Public health minister gets mauling
NICOLA Sturgeon insisted the ‘buck stops’ with her after her public health minister was criticised over a car-crash performance on the new coronavirus vaccine.
The First Minister was quizzed at Holyrood yesterday over whether she would leave Joe FitzPatrick in charge of the crucial vaccine roll-out.
Mr FitzPatrick’s involvement with the logistical work and administration of delivering the covid jab was questioned after a stumbling effort to address questions on the issue. On Wednesday,
Mr FitzPatrick took an urgent question from Tory health spokesman Donald Cameron.
But he refused to directly answer Mr Cameron’s question on an update of plans for the roll-out of the vaccine in Scotland.
Instead, he attempted to set out a timeline of events leading up to Wednesday’s announcement – prompting presiding officer Ken Macintosh to repeatedly cut in and rebuke him. During First Minister’s Questions yesterday, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard asked Miss Sturgeon if she was ‘really going to leave the current minister for public health, sport and wellbeing in charge of’ the vaccine roll-out.
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘On responsibility for the Covid vaccine and all aspects of the Covid response, whether it is the health secretary, the public health minister or any minister, we are collectively responsible and engaged in making sure that we respond effectively. Ultimately, the buck stops with me, as is right and proper.’