Three
Weeks into the Inquiry
The Bristol Royal Infirmary
Inquiry has completed its first three weeks of public hearings, taking
oral evidence from more than 20 witnesses including parents and representatives
of national professional groups such as Professor George Alberti, President
of the Royal College of Surgeons and Dr Howard Swanton, President of the
British Cardiac Society.
During the Easter break the Inquiry team has been distributing
to legal representatives the first batch of documents which are to be
used in evidence over the coming weeks. There will be more than 15,000
pages of evidence from the United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust, Department
of Health and Welsh Office.
Legal representatives will be asked to sign strict undertakings
not to publicise any documents in advance of their publication by the
Inquiry. The documents will be distributed on compact discs. They include
correspondence, minutes, notes and reports, much of which will not be
produced publicly in evidence for several weeks and in some cases several
months.
Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry Chairman Professor Ian
Kennedy said: "It is, of course, right that everyone should be able
to see all of the evidence. When we reach the appropriate stages we will,
therefore, publish everything which the legal representatives received
in advance."
The Inquiry team will continue to publish evidence as
it is called during the public hearings.
The daily transcripts of the public hearings appear each
evening on the Inquiry’s internet website. Any documents which become
public during the oral hearings will appear on the website within 24 hours.
Witness statements will also be published when all of the relevant supporting
documents are available.
Temporary Postponement
of Inquiry Public Hearings
Inquiry Chairman, Professor
Ian Kennedy, has been unwell during the Easter break. Therefore, following
advice it was decided not to hear oral evidence during the week beginning
April 19 as previously expected. Oral hearings will resume on Monday 26
April (if you are planning to visit the Inquiry at any time please check
dates and times of hearings before you travel). The next witnesses to
give evidence will come from Department of Health, the Welsh Office: We
also plan in May to hear from the Royal Colleges and other professional
organisations.
Inquiry Information Pack
An
Inquiry information Pack has been put together; it includes useful information
which will help visitors to the Inquiry to make full use of the facilities
available. If you would like a copy please call Rachel Gibbons on 0117
938 8711.
Expert Group Members Appointed to Assist Inquiry
A national Group of 35
Experts has been appointed to assist the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry.
The Group covers 14 different areas of expertise ranging
from paediatric cardiac surgery to NHS finance and management and statistics.
Professor Kennedy said: "The areas represented by
the Expert Group reflect the breadth of the issues which we will be examining.
We are not just concerned with areas of clinical expertise, such as surgery,
but also with education, training, audit, management, finance and statistics."
He said: "The Group will give the Inquiry access
to particular focussed areas of expertise. This will complement the expertise
we already have on the panel through Professor Sir Brian Jarman and Rebecca
Howard."
Individual members of the Group will be the Inquiry’s
Experts rather than acting for any individual or organisation. They will
give their opinions in the wider public interest and all the formal evidence
from the Expert Group will be published.
It is the first time at a Public Inquiry that Expert
evidence has been used in this way – moving away from the model used
in trials where such evidence is presented in an adversarial setting.
Experts assisting the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry
will normally give written opinions. They may also attend oral hearings
and provide background information to the Inquiry’s legal team.
Other experts may be added to the Group as deemed necessary
by the Inquiry team.
Areas of Expertise:
* Paediatric Cardiology
* Paediatric Cardiac Surgery
* Paediatric Cardiac Anaesthesia and Intensive Care
* Paediatric Pathology
* General Paediatrics
* Nursing: General Paediatrics
* Nursing: Paediatric Intensive Care
* Medical Education and Training
* Medical and Clinical Audit
* Regulation of the Medical Profession
* NHS Finance in the 1980s and 1990s
* NHS Management in the 1980s and 1990s including the
impact of the NHS reforms
* Human Factors and Risk Management
* Statistics and Epidemiology
Chairman
thanks Parents
The Chairman of the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry thanked
parents who have given evidence during the first weeks of the oral hearings
in Bristol.
Inquiry Chairman Professor Kennedy said parents had taken
the chance to tell their own stories in their own words and pledged to
continue the open nature of the proceedings.
Professor Kennedy said: "I said before we began
these public hearings that some parents would face a harrowing ordeal
when having to relive events from their past which involved the care and
treatment of their children.
