The 64 recommendations made by Lord Bonomy to prevent a repeat of the baby ashes scandal will, it is to be hoped, bring some comfort to families.
Legislation will follow in a number of important areas, including creating a statutory definition of "ashes"; regulation of the cremation of babies of less than 24 weeks' gestation; and a requirement for crematoria to record the cremation of each dead baby, stillborn baby and non-viable baby, making clear in each case exactly what happened to their ashes.
What still has the power to shock in this long-running case is that there could have been crematoria which did not already keep such records. Dame Elish Angiolini, in her report on the Mortonhall scandal published last month, made the important point that practices at the Edinburgh crematorium failed to reflect changes in society's attitudes towards bereavement and particularly towards the loss of very young infants, or babies that had been stillborn or miscarried. The profound grief such losses cause is now far better understood and doctors, nurses and many other professionals are highly sensitive to families affected in this way. But old-fashioned insensitivities appear to have persisted at Mortonhall.
Many will wonder how widespread those failures were in other parts of the country. Last week, claims were made that babies had been cremated alongside adults at an Aberdeen crematorium and that must now be fully investigated, but other crematoria that also erroneously told parents that no ashes could be recovered after a baby was cremated may yet come under the spotlight. It is reassuring that the new national investigation team announced by the Scottish Government, to be headed by Dame Elish, will have a very broad scope and be able to expand to cover any crematorium about which concerns are raised.
Crucially, it will have access to everyone and everything that could be relevant, every record, document, member of crematorium staff, nurse, doctor or funeral director. This is the sort of open-ended investigation that is required to ensure that every case is properly investigated. Should it fail to shine a light into all corners, a full public inquiry should then be considered, but there is no reason at this stage to believe that it will.
The new team gives each individual affected family the chance of discovering what has happened to the remains of their beloved child. The investigators cannot, alas, make up for poor record-keeping or hazy memories, but their efforts should ensure that each family gets at least some information.
Meanwhile, it is good news that a new national committee, to include affected parents, will draw up a code of practice for cremation and look into creating a national memorial to these babies, something that could give families, especially those left without clear answers, a focus for remembrance and reflection.
Nothing can undo the pain this scandal has caused to numerous families, but some good will have come of it if these measures can ensure that it never happens again.
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