GIN it’s brucken, fix it! An aefauld maxim that disnae seem tae apply tae oor justice system in Scotland. Let’s kick some nummers aboot... Oor justice system is required tae dael wi the daiths cuivert bi criminal law. Ilk year the nummer o sic daiths wull be aroond 2,050 fowk. The 50 are the wans we ken aboot, they’re aye-an-oan in the news, these are the murders, the “conventional homicides”. The greatest risk tae aa o us tho is bein pairt o that 2,000; daiths likely tae hae bin caused bi negligence. Anent 15-20 daiths per week are daiths at wark; we in Scotland usually hae the warst rate o sic accidents in the UK. The lave are public safety daiths relatit tae some wark acteevity or ither, sic as thaim caused bi the Glesga bin lorry an the Clutha helicopter crash; the feck o these nummers are the aye-an-oan unseen daiths that heppen in healthcare an social care.

These daiths o negligence are fir ordinar cuivert bi the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. We winnae luik at the murders but at hou guid the justice system is at keppin us, oor faimily an oor friens sauf an frae becomin ane o thae 2,000.

At the meenit Holyrood’s Justice Commattee is luikin at hou effective the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) is. The campaignin health group ASAP-NHS hae bin luikin at the COPFS fir a wheen o years — an we’re no impressed! In respect o healthcare an social care they fail at evri level. Maist o us wull ken aboot the mass murderer an serial killer Dr Harold Shipman. The risk o a repeat o that tragedy shuid be verra laich, but oor justice system is makkin seemilar an warse errors in no preventin avoidable daiths in healthcare. The polis investigatit but they hud nae system fir daelin wi suspicious daiths in healthcare; they didnae ken whit they wir luikin fir, an werenae competent. They foun nae problems. Shipman went oan tae kill mair o his patients. Thair wis a public inquiry intil Shipman an it foun major problems wi the polis operation an the initial deceesion no tae dae a proper investigation.

We howp that we dinnae hae a Dr Shipman in Scotland daein awa wi patients ho-ro (tho extrapolated figures frae an Australian survey micht dispute this!). But whit we dae hae is healthcare an social care negligently bein responsible fir mony avoidable daiths. There are problems o complyin wi the law oan patient safety in aa oor NHS health boards. The wan we ken maist aboot is NHS Ayrshire & Arran. There we hae (the then) Strathclyde Polis, then Police Scotland, COPFS, the Health and Safety Executive and the previous Lord Advocate makkin the samen mistakes as thaim reportit in the Shipman Inquiry. The waefu ootcome o the COPFS failins athort Scotland wull be mony times thaim relatit tae Dr Shipman. It wid be guid gin these bodies hud actually read the inquiry – an lairnt hou tae dae their joabs fine an richt. Their failins wull aiblins gie a “green licht” tae law-brakkin oan an undeemous scale, an wull lead tae mony mair daiths that shuid be preventit. ASAP-NHS hae referred the failins o the polis tae the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC). Can they get it richt? We’ll tell ye – aince thay hae kickt it aboot in the lang gress fir anither six month – an a wheen mair fowk hae needlessly dee’d.

In their raicently announced “major new inquiry” intil its performance the Halyrood Justice Commattee hae asked fir the public’s views an submissions oan the COPFS. There wis nae mandatory length tae the submissions. We gaithert oor concerns (that wir deep an plenty!) an sent thaim in. We didnae miss thaim an hit the wa; we pyntit oot that we hud foun fundamental failins – an gien thaim a lang leet o these. Whit did the Halyrood oaffice dae wi this? Why, they failed tae include oor submission; lik a wheen o patients, it goat buriet! Mind, they includit ane anent Scottish Badgers; but no wan protectin NHS patients! O aa their submissions (check thaim oot here; http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/CurrentCommittees/101143.aspx) oors wis the maist substantial bi a kintra mile. Ower hoat tae haundle? Incompetence or corruption, you tell me?

Whit else did the ASAP-NHS submission say? First, that the COPFS isnae “Scotland’s independent prosecution service”. It is the government’s prosecution service. It is heidit bi twa meenisters; the Lord Advocate an the Solicitor General. The lest Lord Advocate refused tae investigate the meenister’s role in disregairdin the law that shuid hae preventit the daiths at Ayrshire and Arran. White’er oor politics, the judiciary hus tae be independent o the politicians. Neither the government nor meenisters is abune the law, thair is nae immunity.

Oweraa we foun that the COPFS hud a gey puir an dwablie unnerstaunin o health an safety law. Backstreet businesses wid hae a better unnerstaunin o the law. They anely seem tae dae verra simple cases (an e’en then gey reluctantly!) an then they aften tak years tae complete this wark. They juist dinnae seem tae unnerstaun that the law is fundamentally aboot preventin hairm, no waitin fir the bodies tae pile up, an then actin. It really is that bad, friens!

Whene’er there is a wark-relatit daith, be’t a warker or memmer o the public then there is a mandatory agreement tae mak siccar that the COPFS, the polis an HSE aa wark closely thegaither. The COPFS rerrly follae this fir public daiths. They didnae at the Glesga bin lorry disaster. The bin lorry wis a catalogue o failure; a case study in hou no tae rin a justice system. Thon case is in itsel an affront tae Scottish justice. The samen gaes fir Ayrshire an Arran. The feck o daiths that shuid be notified tae the COPFS arenae notified ava, an sae they gang un-investigated an thairfore uncounted.

We hae gaen back til the Halyrood commattee an informed the Presiding Oafficer, Ken Mackintosh, o the Justice Commattee blockin the ASAP-NHS submission an misleadin commattee memmers, Halyrood an the public (the Agenda papers said that aa submissions hud bin publisht oanline – no true! An we werenae the anely yins no publisht!). Justice needs tae prevail here an be transparent tae aa, an the failins o the COPFS need tae be fixed – no swept unner the cairpet!


Scots Proverb o the Week

“A Gowk at Yule’ll no be bricht at Beltane”.

A fool at Christmas will not be wise in May.

In other words a person’s innate nature does not change over time and an idiot will invariably always be an idiot.