Charities: First Minister must stage inquiry as quickly as possible so lessons can be learned as quickly as possible
More than 20 leading organisations representing some of the most vulnerable Scots have united to urge the First Minister to stage a public inquir y into the official handing of the pandemic as swiftly as possible.
MSPS voted in November for a judicial inquiry to be launched immediately but Nicola Sturgeon has repeatedly insisted she would not launch an inquiry until the pandemic is over.
A group of 22 respected organisations has now written to Sturgeon calling on the Scottish government to begin an inquiry insisting that, after a year of Covid, crucial lessons must be learned now.
Their letter warns the rights of Scots – including disabled people, care home residents, frontline workers, people living in poverty and students – may have been breached by pandemic policies.
Official Scottish government figures have recorded 7,508 deaths within 28 days of a positive test. However, there was limited testing available during the first wave and that number is likely to be far higher. Almost 10,000 deaths have been linked to Covid19, including more than 3,000 in care homes, according to National Records of Scotland.
Brian Sloan, chief executive of Age Scotland, said older people had been disproportionately affected and many had given the charity firsthand accounts of a lack of access to medical treatment, inappropriate use of do-not-attempt- resuscitation orders, and the transfer of Covidpositive patients into care homes.
He said: “We have repeatedly stressed that the only way to ensure mistakes are never repeated is to investigate, identify and learn from them. Now, with the first anniversary of lockdown on the horizon, we believe this process should begin as soon as possible.
“It’s clear that we are still in the middle of this fight against Covid-19 and the national focus should remain on that ongoing recovery, but this cannot wait until we are well clear of it. Work should begin as soon as possible as it’s vital this does not get buried and memory is fresh.”
Heather Fisken, director of policy and research at Inclusion Scotland, a national disabled people’s organisation, said: “Disabled Scots can ill afford to wait until the recovery from Covid-19 is over.”
She said disabled people had been left unable to get out of bed, had limited access to food, medicines and PPE, and had involuntary “do not attempt resuscitation” orders imposed.
Peter Kelly, director of the Poverty Alliance, said the pandemic had tightened the grip of poverty on people’s lives and pushed thousands of Scots into poverty for the first time. He said: “It is critical that lessons about our pandemic response – and whether the response fully protected people’s rights – are learned now.”
NaomiMc Au li ffe, Amnesty International’s Scotland programme director, who organised the joint letter to the First Minister, said: “We are calling on the First Minister to confirm the timetable for a public inquiry into Covid- 19. Capturing important data about decisions made and
measures taken in real time is vital not just for transparency but to help inform future policy as we rebuild post-covid-19. The health and wellbeing of this country depends on it.”
MSPS voted in November for an immediate public inquiry into care home deaths after we revealed how Covid- positive hospital patients were moved to care homes during the first wave. Thousands of untested patients were also transferred.
However, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman instead wrote to the other nations in the UK inviting them to participate in a UK- wide inquiry, only to confirm a few weeks later she had received no responses.
In December, the Equality and Human Rights Commission found evidence that the human rights of care home residents were breached and the public body warned the Scottish government must launch an inquiry in order to comply with equality law.
Responding in parliament, the First Minister said :“My responsibility right now is to focus on the immediate challenge of getting us through the next phase of the pandemic.”
Asked about an inquiry in parliament in February, Sturgeon said: “For now, I and my ministers will continue to get on with the job of making sure that we are taking the country through this.”
Solicitor Kim Harrison, a specialist in public inquiry work at Slater and Gordon, said: “It’s troubling that the First Minister hasn’t set up a public inquiry yet because we’ve already had a lot of repetition of the failures of the first wave.
“Certainly, I don’t see any reason why the First Minister can’t begin to put in place a public inquiry sooner rather than later.
“An inquiry chair could be nominated at this time and terms of reference could be drawn up. A lot the preparatory work could be done now. I don’t see much benefit in waiting.”
Peter Riddell, a former journalist who was one of three panel members on Sir Peter Gibson’s three-year inquiry into the alleged involvement of UK security agencies in torture and mistreatment of terror suspects, also said the inquiry should begin now, adding: “What you want from a Covid inquiry is to swiftly determine the lessons to enable us to handle outbreaks better in future.”
The Scottish government said: “We have been clear that there will be a public inquiry in the fullness of time, but we are still in the midst of the pandemic, and setting up a public inquiry with the full powers it needs is a complex issue which will inevitably take some time.
“But we do not need to wait for a public inquiry to learn lessons, we take with the utmost seriousness the duty on government to do all we can to protect people, especially the most vulnerable. Saving people’s lives has been and will continue to be our priority throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
“For the workforce in our care homes, still operating under pressure in response to Covid, delivering care services and supporting the health and wellbeing of residents must continue to be the immediate priority.”
It’s vital this inquiry does not get buried