Even before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived, Scotland's devolved social care system was in crisis after years of neglect. The pandemic has highlighted many failings with tragic implications for older persons, particularly those in residential care. Inadequate pandemic planning led to early failures in testing, track and trace and provision of personal protective equipment. In particular, patient transfer from hospitals to care homes without testing resulted in the spread of the virus to a vulnerable section of the population. The fragmented and largely privatised social care system was unable to cope during the first infection wave in 2020.