12 May 2022: Pickles - D

It’s round-up time for core participant questions

Dr Tuddenham not recalling positive testing people: She said it might have been part of a study, and that she thought the policy changed at a later date. 

Could she be specific about who the media-conscious Ministers were: She thought this was possibly gossip, but when pressed she said Norman Fowler had been a journalist, so was very “canny” about media issues, but actually her comment was general and not specific to Ministers responsible for blood issues.

She was asked who the main ministerial contact in Scotland was: She said she thought it was George Younger.

Dr Pickles was asked why the Penrose question request was so traumatic: She said the BSE Inquiry had been very difficult and she didn’t want to experience something like it again.

On the destruction of files: She said that Peter Lister had a large personal file to be gone through, but she herself never called for any files to be destroyed. She also said that when leaving a post, it was discourteous not to edit out your files of the stuff not useful to pass on.

Sir Brian had no questions for Dr Pickles.

For her part, Dr Pickles said she is terribly sorry for what happened, and she apologised for any part in that which people believe she was responsible for. Ho-hum.

So that’s it for this witness. People will have to judge if the Pickles has “preserved” her reputation and personal safety from condemnation. It might take more than a jar of vinegar to ensure that happens. Either way, it has left a taste in the mouth – a bitter/sweet one.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

26 July 2023: Sunak - A

And in walked the Prime Minister (PM), at exactly 2pm. One minute later the Chair enters. Sir Brian said a few words of thanks for the special circumstances related to access people had to endure due to the additional security arrangements. The PM gave the oath following his own religious affiliation. Counsel contextually reviewed how the witness had stated that his knowledge and involvement relied on other Ministers, however he had received more recent briefings in preparation for the appearance today. The first questions went straight to the communications from Penny Mordaunt when she was Paymaster General (PG). These highlighted in strong terms the need for action at the time and not to delay. Before answering, the witness wanted to say how he recognised this was, “An appalling scandal … people have suffered for decades” (and other fine words not backed up with action). In relation to the letters from the PG, he did not see them under the normal situation of a triage to filter the c...
Read more

25 July 2023: Dunn - B

Questions from core participants: Was there an investigation into the newspaper leaks? She was not aware of one, but that would have been taken forward by the Cabinet Office. (Fox and chicken coop comes to mind.) What are the main elements being used to come up with the leaked figures? She was not able to say but would get back to the Inquiry with that information. On psychological support, will the research be made publicly available, and when? She expected it would be and was expected in August. The research was understood to have been commissioned in 2022, but the need was highlighted in 2020. Why did it take so long to get to the point of commissioning the work? She said there was a process of “ongoing dialogue” after which it was decided that what was required was more ongoing dialogue. (That’s not exactly how it was phrased.) The Chair referenced himself as having, on several occasions, expressed the hope that he can recognise how everyone in the UK, including England, was benefi...
Read more

17 November 2022: Panel on finding the undiagnosed - A

Another panel of leading medics were assembled to address the issue of how to find people who are still undiagnosed. There was one from each of the four nations: Professor Graham Foster (England); Professor John Dillon (Scotland); Doctor Brendan Healey (Wales); and Dr Joanne McLean (Northern Ireland). As usual, for each witness there was a brief review of their respective roles and responsibilities. The situation in England started with a description of the HCV elimination initiative and its arrangement involving the pharmaceutical companies which was lauded by the English witness but seemed curious. For their cooperation, the pharma companies get anonymous, headline data on patients. There is a three phase elimination programme in England. Phase 1 is about oral therapies. Phase 2 is about risk groups. It involves an incentivised process to encourage the identification by re-engagement with patients who had had a positive test but had not been treated. It involved about 50,000 people. ...
Read more