Question reference: S6W-03488
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 5 October 2021
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Current status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 20 October 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the number of toxicology reports that remain outstanding because of the reported backlog.
Answer
In 2019 COPFS began to experience delays in the provision of toxicology reports from the University of Glasgow, the main contractor for this service. This was further compounded during 2020 due to the pandemic.
Once a toxicological report has been finalised, it is then considered by the pathologist(s) who conducted the post mortem, and thereafter a final post mortem report is issued to the appropriate team in COPFS, who require to review it in detail before the next of kin can be informed of the final cause of death.
Working with Glasgow University, COPFS put various measures in place to address both the backlog and the increasing number of new deaths requiring toxicological analysis. The measures included agreeing a new format of abbreviated report for some cases, and an Improvement Plan which set out weekly performance targets and ensured focused progression with both the backlog of cases and newly reported cases.
Successful implementation of the Improvement Plan in particular means that there is now no backlog of toxicology reports and toxicology analysis is being completed in the majority of cases within 8 weeks.