Covid-19: Scotland must hold public inquiry into this national scandal – Miles Briggs MSP

After First Minister Nicola Sturgeon accepts that transferring patients from hospitals to care homes without testing may have cost lives, Miles Briggs MSP says relatives of the dead must know the truth about what happened

Nicola Sturgeon has questions to answer about Scotland's handling of the coronavirus outbreak (Picture: Fraser Bremner/Scottish Daily Mail/PA Wire)

It is now 10 weeks since schools were shut and the coronavirus lockdown began in Scotland, and restrictions are finally starting to lift.

We have managed to get the virus under control through listening to public health messaging, following official guidance and making personal sacrifices, by not seeing our loved ones in person to protect them, ourselves and the NHS.

We are coming to a crucial juncture in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic as we come out of lockdown while continuing to try to keep the virus under control.

It is vital that we keep the rate at which this coronavirus spreads within the community as low as possible and that is entirely dependent on members of the public.

For a public health message to be effective it must be clear and also have public support.

The rationale behind limiting social interaction remains the same, to slow the spread of the virus that causes Covid-19 and protect those in society who are most vulnerable to the disease.

Using our own personal judgement is going to become increasingly important as the lockdown restrictions are lifted, to protect our loved ones, ourselves and our National Health Service.

NHS staff have been working exceptionally hard during this pandemic to give everyone who is admitted to hospital with Covid-19 the best possible chance of survival.

We owe it to our National Health Service heroes and those who contract Covid-19, as we come out of lockdown, to all be as careful as possible to limit the spread of this particular coronavirus.

It is essential that hospitals and intensive care units stay within capacity, which has been built up while these strict restrictions have been in place, as the lockdown lifts.

The effort of all levels of government, and every one of us fortunate enough to serve in Parliament, should be focused exclusively on dealing with the current crisis.

I have consistently challenged SNP ministers on decisions being made about how Scotland responds to this pandemic and will continue to do so.

In particular, I have focused on holding SNP ministers to account over their handling of care homes.

This week the First Minister accepted that the policy of transferring patients from hospitals to care homes without testing may have cost lives.

The failure to comprehensively test care home residents and staff at the start of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, as well as shortages of PPE equipment, left care home residents and staff unprotected and at risk.

We know that elderly patients were routinely sent back to care homes from hospital without a coronavirus test, and that could have contributed to hundreds of deaths.

What is now important is that we get answers and the truth for families.

It is also now important that we see a full independent public inquiry about how this national tragedy has turned into a national scandal.

As an MSP for Lothian, you can be assured that my own focus will remain resolutely on the task at hand, which is to hold SNP Government ministers to account in the Scottish Parliament and to provide the principled and constructive opposition our country needs at this time.

Miles Briggs is a Scottish Conservative MSP for the Lothian region

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