Talk:Scottish prosecutors keeping quiet about Lanarkshire surgical deaths

OR notes

 * All the background is taken from the previous article, and has accordingly been factchecked etc already.

sent feb. 17
Subject: [PRESS] FAI into NHS Lanarkshire surgical deaths

To Whom it May Concern,

I am a freelance journalist compiling a report into this week's FAI conclusion concerning surgical deaths of patients in the care of NHS Lanarkshire. I would be grateful if someone from Crown Office could answer a few questions for me;

Are you satisfied as to the outcome of the FAI?

Would you have liked to have seen a result more quickly?

Do you feel it is important that patients of NHS Lanarkshire have confidence in the care they receive, and do you feel they are now in a position to have such confidence?

Can you confirm whether this case was examined criminally and, if so, whether a decision has been made not to prosecute (e.g. for culpable homicide)?

I look forward to your responses.

received feb. 20
I have been advised of your request this morning and will get back to you asap.

Are you working to a copy deadline?

sent feb 20
I'd ideally like material available by midday Wednesday but there's a bit of flexibility, especially if I get sufficient material to readily focus a piece on your position WRT this matter.

received feb 20
Noted.

received feb 22
Sorry for the delay in responding.

It would not be appropriate for the prosecution service to comment on the provision of NHS services so I have focused on your fourth question. This response can be attributed to a Crown Office spokesperson:

"The three deaths were fully investigated by the Procurator Fiscal and reported to Crown Counsel to consider. Crown Counsel concluded that, given the facts and circumstances of the deaths, a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) was the appropriate forum to consider the circumstances of the deaths.

"A Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) is a statutory public inquiry into the circumstances of a death. The Procurator Fiscal can apply to the Sheriff Court to hold a FAI once the investigation of the death is complete. The Procurator Fiscal can hold a FAI where there are issues of public safety or matters of general public concern arising from a death and there is a need to highlight hazardous or dangerous circumstances or systems that have caused or contributed to it. At the end of a FAI, a it is for the Sheriff to make a determination on; where and when the death occurred; the cause of death; any precautions by which the death might have been avoided; and; any defects in systems that caused or contributed to the death. A FAI cannot make any findings of fault/blame against individuals."

Email sent to NHS Lanarkshire
Subject: Inquiry into patient deaths

I'm a freelance journalist preparing a piece on the fatal accident inquiry that this week concluded into the deaths of Agnes Nicol, George Johnstone and Andrew Ritchie following treatment by NHS Lanarkshire.

I understand you have reviewed and updated procedures as a result of these incidents. I note a lack of press attention thus far to exactly what you have done to improve patient safety, and I would accordingly be delighted if I could get some details in this regard.

I note two distinct areas where you have made improvements - management of this kind of surgery (keyhole gallbladder removal), and management of medical records and notes. I would like full details on each of these.

I will be publishing online without a size limit, so I feel this is a great opportunity to explain to the public what has changed since these incidents in 2006. Ideally, I should like to have sufficient detail to make this the focus of my piece.

No response was ever received. Correspondance has also gone via scoop for inspection. Blood Red Sandman (Talk)   (Contribs) 17:43, 22 February 2012 (UTC)