‘Milly’s Law’ proposals voted down at Holyrood leaving Labour politicians ‘dismayed’
dailyrecord.co.ukThe Scottish Government has failed to include a package of measures dubbed “Milly’s Law” in new legislation, leaving Jackie Baillie “genuinely dismayed”.The Labour health spokeswoman criticised First Minister Humza Yousaf after a new Bill to establish an independent patient safety commissioner for Scotland was approved by MSPs.
She said it was “inexplicable” he would “express his support for Milly’s Law in public, on the record, but that his government simply does not vote for it given the opportunity”.She asked: “Was he even voting today?
Or has he run away?” Her comments came as MSPs passed the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Bill by 114 votes to zero.But the Scottish Parliament rejected seven out of nine amendments from Labour, which would have established a package of measures known as Milly’s Law, named after Milly Main, the 10-year-old who died after contracting an infection while in remission from leukaemia, at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow.Ms Baillie said she was “sorely disappointed” the changes were voted down by the SNP and Greens, adding: “This is a betrayal of the very people that this Bill was supposed to give voice to.”She told MSPs: “Amendments Scottish Labour brought forward presented an opportunity to rest the balance between patients, whistleblowers, families and powerful public bodies.
So I am genuinely dismayed the Scottish Government have not adopted the full package of amendments that make up Milly’s Law.“These amendments could have ensured that bereaved families were very much at the heart of the response to disasters and public scandals within the Bill.”The measures Labour had proposed would have placed a duty on the commissioner to advocate for the families
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