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![Link to Alan Milburn's [Secretary of State for Health] Speech to the House of Commons [UK Government] on the 30th of January 2001](../images/report2.gif) |
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We now know that the Redfern Inquiry into what happened at Alder Hey will be published some time next week, probably Tuesday 30th January. At the point of writing, 22nd January, the arrangements for the release of the report have still to be finalised. You should receive a letter this week from the Regional Office of the National Health Service outlining the arrangements. If you do not get one then please let the PITY II office know (contact details above). It is vital that no information from the report is leaked to the press or anyone else before the official release time. The report has to be presented to parliament first (under parliamentary privilege), or any possible legal action from it could be affected. It has been agreed, however, that any parent or family member who wants to see the report before the Secretary of State for Health, Alan Milburn MP, presents it to parliament will be able to go to a "lock in" in a hotel to read it. There will be one of these, in a Liverpool hotel. The proposal at the moment is that this will be available for all concerned at 2.00pm, with the statement to parliament televised at 3.30 pm (you will be able to see this in the hotel as well). The legal teams will have access to the report from early that morning. Anyone who goes to receive the report early must understand that there must be no leaks. You will not be able to leave the hotel, or take your mobile phone into the room with you. Counsellors will be available to help with people who may be distressed by the report, but you cannot leave the hotel, or ring anyone up. We have asked for longer for all parents to be able to read it before the official time, but this is in the hands of the Secretary of State. The report is hundreds of pages, with a summary that is 30 pages long, so it will take some getting through. We have also asked that a similar arrangement to be set up in Preston, Manchester and North Wales so that as many parents as possible can get the report quickly. Although this has not yet been agreed, it seems likely that there will at least be a central point in all of these areas where parents will be able to collect the report and view the Secretary of State's statement to parliament. We will therefore not be using the co-ordinators houses as drop off points. Thank you to all of those who volunteered for this. The report will be posted to those who requested it, although this may take a day or two, especially as some of the Merseyside sorting offices are on strike. There may also be couriers arranged to deliver copies to some people who live a long way away from the collection points. A press conference will be set up so that some of the committee and others who have experience of speaking to the press can answer questions. We hope this will take the pressure off the rest of the group, and reduce the number of people who get called at home by the media. Getting this far with the arrangements has been challenging both for the PITY II committee and the co-ordinators of the group as well as those in the Regional Office who have to organise the practical arrangements. We hope that you will be kept informed, and we will do our best to do so. It will be a very difficult week for everyone, and we hope that you will understand if not everything goes according to plan. It has been a difficult time for everyone in the run up to the report. Feelings are running high. We all need to pull together and support each other during this difficult time.
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II (Parents who have Interred Their Young Twice) is the parents' support
group set up in the wake of the organ retention scandal
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Waiting
for the Inquiry Report