‘Reform death inquiries that worsen grief for families’
An Attempt to overhaul the way fatal accident inquiries are conducted by putting families at the heart of the process was launched yesterday.
the current system can cause further grief to families already dealing with trauma, according to Labour mSp patricia Ferguson.
She opened a public consultation on her Inquiries into Deaths Bill, which she hopes will improve the investigation of sudden and accidental deaths.
“After suffering the trauma and heartache of losing a family member in sudden or unexplained circumstances, it surely should not be too much to ask that the process for investigating this death does not cause further grief,” the Glasgow maryhill and Springburn mSp said.
She added: “I hope that through this consultation, we will create the foundations for a new system which will address these serious issues and provide a mechanism which allows families to understand what happened, why it happened and feel reassured that provisions are being made to prevent it happening again to someone else.”
the consultation, launched in Glasgow yesterday, will run until 22 november. the Scottish Government says it is already committed to bringing in legislation to improve the system.
Changes to legislation are needed to speed up the process, said Dave moxham, deputy general secretary of the Scottish trades Union Congress.
“In our experience, inquiries held in public to examine deaths at work, take an unacceptable amount of time for those who have lost loved ones to establish the circumstances surrounding their deaths,” he said.
patrick mcGuire, of personal injuries legal firm thompsons Solicitors, said: “the current system is utterly draconian and serves little purpose other than to rub salt in the wounds of families who have already suffered enormous tragedy.
“Scotland is crying out for a system which would examine fatal accidents in an open and transparent manner, place the families at the heart of the process and has teeth to actually implement change for the better.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Investigating deaths is a highly sensitive and complex area of work, and it is vital that procurators fiscal investigate deaths thoroughly and professionally.
“the length of time taken to investigate will vary depending on the individual circumstances of each case.
“Lord Cullen did not recommend that sheriffs’ recommendations should be legally binding and there would be practical difficulties in doing so.”