He said: "In some cases it has proved very difficult
for parents to recount their experiences in public. The opening two weeks
of the Inquiry have been an emotional time for all of us but I would like
to record my thanks for the way parents have approached what has been
a difficult task.
"By allowing parents to tell their own stories in
their own way we have heard about a wide range of issues which were of
concern to them and which they wanted to tell the Inquiry about.
"Their evidence has set the scene and emphasised
the broad range of issues which the Inquiry will be examining over the
coming few months while we are in Bristol. It has shown that this Inquiry
is not just about surgery, it is much wider than that.
"These opening few days have shown the importance
of the process which we have adopted. We are not conducting a trial. There
are no sides to represent or cases to argue. We intend to maintain our
commitment to fairness, openness and impartiality when it comes to hearing
subsequent witnesses just as we have with the parents we have heard."
Fourteen parents recounted their experiences of their
child’s care during the opening phase of the Inquiry. More parents
will give evidence over the next few months.
Live
Links Launched
When the public hearings
re-open video links will transmit live pictures from the Bristol Royal
Infirmary Inquiry initially to three Community Health Council (CHC) Offices
in Cardiff, Barnstaple and Truro.
Pictures from the Inquiry chamber will be transmitted
digitally to high-tech equipment installed in the CHC offices, where members
of the public will be able to follow the day-to-day discussions of the
Inquiry on television screens. Viewers will be able to watch and listen
to witnesses giving evidence and will be able to see and hear the Inquiry
Panel as they ask questions.
Professor Ian Kennedy, Inquiry Chairman, announced the
installation of the video links, saying:
"This is a Public Inquiry and members of the public
are welcome to attend the hearings each day. The Inquiry spans a very
large geographical area and encompasses so many individuals that we felt
it was appropriate to provide distant locations with live links to the
Inquiry chamber in Bristol.
"I hope these measures will mean that people who
live a long way from Bristol will be able to follow proceedings without
regularly having to travel long distances, and that as many people as
wish will be able to keep up-to-date with the Inquiry as it progresses."
The Inquiry team will wait to see how popular the three
pilot sites are before making a decision about increasing the number of
additional video links.
Full transcripts of the Inquiry hearings are available
each day via the Inquiry’s web site at www.bristol-inquiry.org.uk
and are posted to libraries and CHC offices each week.
For further information please contact:
Becky Jarvis, Media Relations Manager, BRI Inquiry tel:
0117 938 8716
Martin Jenkins, Cardiff CHC tel: 01222 377407
Ground Floor, Park House, Greyfriars Road, Cardiff, CF1
3UE
Mark Lytham, Cornwall CHC tel: 01872 264402
9 Castle Street, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 3AF
Linda Stapleton, North Devon CHC tel: 01271 373739
24 Castle Street, Barnstaple, EX31
1DR
Hearing Progress
Block
One evidence, with parents telling their experiences (we will hear from
more parents during later blocks of evidence), has been completed and
we are well underway with Block Two looking at the national scene. Block
Three looks at the services in Bristol with evidence from staff and managers
at the BRI. Block Four looks at the management of the care of the children
and we expect to make good progress towards hearing this evidence before
the Summer recess.
Blocks Five and Six, which look at the adequacy
of the service and the concerns raised about the paediatric cardiac surgery
at the BRI, will be heard in the Autumn.
Contacting the Inquiry...
If you want general information about the Inquiry please
call either Becky Jarvis, Media Relations Manager on 0117 938 8716 or
Rachel Gibbons, Communications Officer on 0117 938 8711.
There is also a contact number if you wish to speak to
someone from the legal team. Please call Lisa Biddlecombe on 0117 938
8737.
If you wish to contact the Secretary to the Inquiry please
call 0117 938 8715.
The Inquiry fax numbers are 0117 938 8790 - Legal Offices, or 0117 938
8789 – Secretariat and Communications Team.
Internet website:
www.Bristol-Inquiry.org.uk
E-mail: inquiry@doh.gov.uk
Telephone: 0845 3000 613
(calls charged at local rate)
Fax: 0171 972 4602
FREEPOST ADDRESS:
Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry
Freepost, Lon 15129, London, SE1 8BR
No stamp is required.
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