PRESS STATEMENT – 24 OCTOBER 2023 – SCOTTISH COVID BEREAVED ON THE START OF THE SCOTTISH COVID INQUIRY

SCOTTISH COVID INQUIRY

24^th October 2023

PRESS STATEMENT ISSUED ON BEHALF THE SCOTTISH COVID BEREAVED

Statement by Aamer Anwar- Lead Solicitor instructed by the Scottish Covid Bereaved (SCB)

1. The SCB welcomes finally the beginning of the Scottish Covid-19 Public Inquiry today. 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.
2. The Scottish Covid Bereaved, the many 1000s whose lives were impacted by Covid, our front line workers who risked and in many cases lost their lives are the ones who must be front and centre of this inquiry; not the Scottish or UK Ministers, not the chief scientists, or senior civil servants, but those who have fought for this inquiry, to raise their voices for those who can no longer speak themselves.
3. 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. We have heard evidence that the UK was not prepared; that our capacity to cope with COVID was diminished by years of underfunding, cuts and the impact of Brexit. 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.
4. According to the National Records of Scotland, as of the 15^{th of} October 2023, there were 18,037 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.
5. The Scottish Inquiry will expect that key individuals such as Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, Dominic Cummings, Nicola Sturgeon, various Chief Medical Officers and Scientific Advisers to give evidence in this session of Module 2 at the UK Inquiry. Their evidence is of course critical to Scotland in terms of the decisions they made UK wide.
6. The evidence led thus far at the UK Inquiry 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.
7. Put bluntly the question is whether attendance at crucial meetings by Scottish Government ministers, was simply a charade; and whether COBR 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.
8. We demanded and fought for the release of WhatsApp, social media and diaries from the UK Government and senior civil servants, and this has been critical in building a picture of the state of preparation for the pandemic, the impact of those decisions, but also the attitudes and conflicts that existed. Whilst there has been success by the UK inquiry in retrieving substantial quantities of material from the UK Government and senior officials, the Scottish Covid Bereaved expect that process to be replicated for those witnesses relevant to Scotland.
9. As the Scottish Inquiry turns its attention to health and social care services, we will turn our minds to those who were unable to be with their loved ones at the end of their lives. facing restrictions on visiting loved ones a result of an inadequate PPE supply.  Who made the rules, that made no sense, that caused such suffering in the care homes.
10. 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.
11. 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, Cardiff, Belfast or Glasgow- the policy of discharge of untested patients was ultimately a ‘death sentence’ for the elderly.
12. The Scottish Covid Bereaved demands answers on the provision of PPE in Scotland, they expect to hear from Jeanne Freeman, Scotland’s former Health Minister on 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.
13. For the Scottish Covid Bereaved, the evidence at the UK Inquiry of multiple politicians and senior civil servants has exposed a culture of impunity, denial, arrogance and blaming everyone else but themselves. The Scottish Covid Bereaved wish to know whether the Scottish Government followed the science or whether they simply marched a few steps behind Boris Johnson into the deadly bedlam, that he stands accused of in his handling of the pandemic.
14. The Scottish Covid Bereaved demand that all the witnesses who appear at the Inquiry must speak with absolute candour and are brutally honest. 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.
15. This Inquiry carries a heavy responsibility and must be fearless in raising its voice for the truth. 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.

END OF STATEMENT

The Scottish Covid Bereaved relatives also spoke at the Press Conference:-

Margaret Waterton (DOB: 02.09.1956/ Age: 66 years old) – lost her husband (David Waterton – DOD: 02.01.21, Age: 71 years old) Followed by her mother (Margaret Simpson – DOD: 18.06.20, Age: 86 years old).  

“Covid has been absolutely devastating for me and my family. And every man, woman and child in Scotland has felt the impact of Covid. This Inquiry, this is a landmark day for Scottish Covid Bereaved, for the people of Scotland. We are looking now for the Inquiry to deliver for us truth, justice, accountability so that the decision-makers can learn, from our lived experience, the impact that their decisions or lack of decision making has upon us.”

“My Mum, Margaret Simpson, died from nosocomial Covid 19 on 18 June 2020 and my husband, David Waterton, died from Covid Pneumonia on 2nd January 2021. In 6 months, I lost my Mum and became a widow. Covid has devastated both me and my family. Bereavement and grief are hard but experiencing that as a result of Covid and in the severe restrictions in place at that time, added so much more trauma. I will forever feel guilty that I could have done more to protect and fight for my mum and my husband who both had much life yet to live and who I love and miss every day. The Covid Inquiries in the UK and Scotland are vital if we are to understand decision making at all levels, learn lessons from what went wrong and why so that we are far better prepared for any future pandemic and that those of us who have been bereaved have the answers we are seeking.”

Alan Inglis (DOB: 02.06.1960 / Age: 63 years old) years old)– lost his son Calum Inglis at Addiewell HMP – (DOD: 24.10.21, 34 years old)

“On the 12^th of October 2021, my son Calum tested positive for Covid-19 whilst serving a short-term in Addiewell Prison, Lothian. Calum was unvaccinated and was asthmatic. Within the next 12 days, Calum’s health would deteriorate rapidly. Throughout this entire period, he was not seen by a nurse. He reported being breathless and coughing up significant amounts of blood. In the last four days of his life, he repeatedly requested the medical attention via his cell intercom to be promised by the prison officers that someone will see you in the morning, but nobody ever came. On the 24^th of October 2021, two years today, my son was found unresponsive in his cell. He died alone, without help, without dignity. The Scottish Covid Inquiry must find out which protocols the prison were following at this time, protocols that would allow such barbaric behaviour to take place, and to examine the staff work culture within that prison where staff must have known how ill my son was yet did nothing. I am looking for accountability. I am looking to this Inquiry to deliver the truth.”