Thread by @C4Ciaran

NEW: Leaked letter reveals row between Scottish Government and senior public health leaders over flagship care home testing policy.

May explain why routine testing of care home staff so slow to get underway..

Leaked letter is to the Chief Medical Officer from the Scottish Directors of Public Health.

It shows those actually implementing @ScotGov’s key care home testing policy were not on board:

They said it would divert resources from responding to actual outbreaks in care homes.

On May 1st @ScotGov announced all residents & staff would be tested in care homes with an outbreak.

On May 18th @ScotGov announced it now wanted all care home staff to be routinely tested every 7 days.

An eye-catching policy that goes further than the rest of the UK.

Two weeks after the big policy announcement routine testing of care home staff was barely off the ground.

We now know back on May 22nd Scottish Directors of Public Health were concerned policy had been announced without discussion or consideration of the practical implications.

Senior officials warned:

▪️it would divert resources from responding to actual outbreaks in care homes

▪️test not proven to detect the virus in people without symptoms

▪️could cause ‘considerable harm’ by providing ‘false assurances’

▪️focus should be on saving lives

Directors of Public Health in Scotland appeared to believe they were having to choose between routine testing of asymptomatic staff and prioritised testing of care homes with outbreaks:

Directors of Public Health in Scotland felt compelled to urge @scotgov to align with the best scientific advice:

I asked @nicolasturgeon if government and public health leaders should be falling out and seemingly pulling in different directions mid-pandemic:

Scotland’s National Clinical Director said letter’s authors are very senior leaders of Test & Protect and Health Protection Teams and @scotgov in regular dialogue with them.

Is it not even more significant therefore they resorted to letter writing to get their point across?

In their letter the senior public health leaders called on routine testing to be paused. They ask for the focus to be on saving lives.

Routine testing- the flagship @scotgov policy- is now being rolled out, with the aid of mobile testing units and since June 8th, access for Scottish care homes to the UK government social care testing portal.

Comment from @MilesBriggsMSP

📺Full story Scottish Government testing dispute: channel4.com/news/leaked-le…