PRESS RELEASE – 25 OCTOBER 2023 – OPENING SUBMISSIONS FOR THE SCOTTISH COVID BEREAVED

PRESS RELEASE

SCOTTISH COVID-19 PUBLIC INQUIRY

Opening submissions for the Scottish Covid Bereaved 

WED 25TH OCTOBER 10.00AM

The Scottish Land Court, 

George House, 126 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2HH

Press statement by Aamer Anwar- Lead Solicitor on behalf the Scottish Covid Bereaved

Yesterday, the Scottish Covid-19 Public Inquiry finally began. At today’s hearing we will make our opening submission of on behalf of our client’s ‘The Scottish Covid Bereaved- The statement will deliver a damning indictment of the culture of impunity, denial and chaos that existed at the heart of those making decisions for the pandemic. I detail below parts of our submission later this morning. 

The hearings will be streamed live on:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA23AOyBGjvVjItGK0FNIUg 

Our Senior Counsel Dr Claire Mitchell KC will make an opening statement to the Inquiry on Wednesday 25^th October 2023 at 10am. PLEASE NOTE that on Thursday 26^th October, a Further Preliminary Hearing will take place for UK Covid19 Public Inquiry Module 2A which will sit in Scotland in January. I highlight below our main submissions.

1. Aamer Anwar & Co., is instructed by the Scottish Covid Bereaved. The SCB are represented by the Inquiries Team at Aamer Anwar & Co both at this Inquiry and the UK Covid Inquiry
2. The Scottish Covid Bereaved are a group of bereaved individuals with a common who, have a goal of not wanting their loved ones’ deaths to have been in vain and for lessons to be learnt, to stop others having to suffer the way they have and to ensure that we are fully prepared for the next inevitable pandemic. The members come from all over Scotland and from all walks of life. Although the group came about because of bereavement, within the group there are members dealing with other wide consequences of the pandemic ranging from traumatised healthcare workers, teachers who had to buy their own disinfectant to keep classrooms safe and using their own money to feed pupils, to those dealing with ‘long Covid’ and those dealing with the financial consequences of the pandemic.
3. The SCB have already had the opportunity to give evidence at the UK inquiry – and are in the process of their statements to this Inquiry, many wish to give evidence in this Inquiry too.  Each of their stories provides a devastating vignette of the horror they lived and continue to live through, losing a loved one to a deadly pandemic.
4. On the 24 August 2021, the Scottish Government announced that they were going to a establish a public Inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005 into the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland. This was followed by the Deputy FM John Swinney on the establishing of the inquiry stating in Parliament, that placed the bereaved very much at the heart of this Inquiry, the Scottish Covid Bereaved expect that that process to continue.
5. The bereaved want the legacy of this Inquiry to be that when the next pandemic comes, as surely it will, the people of Scotland will not have to suffer in the same way that their members suffered.
6. The Scottish Covid Bereaved note the unfortunate history of the Scottish Inquiry, with a previous chair stepping down from her role. Despite both Inquiries being announced in 2021, Baroness Hallett is currently powering ahead with her UK Inquiry.
7. The Chair Lord Brailsford said on his appointment:- “The public are rightly looking for answers and no more so than the loved ones of the nearly 16,000 people in Scotland who died during this pandemic. I am immensely aware of the enormous responsibility this places on me and the Inquiry. I promise the families, that along with the Inquiry team, I will work independently to establish the facts and ensure the Inquiry thoroughly examines the decisions taken throughout the pandemic.” The Scottish Covid Bereaved quite rightly expect the promises made to them are kept.
8. The UK Inquiry has already concluded its module on pandemic planning, which left Scottish Covid Bereaved in no doubt that a decade of austerity had left the NHS mortally wounded, the poor poorer, the sick sicker, and the UK a more unequal place than a decade before. Brexit had put pandemic planning on hold and, despite important lessons being learnt in pandemic planning exercises, the vast majority of the learning was left unimplemented. It is against that background that the Scottish Inquiry opens to explore the provision of health and social care services, including the provision of end-of-life care and the use of Do Not Attempt CPR notices. 
9. Ministers both in England and Wales claimed to have thrown a “protective ring” around vulnerable residents, but the policy not to isolate people discharged from hospitals to care homes in the first weeks of the pandemic of 2020, without testing was deemed “irrational”, but Scotland did exactly the same. By the end of March 2021 there had been 3774 deaths in Scottish care homes It matters not one bit to the bereaved if care home deaths happened in London, Manchester or Glasgow- the policy of discharge of untested patients was ultimately a ‘death sentence’ for the elderly.
10. The Scottish Covid Bereaved expects answers on the provision of PPE in Scotland. The Scottish Covid Bereaved expect to hear again from Jeanne Freeman Scotland’s former Health Minister whether we failed our front-line workers who were crying out for PPE. Many front-line workers gave their lives trying to save ours, whilst our leaders were asking us to clap those workers on our doorsteps every week. 
