SHI-10 Accepted

Uniform policy for obtaining technical advice

Scottish Hospitals Inquiry · Scottish Hospitals Inquiry Interim Report · Issued 4 March 2025 · Addressed to: Scottish Government

Source — verbatim from the inquiry

Inquiry recommendation

This issue was highlighted in the Grant Thornton report where similar recommendations are made to what is set out above. NHSL has taken steps to address the issue. However, it is not clear from the available evidence that any such changes have taken place more widely within the NHS. I accordingly recommend that a uniform policy or procedure should be adopted for health boards undertaking new build hospital projects in relation to obtaining, and recording, technical advice on key issues.

Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, Scottish Hospitals Inquiry Interim Report · 4 Mar 2025 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:

- On 13 March 2025, Cabinet Secretary Neil Gray MSP accepted this recommendation (Scottish Government Parliamentary Statement, 13 March 2025).
- No published evidence that changes to post-completion environmental monitoring procedures have been implemented across NHS Scotland beyond NHSL has been identified to March 2026.

Response — verbatim from government

Scottish Government

All 11 recommendations accepted by Cabinet Secretary Neil Gray MSP on 13 March 2025.

Scottish Government · 13 Mar 2025 Written response →

Evidence trail — what's actually happened since

  • 13 Mar 2025 Cabinet Secretary Neil Gray MSP accepted all 11 recommendations in a parliamentary statement on 13 March 2025. Source →

Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.

How this page is built

Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.

This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.