Infected Blood Oversight and Assurance Group - terms of reference

Role of the group

The role of the Infected Blood Inquiry Oversight and Assurance Group (OAG) is to bring together key NHS and infected blood stakeholders in order to oversee the effective delivery of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s recommendations, where those are recommendations to be implemented by the Scottish Government (SG), NHS Scotland or other associated organisations. A copy of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s report is available. (See recommendations at volume 1 pages 221-291).

The group would not be expected to deliver the recommendations itself and in most cases should not need to consider in detail how recommendations ought to be delivered, but will act as a forum to agree prioritisation of recommendations, taking account of their feasibility and potential impacts on other Health Board work, and assign responsibility for taking forward individual or groups of recommendations to organisations, existing groups (where a relevant group exists) or teams. The group would then monitor progress in delivering the recommendations.

Remit

The group’s remit would be expected to cover in relation to each Inquiry recommendation for the SG or NHS Scotland:

• agreeing the general approach to delivery of each recommendation or group of recommendations (taking into account feedback from relevant specialists), including if it is agreed the recommendation should be implemented in full, if there are modifications or additions that should be considered or if there are particular reasons why further work on the recommendation is not felt to be appropriate/necessary in Scotland
• for recommendations being implemented, agreeing which should be implemented most quickly and which are likely to need more time
• the group should give serious consideration to all recommendations directed at Scottish organisations. However, for any recommendations which the group agrees should not be implemented, or not in full, then the group should ensure that clear reasons are given as to why this was not felt to be either appropriate or necessary
• agreeing which organisation(s), team(s) or existing group in relation to each of the relevant recommendations should either: 
  • take forward implementation where the actions needed are clear, or
  • develop proposals for how the recommendation(s) should be taken forward where there may need to be further consideration of the best approach
  • and commissioning them to do so and report back on progress.
• where there is no existing group able to consider a particular recommendation(s) and a recommendation is likely to need input from several Boards, organisations or other stakeholders, the group could consider establishing a short-life subgroup(s) to support implementation
• monitoring progress at regular intervals to ensure recommendations are delivered to a reasonable timetable

However, overseeing implementation of recommendations which need to be delivered at UK level, including any compensation scheme, will not be part of this group’s remit, although the group may wish to be kept updated on the UK Government’s progress on those recommendations. The group will however wish to discuss the future role of the Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme, managed by NHS National Services Scotland and how it works with the compensation scheme. There may also be recommendations for other UK-level bodies, such as Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which would be out with this group’s remit, but where implementation could impact Scottish Health Boards, so the group will seek to keep up to date on their plans. If there are any recommendations for the wider SG that are not related to healthcare (For example, around duty of candour, training, guidance or propriety of civil servants, etc.) we would need to discuss with DG Corporate and HR colleagues how those would be taken forward and whether they would be overseen by this group or another one.

Term

This terms of reference is effective from June 2024 and continues until the completion of the recommendations or agreement by the group that it is no longer need.

Membership

Membership of the Oversight and Assurance Group will be kept under review and may change over time as the recommendations progress to ensure membership remains relevant and current, but you can see the core membership on the group page.

Relevant experts or SG policy leads may be invited to attend meetings to provide input in relation to specific recommendations. On occasion, it may also be appropriate to invite delegates from the UK Government to update on the recommendations being taken forward at UK level or Director General (DG) Corporate and Human Resources (HR) colleagues to update on recommendations being taken forward at SG level.

Roles and responsibilities

Roles and responsibilities will be discussed within the Oversight and Assurance Group.

The members of the group will commit to:

• aiming to attend all scheduled OAG group meetings or, if they are unable to do so, arranging for an alternate member to attend or ensuring relevant advice and actions are taken forward before the meeting and fed into the secretariat
• championing the group’s work with their networks/the group/organisation they are representing and raising awareness as appropriate with their networks of any actions they need to take
• where relevant, seeking feedback before or after group meetings from the group the member represents or relevant clinical groups or specialties to gather information in order to inform the group’s discussions
• respecting each other’s views and working to find solutions where disagreements arise

Meetings

All meetings will be chaired by Christine McLaughlin, Director of Population Health, SG. Decisions will be made by consensus. 

The SG will act as secretariat. Meeting agendas and minutes will be provided by staff from Public Health Capabilities Division, this includes: 

• preparing agendas and supporting papers 
• preparing meeting notes and information 

Minutes from the meetings will be published on the Scottish Government website once they have been agreed by the group. 

The group may need to hold two or three initial meetings fairly close together but should then be able to move to less regular meetings until most or all recommendations have been implemented or are in progress (likely quarterly or biannual). 

If required, subgroup meetings will be arranged outside of these times at a time convenient to subgroup members.

Accountability, governance and support

The group is not established on a statutory basis. It is therefore not subject to the formal public appointments process. However, group members should declare to the Chair if they have a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest in relation to any recommendation; if necessary, they may be asked not to participate in sections of meetings discussing particular recommendations. 

The group will work with the existing SG Quality Assurance Group as that group is considering similar recommendations from other reviews relating in particular to patient safety and also giving patients a voice. Both the Health and Social Care Management Board within the Scottish Government and the NHS Board Chief Executives Group will be kept updated on the group’s progress and may be asked to consider recommendations from the group if appropriate.

Participation in the group will not be remunerated (although for non-Scottish Government/NHS staff, grant funding provided can be used to allow charity representatives to devote time to the group). 

In the event that any group member is asked to speak to the press about or relating to the work of the group, they should ensure they make clear to the journalist whether they are speaking as a representative of the group or in another capacity. If they wish to speak as a representative of the group, they should agree this beforehand with the Chair (or if the Chair is unavailable with the group secretariat).

Meetings will primarily take place online through Microsoft Teams. If the group wishes to meet in person, a Scottish Government venue may be used. Any expenses such as travel and subsistence will be paid at normal Scottish Government rates, unless this is already covered by attendees’ regular travel and subsistence arrangements. 

Amendment, modification or variation

This terms of reference may be amended, varied or modified in writing after consultation and agreement by OAG members.