I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of his statement and welcome him to the health and social care portfolio.

I welcome the announcement of the chairs of the public inquiry and the clinical review process into the Eljamel scandal and NHS Tayside. I pay tribute to the tenacity of the many campaigners, but in particular to Jules Rose and Pat Kelly. We would not be here today without their determination to see justice done.

It has taken almost six months for the chairs to be appointed but 10 years for the Scottish Government to agree to the review, and many of the victims of Dr Eljamel are getting older. In my view, their campaign strapline says it all: “They dither, we die.” On that basis, will the cabinet secretary pledge that the inquiry will get every resource that it needs and that the clinical review will properly proceed at pace? All the former patients need to be properly consulted, and not just to endorse the terms of reference, which should be finalised without delay.

I want to touch quickly on the clinical review of cases. The cabinet secretary will appreciate that the victims’ trust is in short supply. Can he therefore give a cast-iron guarantee that Jason Leitch, the national clinical director, will have no role in the review of cases or in the inquiry, given—