Documentation of technical adviser advice
Scottish Hospitals Inquiry · Scottish Hospitals Inquiry Interim Report · Issued 4 March 2025 · Addressed to: Scottish Government
Government responseScottish Government: Accepted (Sep 2025)
DeliveryScottish Government states no delivery position (Mar 2025)
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
I accordingly recommend that a similar procedure should be considered when technical advisers (particularly engineers) are providing specific technical advice in relation to a project such as the RHCYP and DCN. There should be a clear record of the advice requested, and the advice tendered. This should ensure that there is clarity around what expert input advisers are providing in circumstances where such input is required. This is particularly important where, as on the RHCYP and DCN project, the technical advisers work closely day-to-day with the health board's project team and are engaged in commenting on design or construction proposals. Such arrangements can lead to informality and a lack of clarity about the scope and role of the advice, and the reliance which can be placed upon it. In contrast, the approach I recommend should be such as to generate a sufficient body of evidence to support and document relevant decisions. This should contribute to more robust governance and oversight of decision making.
Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, Scottish Hospitals Inquiry Interim Report · 4 Mar 2025 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
AI-generated evidence summary
In September 2025, Neil Gray, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, wrote to Clare Haughey MSP confirming acceptance of the recommendation and committing to provide a future update on implementation progress (Neil Gray response, Sep 2025). In a March 2025 statement to the Scottish Parliament, the Minister had committed to working with health boards and other NHS bodies to consider and address the interim report's recommendations (Neil Gray, Mar 2025). The record holds no update since the Scottish Government's response of September 2025 (Neil Gray response, Sep 2025).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026.
About this summary
Government response
●Scottish Government · Accepted · 17 Sep 2025
On 13 March 2025, I made a statement in parliament, addressing the Interim Report and its recommendations. I accepted all recommendations and committed to provide a future update on progress around the implementation of those recommendations.
Delivery
●Scottish Government states no delivery position · 13 Mar 2025
The Scottish Government is committed to working with the health boards and other NHS bodies to consider and address each of the 11 recommendations made in the interim report.
From: Scottish Hospitals Inquiry (Interim Report) (Meeting of the Parliament, 13 March 2025), Neil Gray, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
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The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.