Thank you for inviting me to discuss “The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report”. First, I reiterate my sincere apologies to the patients and families affected by the Vale of Leven hospital C difficile outbreak in 2007-08. Secondly, I again put on the record my thanks to Lord MacLean and his team for their commitment to the inquiry and for producing such a comprehensive and detailed report.
Lord MacLean published his report on 24 November 2014, and in my statement to Parliament on 25 November I committed to undertake a number of actions to ensure that the recommendations in the report were implemented. The aim of those actions has been to ensure that the focus is on making improvements across the national health service. Although the focus of the work going forward is Scotland-wide, it is important to remember the patients and families affected by this tragedy. That is why they are included throughout this whole process, which will enable them to be assured that the recommendations are being implemented.
To assist the committee, I will provide a brief summary of the actions that have been taken since the report was published. I wrote to all NHS boards following publication to ask them to assess themselves against the 65 recommendations for health boards in Lord MacLean’s report and to respond to me by 19 January 2015. As I stated in my paper to the committee, I am pleased to confirm that NHS boards have now responded.
The committee will recall that we undertook to implement all the recommendations, and that is what we will do. I am pleased to report that boards have assessed that, so far, they have either fully or mostly implemented around three quarters of the recommendations. Once further analysis of the responses has been undertaken and completed, I plan to publish them on the Scottish Government website. I would also be happy to share them with the committee, if members would find that useful.
I committed to establishing an implementation group to oversee the implementation of the health board recommendations. However, following its first meeting on 16 February, the group has agreed to oversee the implementation of all 75 recommendations. The implementation group has agreed its remit and terms of reference, and I would be happy to share those with the committee. The group will be chaired by Fiona McQueen, interim chief nursing officer, and it includes a number of stakeholders representing patients and families, the NHS, social care and the unions. The minutes of the group’s meetings will be published on the Scottish Government’s website, and we will be developing the web pages with family members. The implementation group will ensure that its work links in to current policies and the work of other groups, to prevent any duplication.
In addition to a patients and families representative being on the implementation group, I have also agreed to establish a reference group. That group will help to provide assurance to the patients and families and the wider public that the recommendations are being implemented. It will give them a voice to challenge and support the implementation group. The reference group is being established to give the patients and families and the wider public a voice in the implementation process.
Invitations have been issued, asking a number of stakeholders to nominate a member to be on the reference group, and it is anticipated that the first meeting will take place in March. As with the implementation group, the minutes of the reference group will be published on the Scottish Government’s website.
In my statement to Parliament, I committed to publish the Scottish Government’s full response to Lord MacLean’s report in the spring. It is my intention to stick to that timetable, and I would be happy to let the committee know the publication date in due course. Scottish Government officials are working on the full response and will ensure that there is input to it from the implementation group and from patients and families.
I hope that that demonstrates the Scottish ministers’ commitment to progressing this work and assures you that I am taking the necessary measures to make the improvements that are needed to improve patient care across the NHS. I am happy to take questions.