Groups representing nurses, paramedics, disabled people and care homes, but not doctors, are among those that have been allocated so-called core participant status in the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry.

The 29 organisations granted core participation status include the ALLIANCE, Scottish Care, Glasgow Disability Alliance, the Scottish Vaccine Injury Group and the Care Inspectorate.

Local authority body COSLA, NHS health boards and Scottish Ministers will also play a leading role in the hearings.

Nurses and pandemics will be represented by their national professional bodies, the Royal College of Nursing Scotland and the College of Paramedics respectively.

However, doctor representation within the core participant list is absent.

A spokesperson for the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry team said doctors are not currently represented among the core participants because no applications were received from organisations representing the profession

Unlike the UK-wide inquiry which is releasing details of core participants for each module of the investigation separately, all core participants for the full duration of the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry have been named in the release.

The Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry, chaired by Lord Brailsford since the departure of Lady Poole back in October, will investigate aspects of the devolved strategic response to the pandemic, in the fields of health, education and support.

The UK and Scottish inquiries will take steps to minimise duplication, with formal plans on how this will be achieved to be published in ‘due course’.

Applications for core participant status in the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry were assessed by the extent of an organisation’s involvement within the matters under investigation and those who may be subjected to significant criticism within the Inquiry.

According to the protocol published when applications opened in August, some eligible applicants may be rejected to ensure the Inquiry can run  

Only core participants will be able to make statements to the inquiry at public hearings or propose and ask questions of witnesses.

Core participants can have legal representatives advise on the evidence and process, and appear for or with them at public hearings, and will receive advanced copies of the Inquiry’s reports.

Bereaved families and relatives of care home residents will be represented by three organisations, while independent care homes will similarly receive representation from three organisations.

The inquiry team says there may be opportunities for individuals and organisations that have not applied already, to apply for core participant status at a later stage of the Inquiry and that further information will be made available on the Inquiry website regarding any such additional opportunities.

Organisations and individuals who are not core participants can still be called upon to provide evidence to the Inquiry and may participate in the Inquiry’s Listening Project.

It is unclear when formal oral hearings and the public listening project phase of the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry will begin. The first preliminary hearing of the UK-wide public Inquiry took place at the start of October.

Since being launched in March 2022, the Inquiry, to date, has cost more than £2m.

The full list of core participants, announced by the inquiry is:

• Scottish COVID Bereaved (formerly COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Scotland);
• Care Home Relatives Scotland (CHRS) and CHRS Lost Loved Ones;
• The group comprising bereaved relatives, current/former care home staff and the Community Response Team (Skye);
• The Scottish Vaccine Injury Group;
• Kirsty Solman (the lay representative of a group of families who have children with additional support needs);
• Scottish Ministers;
• Scottish Enterprise;
• VisitScotland;
• The Scottish Qualifications Authority;
• NHS National Services Scotland;
• NHS Territorial Health Boards and Special Health Boards;
• The Care Inspectorate;
• Healthcare Improvement Scotland;
• Public Health Scotland;
• The Royal College of Nursing Scotland;
• The College of Paramedics;
• Scottish Care;
• ALLIANCE (Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland)
• The Scottish Police Federation;
• The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC);
• COSLA;
• Scottish Hazards;
• Independent Care Homes Scotland;
• rradar (Scotland) Limited (representing a group of five private sector Care Home operators);
• Glasgow Disability Alliance;
• The Church of Scotland (including its Social Care Council operating under the name CrossReach);
• Refugees for Justice;
• Scotland Excel; and
• The Law Society of Scotland.

 

Read more: Future shielding unlikely, as risk list scrapped; Care home death inquiries unresolved

 

 

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