Last week marked the start of the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry’s first substantive evidence-gathering hearings, which have focused on the health and social care impact of the pandemic.
The hearings were held at George House in Edinburgh and broadcast live via the Inquiry’s website.
The first two hearing days were an opportunity for core participants to provide their opening submissions to the Inquiry. The Chair to the Inquiry, Lord Brailsford, heard from representatives of health and social care workers, bereaved family members, the Church of Scotland, the Care Inspectorate, NHS bodies, and the Scottish Ministers.
Key themes raised by the core participants included:
- the availability of Personal Protective Equipment;
- workforce planning;
- mental and physical health of those providing care;
- ongoing effects of long covid;
- trauma-informed practices;
- the need for a sustainable, person-centred and human rights-based approach to public health crises in future; and
- reframing the pandemic as both a public and occupational health crisis.
A running theme across the board was the desire to spotlight demographics which have been either exposed to disproportionate risk, or who felt “abandoned” throughout the pandemic. Examples included healthcare workers; elderly individuals in care homes; certain ethnic and religious minorities; women; and those suffering the consequences of long Covid. Some core participants attributed these issues to a disconnect between upper management of hospitals and care homes and “frontline” staff, as well as a perceived misinterpretation of Ministerial Guidance available at the time.
The Inquiry will now move on to consider organisational and individual impact statements from a number of bodies, including the Scottish Women’s Rights Organisations, Alzheimer’s Scotland, and the British Geriatric Society. This element is expected to conclude on 17 November 2023. Further process is yet to be confirmed, with the timetable being kept deliberately flexible. The Inquiry will take a break at the end of November and will resume in February 2024 (to allow hearings for the parallel UK Covid Inquiry to take place during this time).
Longer term, once the Chair is satisfied that the Inquiry has sufficiently covered this issue of health and social care impact, the Inquiry will move on to consider the other two key areas of focus: “education and young people”, and “business, finance and welfare”.
The Inquiry is expected to run until 2025, culminating in published conclusions, recommendations and lessons learned.
Our experienced inquiries team can help organisations in any sector that may be affected on the impact of the investigation and evidence gathering stages, including advising on potential involvement in the Inquiry.
We have considerable experience preparing entities in advance of inquiries and have supported clients throughout the full life journey of an inquiry, from pre-commencement to recommendations, and onto subsequent litigation. We are experienced in managing responses to high-profile inquiries and regularly work with boards and key stakeholders to identify liability, reputational and strategic risk. Our team also has experience in acting as solicitors to a major inquiry, giving us a unique perspective from the other side.
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