CMO Rape and Sexual Assault Taskforce minutes: October 2020

Attendees and apologies

Attendees

• Chair – Dr Gregor Smith (Interim Chief Medical Officer for Scotland)

• Colin Sloey (National Co-ordinator - CMO Taskforce, SG)
• Tansy Main (CMO Taskforce Unit Head, SG)
• Dr Edward Doyle (Senior Medical Adviser for Paediatrics, SG and Associate Medical Director for Women’s and Children’s Services, NHS Lothian)
• Greig Walker (FMS Bill Team Leader, SG)
• Rod Finan (Professional Social Work Adviser, SG)
• Sandy Brindley (Chief Executive, Rape Crisis Scotland)
• Sybil Canavan (Director of Workforce, Healthcare Improvement Scotland)
• Anne Marie Hicks (Head of Victims and Witnesses Policy, COPFS)
• Carol Rogers (SPA National Lead Forensic Scientist - Sexual Offences)
• Martin Morrison (Chair of Quality Improvement Sub Group and Associate Director NHS National Services Scotland)
• Lucy Dexter (Deputy Unit Head, CMO Taskforce Unit, SG)
• Fiona Wardell (Healthcare Improvement Scotland)
• Carol Potter (Chief Executive, NHS Fife)
• Michelle Harrity (CMO Taskforce, SG)
• Chloe Poole (Deputy Unit Head, CMO Taskforce Unit)
• Lynda Dobinson (FMS Bill Team Manager, SG)
• Stef Dinwoodie (FMS Bill Team)
• Jane Russell (CMO Taskforce Unit)
• Jillian Galloway (Chair of the Self-referral Sub Group and NHS Tayside, Head of Justice Healthcare and Urgent Primary Care)
• Fil Capaldi (Detective Superintendent, Police Scotland)
• Tricia Marwick (Chair of NHS Fife)
• Adam Bircham (CMO Taskforce, SG)
• Mark Burgess (CMO Taskforce, SG)
• Anne Neilson (Director of Public Protection, NHS Lothian)
• Dr Duncan Alcock (Chair of the Information Governance Delivery Group)
• Greig Chalmers (Deputy Director, CMO Directorate, SG)
• Carole Robinson (CMO Taskforce Unit)
• Jack Murray-Dickson (Child Protection, SG)
• Neil McKenzie (Child Protection, SG)
• Ryan O’Donnell (CMO Taskforce Unit)
• Dr Leanne Tee (NHS Highland)

Apologies

• Iona Colvin (Chief Social Work Advisor, SG)
• Lindsay Thomson (Medical Director of the State Hospitals Board for Scotland)
• James Crichton (Chair of Network Board, NSD and Chief Executive of the State Hospitals Board for Scotland)
• Katie Brown (Equally Safe Policy Coordinator, COSLA)
• DCS Samantha McCluskey (Police Scotland)
• Karen Ritchie (Deputy Director of Evidence, Healthcare Improvement Scotland)
• Gary Jenkins (Chair of the Police care network, State Hospital GG&C)
• Katie Cosgrove (Gender Based Violence Programme Lead, NHS Health Scotland)
• Lesley Swanson (Child Protection, SG)
• James Cox (Child Protection, SG)
• Louise Wilson (Director of Public Health, NHS Orkney)
• Professor Amjad Khan (Associate Post graduate Dean, NES)

Items and actions

1.   Welcome, Introductions & Apologies

• Dr Gregor Smith (GS) welcomed members to the meeting and invited introductions from members on the call.
• GS apologised for not being able to make the previous meeting but reiterated his commitment to the work of the Taskforce.
• GS welcomed Taskforce members who were attending the meeting for the first time:

• Carol Potter (CP), the recently appointed Chief Executive for NHS Fife who joins as the Chief Executive representative of all NHS boards in Scotland.

• GS then welcomed the new additions to the CMO Taskforce Unit. Chloe Poole (CPo), Deputy Unit Head, replacing Ieva Morrison and Carole Robinson (CRo), who had recently joined the unit to help deliver the virtual roadshows with Eddie Doyle (ED) and Lucy Dexter (LD)
• GS noted for members that Anne Marie Hicks (AMH) would be moving roles within COPFS and that this would be her final meeting. GS thanked AMH for her contributions to the Taskforce and wished her the best for her new role. GS stated that Moira Price was set to replace AMH on the Taskforce.
• GS noted the apologies.

2. Minutes of the previous meeting and Actions Log

• GS asked members to approve the minutes of the previous meeting (Paper 1). Members approved the minutes.
• GS indicated that the outstanding actions from the action log (Paper 2) would be covered during the relevant sections of the meeting.

3. Matters Arising

 

• GS highlighted the matters arising paper (Paper 3) to members for noting.

