INQUIRY NEWS
December 1998
Volume 1, Issue 1
- Newsletter - First Edition
- Chairman Promises Open Enquiry
- Ways to Assist the Inquiry
- Timetable for Public Hearings
- Issues List Will Show Main Themes
- Live Video Links
- Legal Costs at Public Expense Announced
- Contacting the Inquiry Team
- Work Underway
- Who's Who
- Experts
- Employee Advice
FIRST EDITION
This is the first edition of Inquiry News. Along with the other arrangements in place, this newsletter aims to keep you in touch with the work of the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry.
We will produce further editions at regular intervals to keep you up to date with the latest news. Please also feel free to contact us if there are issues which you would like covered or if you need clarification about something we have mentioned.
You can write, fax or e-mail. If you would prefer to telephone then contact Inquiry press officer Richard Green on 0171 972 4325.
CHAIRMAN PROMISES OPEN INQUIRY
Professor Ian Kennedy, the Inquiry Chairman, has said the Inquiry will be an independent investigation with broad terms of reference covering all cases of children receiving complex heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary between 1984 and 1995.
The Inquiry was set up under section 84 of the National Health Service Act 1977 which gives the Chairman powers to order the production of documents; to require witnesses to attend the Inquiry; and to give evidence on oath. Criminal penalties may be imposed on anyone refusing to comply with these requirements.
Professor Kennedy said: "The Inquiry is independent of Government, the Department of Health, any Trust or Health Authority, or any other organisation or body. The objectives of this Inquiry are to understand what happened in Bristol, why it happened and what lessons can be learned for the benefit of the NHS as a whole. It will be fair and impartial.
"No one is on trial at this Inquiry; it is not a trial, nor a court, nor a disciplinary hearing. There are no winners and losers, there are no parties or sides."
The Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry will be open to anyone who wants to take part. The Chairman is putting in place arrangements to make people feel at ease and to allow them to follow proceedings in a way that suits them best.
Professor Kennedy will seek to conduct the Inquiry sensitively, informally and fairly. Practical arrangements, including the use of the latest technology, will break new ground and are being used for the first time at an Inquiry of this type.
He said: "The Inquiry will be open, inclusive and fair. We recognise the need to respect and be sensitive to the feelings of those who have suffered and whose suffering goes on. We will do our best, in the procedure we adopt, the way in which we conduct the hearings, and in the various practical arrangements we make, to reflect this need."
The Inquiry team can be contacted by e-mail, post, telephone or fax and there is also an internet website providing the latest information about the Inquiry.
WAYS TO ASSIST THE INQUIRY
There are a number of different ways you can become involved and assist the Inquiry if you wish.
The Inquiry team is sending out questionnaires to parents whose children received complex cardiac surgical services at the Bristol Royal Infirmary/Bristol Royal Hospital for Sick Children between 1984 and 1995.
The questionnaire will ask for some essential factual information and provide an opportunity for parents to tell the Inquiry about their child's treatment in their own words. Information supplied to the Inquiry team will remain confidential and will not be disclosed without parents' permission.
At any stage, people can write an informal letter to the Inquiry to raise points or issues which they think are important. These letters are also confidential to the Inquiry team. It is not necessary to see a solicitor when completing a questionnaire or writing an informal letter to the Inquiry.
The next stage is when the Inquiry asks for formal written statements. These are different because they will be made public and people may want to take legal advice. It is likely that formal written statements will be taken from January 1999.
Some people who give formal written statements will be asked to give evidence at a public hearing. These will take place in Bristol and London during 1999.
TABLETABLE FOR PUBLIC HEARINGS
The Inquiry into children’s heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary was announced to Parliament on June 18, 1998.
The Inquiry team began work in September and the first formal stage was the preliminary hearing, held in Bristol at the end of October.
It is expected that the first full public hearings will start in Bristol in March 1999, and last for most of that year. In the first part of the Inquiry the focus will be on services at the Bristol Royal Infirmary between 1984 and 1995. The full range of services for the care of children who received complex heart surgery will be examined, including referral patterns, diagnosis, and pre and post operative care.
It will also examine how concerns about surgery were raised and handled, both within and outside the hospital.
The second part of the Inquiry will turn to wider issues arising from the Bristol case and lead to recommendations to improve the quality of care across the National Health Service. This second part will start before the end of 1999 and last several months.
