A leading public health expert has criticised the SNP’s lack of transparency over Test and Protect data.
On today’s Good Morning Scotland (Thursday 14 August), the Edinburgh University professor, Linda Bauld, said the SNP government’s lack of transparency over the Test and Protect figures means that there is a “missing piece in the jigsaw” in Scotland.
She argued data must be made available on the percentage of contacts per positive case that had been successfully reached, the time taken to reach the individual, and if follow-up contact occurs for those who are asked to isolate.
Professor Bauld, chair of public health at the Usher Institute, also said that while the data is ‘very variable’, up to 20 people have been traced per Covid case in other countries, whereas only three people have been traced on average in Scotland.
Scottish Conservative health spokesperson, Donald Cameron MSP, said: “It is not acceptable that Scotland’s public health experts have to practically beg the SNP to provide the necessary data."
“Tackling this virus requires an honest, open approach. We will only stop the spread of Covid with every expert at Scotland’s disposal working together using all the available information. We can’t have a situation where public health experts are forced to cobble together what they can from limited data."
“This is more evidence of a troubling pattern of behaviour from the SNP on transparency. We have seen a similar approach over the SQA grade methodology, Salmond inquiry documents, and now, worst of all, vital Test and Protect information.”
Below is a partial transcript of Professor Linda Bauld’s comments on GMS.
Studio: “You’ve described the Scottish Government as lacking transparency on this issue about the Test and Protect figures. What brings you to that conclusion?”
Professor Linda Bauld: “So obviously I’m a researcher and I want to see all the data to understand what’s going on and what I’d say is huge progress has been made in Scotland, we have these COVID-19 statistical publications from Public Health Scotland…but this has been for me the missing piece in the jigsaw. As we’ve been hearing from Ken, there’s been a lot of concern in England, and part of the concern has been driven by researchers being able to see the data and interrogate it and find out which bits of the system are able to trace which proportion of contacts."
“We’re not able to do that in Scotland as all we have at the moment is the number of people who have been tested and then the number of people who are contacts. We don’t know the proportion who have been contacted or how long it’s taking to do that – although we’ve heard the First Minister give some examples."
“And then we don’t know what happens to those people who are followed up. We need to be able to see all those data to be confident that the system is working as it should be.”