Survivor Reference Group

• GS invited Sandy Brindley (SB) of Rape Crisis Scotland (RCS) to provide an update on the Survivor Reference Group.
• SB highlighted that she had met with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport to discuss the Bill and its impact.
• SB then commented that a survivor had taken part in an interview with STV in response to the Bill. She went on to say that they had been positive about the Bill, the difference it would make to survivors and that they were pleased to have been given an opportunity to contribute to the Bill.
• SB noted that the leaflet to be given to survivors who had a forensic medical examination (FME) was currently with the group for comment. She went on to say that the group had commented on images that were used in the media and she was drafting a proposal to suggest more appropriate images were used.

4. Subgroup Updates

Delivery and Performance

• GS commented that there were no open actions for the Delivery and Performance Subgroup. He stated that there was a RAG report, stocktake paper and cover paper and risk register and summary paper (Papers 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8) for noting.
• GS invited Colin Sloey (CS) to provide an update on the work of the subgroup. CS started by stating that the overall progress of the subgroup was green and he was expecting the quarter two interim performance framework returns by the end of October 2020.
• CS noted that he would follow up with GS and Greig Chalmers (GC) on engagement with health board Chairs.
• Tricia Marwick (TMa) commented that it would be good to share Taskforce papers with board Chairs so they were fully aware of what was happening. SB noted that a survivor had been in contact with her regarding accessibility of Taskforce papers.
• ED commented that certain papers were not able to be shared due to sensitive information and GS stated that the Taskforce should be open and transparent where we can be.
• CS stated that the Taskforce unit would make it clear on the agenda what papers could be shared by members after the meeting had taken place.
• CS highlighted the stocktake report as a compendium of progress and implementation of the work of the Taskforce. He noted that it addressed the impact of Covid-19, the response to the HMICS report, the 5 year plan and the ten CMO asks. He went on to say that the paper was a reference point, providing detail for any member requiring clarity.
• CS noted the risk register for members. He commented that the IT system currently remained a risk and all other risks were continuing to be managed. He highlighted that it was important that subgroup Chairs carry out risk assessments and update their own risk registers.
• CS then invited Mark Burgess (MB) to provide an update on the Environmental Monitoring Short Life Working Group (SLWG) (Paper 9).
• MB highlighted the key points of the paper for members, for noting. He went on to say that the group had approved a sampling schedule and had detailed how results would be recorded and fed back.
• MB stated that Scottish Police Authority (SPA) colleagues were drafting an EM monitoring regime that would then be agreed by the group. He also noted that both physical and virtual site visits would be carried out on all adult and paediatric facilities.
• GS thanked both CS and MB for their contributions and noted that he had found the glossary of terms in Paper 9 helpful.

New Action

• The Taskforce unit would make it clear on future agendas, what papers could be shared by members after the meeting had taken place.

Clinical Pathways

• GS stated that there were no open actions for the Clinical Pathways Subgroup and asked members to note the RAG report (Paper 10)
• GS invited ED to provide an update on the work of the subgroup.
• ED commented that both clinical pathways had been finalised. The Adult Pathway was completed in the spring of 2020 and the Children and Young People Pathway (CYP Pathway) in September 2020. ED thanked all those involved in their development.
• ED noted that the completion of the pathways had been affected by a complex landscape including the UN convention on the rights of the child, Barnahus and developments in adult and child protection.
• ED stated that there would be a series of online roadshows to provide information on the package of resources including the pathways and national form before go-live
• ED asked members to approve the final Adult Pathway, the final CYP Pathway, the final National Form Part A and Part B (Papers 11, 12, 13 and 14) and to endorse the CYP Proforma (Paper 15).
• Members approved and endorsed all papers.
• GS noted his thanks to ED, LD, CRo and Niove Jordanides for all their work on the pathways and forms.

Legislation

•    GS noted that there were no open actions under the Legislation Subgroup and that the RAG report (Paper 16) and Bill Primer paper (Paper 17) were for noting.
• GS then invited Greig Walker (GW) to provide an update on the Bill.
• GW stated that the Bill had reached a milestone in getting through Stage 1 and that it had gained greater visibility and resonance. He went on to say that the timetable planned for the Bill to fully pass through Parliament by December 2020, with Stage 2 expected around 10 November 2020 and Stage 3 in December 2020. Royal Assent would be granted in January 2021. 
• GW commented that Stage 1 was the longest part of the process but the Health and Sport Committee provided a warm report on the Bill. He also said that there was a groundswell of support across the Chamber and MSPs appreciated its importance.
• GW noted that there was still a lot of work to be done to ensure self-referral was ready to be implemented but stated that MSPs were now expecting it to be implemented.
• GS thanked GW for his contribution and congratulated the Bill Team on the progress achieved to date.

Self-Referral

• GS confirmed there were no outstanding actions for the Self-referral Subgroup and that the RAG report (Paper 18) was for noting.

