Recommendation R7: Reorganisation due diligence
From The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report, published 24 November 2014.
Recommendation
In any major structural reorganisation in the NHS in Scotland a due diligence process including risk assessment should be undertaken by the Board or Boards responsible for all patient services before the reorganisation takes place. Subsequent to that reorganisation regular reviews of the process should be conducted to assess its impact upon patient services, up to the point at which the new structure is fully operational. The review process should include an independent audit.
In brief (written by this site)
The Inquiry asked health boards to conduct due diligence before major structural reorganisations. The Scottish Government stated in June 2015 that it accepted all of the report's recommendations in full, but it did not describe action on risk assessments, regular reviews of patient services, or independent audits (Scottish Government response, Jun 2015).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 1 Oct 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
The Scottish Government accepts its responsibility for the failings identified in the report and we apologise unreservedly for the suffering and loss caused. We accept in full all of the report's recommendations.
Blanket government agreement does not establish acceptance or delivery by each addressee. Some response passages cover groups of recommendations.
Scope of the government response
The Scottish Government accepted all 75 recommendations together, in its response published on 18 June 2015. The response states the acceptance in the Cabinet Secretary's foreword, in section 1.3 and in section 5.1, and repeats it for the recommendations on infection prevention and control (Chapter 3) and on nursing care (section 4.1). It is organised by theme, not by recommendation: Appendix 1 lists the chapter sections that relate to each recommendation, and no passage answers any one recommendation alone. The response shown is the acceptance in section 1.3, which covers all 75.
Delivery
No statement on delivery from NHS Health Boards (Scotland) has been found in the sources searched (last checked 6 February 2026). This is separate from the response above.
Responsible bodies
Who has spoken
- Scottish Government
Response