11. The Scottish Covid Bereaved wish to know whether the Scottish Government properly considered the science and made appropriate decisions in light of that information, or whether they marched a few steps behind Boris Johnson into the deadly bedlam, that he stands accused of in his handling the pandemic.
12. The evidence led thus far at the UK Inquiry already raises serious questions as to the UK and Scottish Government’s preparedness for a pandemic; the extent to which the machinery of the UK Government during the critical early stages of the pandemic allowed for the involvement of the Scottish Government; whether the available data reflected the four nations of the UK or just England; whether attendance at crucial meetings by Scottish Government ministers, civil servants, and scientists was simply a charade; and whether Cabinet Office Briefing Room meetings were actually a ‘Potempkin village’, where the devolved administrations were operating under the false belief  that they were playing a key role in the process, but real key decisions were actually being taken elsewhere. This makes it even more important to understand what decision were being taken in Scotland, by who, and on the basis of what science and data. 
13. As the Scottish Inquiry turns its attention to health and social care services, Scottish Covid Bereaved turn their minds to those group members who were unable to be with their loved ones at the end of their lives. The thoughts of loved ones dying alone is something that continues to haunt many members of Scottish Covid Bereaved. A number of the members of the group wonder whether the restrictions on visiting their loved ones was as a result of an inadequate PPE supply. Many are aggrieved that it appears that guidance relating to visiting and attendance at end of life was not consistently applied not only across health boards but also within the same areas and even across different wards within the same hospital. Some members have reported that some of the guidance was simply nonsensical. They were told that they could not visit their terminally ill relative in hospital as they were advised that the hospital was not letting anyone in who was not a patient only to later be told by that same hospital that they would require to attend the hospital in person to collect the death certificate.
14. The provision of end-of-life care and the subsequent bereavement has caused significant trauma to members of Scottish Covid Bereaved. Many members feel a sense of anger and guilt about the standard of care that their loved one received before death and there are some that feel their loved one’s death could have been prevented. Many feel ongoing guilt and anger that they were unable to advocate for their loved one when they most needed them. Members report having been advised that they were told by hospital staff that they had to choose between being present at their loved one’s death or attending their funeral, due to clinicians misunderstanding guidance on isolation rules. The use of DNACPR (Do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation) notices is a matter of grave concern to Scottish Covid Bereaved and it is hoped that the Inquiry can shed light on this.
15. We have already heard and seen in evidence during Module 2 of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, the insulting terms with which the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson described ‘Long Covid’ with the words: “Bollocks. This is Gulf War syndrome stuff. and several months later in a WhatsApp message – “Do we really believe me Long Covid? Why can’t we hedge it more? I bet it is complete Gulf War syndrome stuff.” It is essential to uncover what impact the UK Government had on how such issues were handled in Scotland, but also whether such dismissive attitudes were replicated at Scottish Government level or by the health professionals.
16. According to the National Records of Scotland, as of the 9^th October 2023, there were 17,991 deaths in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. Each of those deaths not only represents an individual tragedy, but has affected the friends and family, the loved ones, of each of those who died.  No person or institution, no matter how powerful, whether it be in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, Westminster or Holyrood, can obstruct the search for truth. 
17. The vulnerable and those impacted by inequality and austerity formed little or no consideration in the minds of those who were responsible for planning for a pandemic, as a result thousands died. The Scottish Covid Bereaved want to know what lessons should be learned for any future pandemic to protect not just the rich and privileged, but also the vulnerable, poor, minorities and marginalised.
18. The Scottish Covid Bereaved campaigned for this Scottish inquiry to be set up and to run parallel to that of the UK Inquiry- The very least they are entitled to expect is a robust and fearless inquiry, no different to the UK Inquiry.
19. The Scottish Covid Bereaved expect a public inquiry that listens to their voices and those of other core-participants who have lost so much, in doing so it will provide the foundations for an inquiry that delivers real change and accountability. That must be the legacy of the Scottish Inquiry.