Remember My Name, the report from the Serious Case Review into the life of Margaret Fleming, highlights a number of serious issues for people with learning disabilities, their families and all of us who want Scotland to be a place where everyone matters equally.

The question of how a young woman with a learning disability can disappear for seventeen years is a painful one for the community she lived in and the services that were meant to keep her safe.

SCLD is pleased to see how thoroughly the Review was carried out, and that people with learning disabilities were extensively involved in a series of extended workshops at different stages of the Review.

The report contains lessons for all public services. SCLD will reflect on the recommendations and comment further in due course – we will remember Margaret’s name.

The importance of communication and the sharing of information between agencies is highlighted as an area for action in the report and is a recurring theme that has implications for all of us.

Equally, for the communities that Margaret lived in, there is much in this report to reflect on. There was general disbelief that such a uniquely tragic death could happen, and a commitment from many individuals to ensure that such a thing could never happen again.

SCLD affirms that every life is of equal value. Everyone must matter enough that they are not allowed to become isolated, invisible and disappear.

This report must be read widely, and its recommendations taken to heart and acted on.

Margaret Fleming’s name must be remembered, not just in Inverclyde but across Scotland. By remembering Margaret’s name, we commit to keeping visible everyone who risks becoming invisible.

Read the report

Remember My Name – A Significant Case Review into the life of Margaret Fleming