the Alexander Thomson Hotel in Argyle Street.

Glasgow Times:

Glasgow Times:

Seven people died at the Rennie Mackintosh Hotel on Union Street, and another seven at the Queens Park Hotel in the Southside of Glasgow.

There were four sudden deaths recorded at Chez Nous Guest House in Hillhead and one sudden death reported at the Hillhead Hotel.

A council spokesperson said: “It is regrettable that people who experience homelessness and have complex health care needs die while residing in temporary accommodation, however accommodation is not the cause of death.

“Our Homeless Services made 31,018 offers of emergency accommodation since March 2020, resulting in historically low numbers of rough sleepers in the city. They also ensured support is accessible through our Complex Needs Service and our Mental Health and Third Sector partners who operate on an outreach basis across the city’s hotels.

“Naloxone training has been provided to staff within the hotels as well as mental health and harm reduction awareness training delivered by our health and social staff.

“Service users residing in hotels are routinely assessed for eligibility for Housing First as well as other types of accommodation and we remain focused on moving people to more settled accommodation.

"We also have a dedicated team deploying health and social care support to every service user residing in hotels so they have an up-to-date safeguarding plan focusing on treatment and care plans as well as their move on plans.”