The Inquiry report will be produced jointly by the Chairman and panel members and published in full.
ISSUES LIST WILL SHOW MAIN THEMES
Early in 1999 the Chairman will produce an issues list which will show the main themes of investigation as we understand them at that time.
It will also act as a guide for people we think can assist us.
INQUIRY PLANS LIVE VIDEO LINKS
Plans are also well advanced for the practical side of the oral hearings. We are taking advice about the layout of the hearing room and the facilities which will be available in the building.
For example, there will be quiet rooms, a family room, meeting rooms, and a room separate from the main hearing room where people can follow proceedings on a video screen.
We are investigating the use of live video links to places in the South West and South Wales and we should also be able to keep a stock of hearing transcripts at these locations as well as in libraries in other towns.
The daily transcript from the public hearings will be placed on the Inquiry website each evening.
LEGAL COSTS AT PUBLIC EXPENSE ANNOUNCED
The Chairman recently announced the outcome of applications made by organisations to be legally represented at the Inquiry at public expense.
Four organisations made applications to Professor Kennedy when he held the preliminary hearing.
It has been agreed that legal costs at public expense will be met for the Bristol Heart Children Action Group. There will also be publicly funded legal assistance for the Bristol Surgeons’ Support Group. In both cases legal expenses will only be met for people meeting the Inquiry’s terms of reference.
Applications from the Royal College of Nursing and the Medical Defence Union have not been granted.
CONTACTING THE INQUIRY TEAM
The Inquiry team is currently in temporary offices in London. If you are making contact for the first time, address your letter to Inquiry Secretary Una O’Brien at the following address: BRI Inquiry, Room LG07, Wellington House, 135 Waterloo Road, London, SE1 8UG.
We are now working towards a move to our new offices in Bristol and we hope to be there in February 1999. We will be announcing details of the new Bristol address nearer the time.
If you would prefer to telephone, ring 0845 3000 613, calls are charged at your local rate. The number is usually available from 8.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. This number will remain the same even when we move to the offices in Bristol.
There are other ways you can contact us or keep up to date with the latest news about the Inquiry. You can fax on 0171 972 4602 or e-mail: inquiry@doh.gov.uk
WORK UNDERWAY
The Inquiry started work in September 1998. The first stage, during the first few weeks, was used to develop an Inquiry procedure and to start asking for relevant papers from organisations or individuals who had an involvement, or who have a direct interest, in the Inquiry’s work. The search also started for offices in Bristol and London.
The Inquiry was formally opened at a preliminary hearing in Bristol at the end of October and work is now underway towards the start of the full public hearings which are expected to start in March 1999.
The Inquiry team is now analysing documents which have already been sent in and looking for more information from various organisations and individuals as well as starting to gather formal written statements.
WHO'S WHO
The Inquiry Chairman is Professor Ian Kennedy, Professor of Health Law, Ethics and Policy at the School of Public Policy, University College, London. He is assisted by Rebecca Howard, Executive Director of Nursing at the Manchester Children’s Hos-pital and Mavis Maclean, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Wolfson College, Oxford University. The Secretary of State for Health will also be inviting a medically qualified member to the panel.
Counsel to the Inquiry is Brian Langstaff QC. He is assisted by Eleanor Grey and Alan Maclean. The solicitor to the Inquiry is Peter Whitehurst and he is assisted by Charlotte Martin.
The Inquiry Secretary is Una O’Brien.
EXPERTS WILL ASSIST INQUIRY PANEL
The Inquiry panel will be assessing and evaluating the evidence and assisting the Chairman. The panel's job will also be to listen and to ask questions.
There will also be a team of experts available to the Inquiry. The experts will be available for consultation and they will be qualified in a variety of areas such as paediatrics, cardiology, surgery, intensive care, anaesthesia, medical statistics and management.
Their views will be made public to allow them to be scrutinised by people with an interest in the Inquiry.
EMPLOYEE ADVICE - ADVICE FOR THOSE DIRECTLY INVOLVED
If you work, or worked, in an organisation which had a direct involvement in setting up, managing or delivering children's heart surgical services in Bristol you may be asked to give a formal written statement.
If you have any questions or concerns you should contact your employer's legal department.
You may also contact the Inquiry team direct and in confidence.