I NOTE with interest your report and editorial regarding the review being undertaken at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary by Healthcare Improvement Scotland ("NHS refuses to reveal fears about care quality at hospital and "NHS needs to be more transparent", The Herald, September 5).
I would like to address the point raised about secrecy. In June, Healthcare Improvement Scotland openly and proactively published comprehensive terms of reference for the investigation into the safety and quality of care at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. This independent investigation follows up concerns expressed about a range of matters, including the working relationships between clinical staff and senior management in NHS Grampian.
These concerns are being robustly and fully investigated by a team led by Healthcare Improvement Scotland. To date the review team has spoken to more than 300 staff working in the health service in Grampian as well as 220 patients and carers. In fairness to all those we have spoken to, and those patients who depend on health services at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, it is essential that the review is not jeopardised by placing unsubstantiated material into the public domain.
In recent memory, editorials in your newspaper have stated that we have "a reputation for getting things done" and that we're "tough and outspoken". The organisation is fully committed to living up to that reputation and delivering a final report that is thorough, fair, written in language that everyone will understand and that will lead to real improvements for patient care when it is published later this year.
It is important that the integrity of a professional investigation is not jeopardised by the premature release of information.
Dr Denise Coia,
Chair, Healthcare Improvement Scotland, Delta House, 50 West Nile Street, Glasgow.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article