In today’s Sunday Post the following open letter was shared:
There was a wide range of signatories to this letter including Baroness Cumberlege who chaired the recent First Do No Harm Review. The call for a Scottish Patients’ Commissioner has cross party support.
The Sunday Post highlighted the experience of one bereaved parent:
I find it hard to express how much I welcome the Hear Our Voice Campaign. Here is the start of a letter that I submitted to the Herald over two years ago. It was not published at the time but the issues that it raised remain just as concerning:
21 January 2018. Dear Sir, I have now witnessed the Scottish Government’s Department of Health seeming to disbelieve the evidence presented in three separate health-related petitions and the experience of those who have petitioned. These included the petition by the Mesh survivors (PE1717); my petition for a Sunshine Act for Scotland (PE1493); and now Marion Brown’s petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal (PE1651). The latest evidence session to the Scottish Parliament’s Petitions Committee once again would seem to demonstrate the Scottish Government’s starting position that its statements carry greater value than those made by individuals and groups challenging the status quo. This defensiveness may be understandable in terms of politics but does nothing to help advance the matter under consideration. Senior Scottish Government officials should not be considered more “credible” just because they are in more powerful positions. Dr Peter J. Gordon (writing in a personal capacity)