By Brenda Steele:
‘As Common Weal head of policy & research Craig Dalzell, who proposed such a contact tracing, testing and isolation system a few week ago, has said, while this is substantial progress, it is a not an “action plan”. “It won’t count for much until the contact trackers are recruited and the testing capacity is put in place,” he adds.‘
https://sourcenews.scot/a-class-group-think-problem/
It is typical of a particularly unpleasant type of Independence “Supporter” who constantly carps and criticizes the SNP Government for not doing things as they want. I do not know who wrote this – although I have my suspicions.
I see that the author grudgingly indicates that ScotGov is on the right track as far as matters scientific go, but then wants the document to be something it is not – an action plan – and then proceeds to “critique” it on that basis.
It strikes me that the writer has profoundly failed to understand what this document is intended to do. It is to assure the Scottish people what scientific model ScotGov will be following and gain public support for this policy. In my opinion, it is also a shot across the bows of BoJo&Co to let them know they will not get away with their “Herd immunity” theory any longer. It is not billed as an action plan, and it is my belief that ScotGov will not issue one.
Today we have seen the spectacular failure of the Westminster Governments action plan. In true Tory “crash and burn” fashion they announced with great fanfare their new wonder system. They opened it to all – presumably they hoped to ramp it up ASAP to the ridiculous figures they announced. It was swamped, it crashed, they ran out of appointment slots and they ran out of through-the-mail testing kits. So now English NHS personnel are stampeded over in the mad rush of the general populace.
Contrast that with the little that is known about what ScotGov is doing. They have opened a test centre in Inverness (one of many I believe). It is being trialled by bringing in NHS staff on an appointment basis. Knowing the way ScotGov works under SNP I would be willing to stake money that they plan to roll it out in stages – once they have bedded it in. There is a good chance that Care Workers will be called in next, then key workers. I also know that ScotGov is screening/educating recruits for “test, trace, isolate teams”. They will be ready when the time comes. All of this is being done without big fanfare and announcements. If they did so, I have little doubt that the media would set up a screech about deviating from the Four nation agreement.
The author of the above hasn’t a clue about how devolved Governments have to operate under Tory WM rule. I shudder to think what would happen if they ever got into a position in government.
Further thoughts:
I ought to correct one thing. WM did not open the system up to the general public but they said it could be used by key workers – a term which they have never really tied down.
This piece spells out the problem.
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/uk-news/how-can-coronavirus-test-heres-18141554
Millions of people are now eligible for a coronavirus test under an expansion of the testing programme announced by Health Secretary Matt Hancock. As he seeks to reach his 100,000-tests-a-day target, Mr Hancock said key workers and anyone in their household will now be eligible for tests if they have symptoms of Covid-19.
Unlike Common Weal some commentators get what the ScotGov paper was about. In an article that was otherwise just a blizzard of snippet quotes, one sentence goes right to the political heart of the matter.
In a move that will heap pressure on the UK Government to spell out its own thinking, Ms Sturgeon said she wanted to “begin to restore some normality to our lives” while keeping the spread of the virus down.
And this New Statesman gets public support bit but misses the way ScotGov has lobbed the ball into the WM court. I would say that this article is a bit OTT when it comes to praise of NS but maybe the close up view of the WM debacle means that any adult behaviour will be greeted with ecstatic relief.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
I can assure that i have close relatives who are in Snr.posts in SNHS but protocol
Dictates that i can not say too much
But state categorically that it is no accident that Scottish results in dealing with all matters in this pandemic are considerably better than NHS England
So much so they attempted to poach one of them in particular by overt means through a most renowned global company
early on because when they sought advice from such company they were told that they could not really help but they pointed England in the direction to make contact
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I haven’t read this article, but I have a lot of time for Craig Dalzell.
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I do too, but he did not write the article. His quote was not relevant to the ScotGov document.
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From a report in the Herald today it would appear that the UK Gov did not tell the CMOs in Scotland and Wales that they were going live with this testing scheme. Furthermore the scheme as set up by Matt Hancock’s DoH does not have any mechanism built into it to check if the person applying for a test kit is an essential worker. Nice.
Here is a link to Matt Hancock’s interview on Ch4 news last night – the 1st time a Gov minister has deigned to accept an invitation to be interviewed on Ch4 news for long enough. Do you thing the overall positive reception for the SG’s report and Ms Sturgeon’s delivery of the report and its contents got the UK Gov rattled?
Compare and contrast to Ms Sturgeon’s interview the previous evening.
https://www.channel4.com/news/100000-a-day-tests-target-has-had-galvanising-effect-uk-health-secretary-on-covid-19-response
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Which Herald article?
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This all like a hame of chess they know their precious union is under dire threat
But little did they realise until too late that the initial response and actions they used are in fact moves upon the chess board that has put their queen in a dangerous checkmate situation
Especially as the dire fiscal consequences
Really bite such as collapsing house prices in London & SE.along with decimated private pension funds hammered & personal wealth portfolios diminish
The fiscal authorities have no more bullets in their armoury and will be at the mercy of the IMF soon and more importantly the 1st questions a lender
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Page 2 ‘Medical experts warn’ columns 2 and 3 in today’s paper. CMOs were giving evidence to Commons’ Committee
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Page 2 ‘Medical experts warn’ columns 2 and 3 in today’s paper. CMOs were giving evidence to Commons’ Committee
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I like Craig but he’s a Green with all that entails!! 😀
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UK ministers do like their BIG announcements but have form in not thinking or organising prior to BIG idea and more often than not the results are expensive, insignificant and fade into the ether.
You’d think with ‘journalists’ with a major story would be itching to delve into it and open any cracks but hey! We ken what happens.
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Craig is OK, but he’s maybe missed something – the same thing that most of the media appear to have missed. Who would you say is the strongest critic of the UK Government’s approach, especially criticising their failure to recognise “test, trace and isolate” as a key component of the fight against Coronavirus? Professor Devi Sridhar perhaps?
Not only is she generally critical, she can’t understand why they keep talking about “test, track and trace” – neither can I! What exactly is the difference between track and trace, and why are they avoiding mention of isolate, which is in the WHO guidance?
Professor Sridhar joined the Scottish Government’s advisory team on Covid-19 on 2 April, or perhaps even earlier. I can’t find a definitive date, but the appointment was noted by various medical-related websites on 2 April. Your local media seem to have largely ignored this fact; my best efforts with Google search could only find it mentioned in the Daily Mail (jeezo!). Readers of this blog may have known, but perhaps Craig missed it.
If you haven’t already done it, look up Professor Sridhar’s credentials and interests – they are very impressive, e.g. https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/devi-sridhar
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