• GS invited Jillian Galloway (JG) to provide an update on the work of the subgroup.
• JG commented that the overall status of the subgroup’s work was green. She stated that several of the group were to be involved in Covid-19 and winter planning so they had ensured the work was progressed accordingly to take this into account.
• JG stated that the national Protocol (Paper 19) was for noting and comment. She went on to say that it was a draft at this point and asked for comments from members.
• Tansy Main (TM) commented that the Lord Advocate would have a role in approving the Protocol to ensure the chain of evidence was maintained. She also stated that the Workforce and Training Subgroup were working with NES to develop a self-referral national Protocol training package that all staff in SARCs would need to undertake.
• CS stated that SARCs would need to look at how they protected their premises without going back to a police type setting with bars on windows and CCTV.
• JG asked members to provide comments on the national Protocol to MB or Adam Bircham (AB) by 20 November 2020.
• JG then introduced the Retention Period recommendation paper (Paper 20) to members for approval.
• JG commented that evidence had been gathered across the UK, Ireland and US. The key findings were that self-referral was a relatively new term and there was inconsistent practice and varying retention periods across the UK and US. She went on to say that the paper recommended a 26 month retention period.
• SB noted that survivors had been asked about retention periods and had stated that their view was to retain samples for as long as possible.
• TM commented that the evidence took into account police conversion times and that there would be a public consultation to gather more views on the length of the retention period.
• JG then stated that other work ongoing for the subgroup included telephony access, with scoping of a national number hosted by NHS 24, and the development of a website.
• GS thanked JG for her contribution and asked members to approve Paper 20. Members approved the paper.

New Action

• Members to provide comments on the national Protocol to Mark Burgess or Adam Bircham by 20 November 2020.

Quality Improvement

• GS noted there were no outstanding actions for the Quality Improvement Subgroup.
• GS highlighted to members that the RAG report (Paper 21) was for noting and asked Martin Morrison (MM) to provide an update on the work of the subgroup.
• MM stated that the project governance group for the IT project had been set up and the funding stream had been agreed for the implementation costs.
• MM commented that he was meeting eHealth leads the following week to remind them of their responsibility towards implementation and ongoing costs.
• MM also noted that the subgroup were updating their Terms of Reference (ToR).
• GS thanked MM for his contribution.

Workforce and Training

• GS noted the two outstanding actions for the Workforce and Training Subgroup.
• Michelle Harrity to develop a robust proposal for the Remote Evidence Test of Change.
• Katie Cosgrove to provide an update on the Community Pharmacy Test of Change for August Taskforce.
• GS highlighted to the group that they had the RAG report (Paper 22) for noting.
• GS invited Sybil Canavan (SC) to provide an update.
• SC noted that both actions were referenced with the RAG report with the community pharmacy proposal to be developed further and that the remote evidence action had been impacted by Covid-19.
• SC commented that a Short Life Working Group (SLWG) was being set up to look into educating the justice system and legal professions on the Bill, self-referral and the wider work of the Taskforce. SC informed the group that the nurse Sexual Offence Examiner Test of Change (ToC) was being reworked slightly in terms of days and hours of attendance and that a revised proposal for the Community Pharmacy ToC was being developed.
• TM commented that there had been a lot of interest in the nurse examiner roles for the ToC and that two had been recruited.
• SC then introduced the Training Framework summary and full paper (Papers 23 and 24). She noted that, historically, there had been challenges in recruiting and retaining doctors into forensic examination work and the Framework was a tool to engage and attract interest. The Framework had been shared with NHS Learning & Development colleagues and feedback was invited on the style and format. That feedback would be used to further develop the Framework.
• SC then invited MB to summarise the DNA elimination database S-BAR (Paper 25).
• MB advised that currently some professionals provided a DNA sample for inclusion on the database but that this was not consistent across Scotland. The aim was to have all staff provide a voluntary sample to the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) DNA elimination database.
• MB stated that this had been endorsed by Unison, the Royal College of Nursing and the British Medical Association. He went on to say that the paper also proposed that GS and the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) would write to all staff encouraging them to provide a sample and reiterating the endorsements by the relevant groups.
• GS asked members to approve the proposal and stated he was content for the letter to issue jointly from himself and the CNO.
• Members approved the proposal.
• GS thanked SC and MB for their contributions.

New Action

• A letter from GS and the CNO to be drafted encouraging staff to provide a sample for inclusion on the SPA’s DNA elimination database.

6. Agreed actions / next steps

• GS reviewed the agreed actions from the meeting as above.

7. AOB

• GS asked for any other business but none was raised.

8. Dates of next meeting

• GS thanked everyone for their attendance and contribution and confirmed the next meetings were scheduled on the following dates:
  • 25 February 2021
  • 27 May 2021
• CS reminded members of the need to send a deputy if they were unable to attend.