Fears over 70,000 missing test results

CORONAVIRUS: Data still unreleased despite pledge from FM

The number of missing results from Covid-19 tests carried out in Scotland has snowballed to 70,000, raising fears vital decisions are being made “without the full picture”.

Results from swabs carried out by the Uk-run

Regional Test Centres (RTC) in Scotland have still not been published, despite Nicola Sturgeon’s promise to fix the problem “in days” in mid-may.

The Scottish Government, which yesterday released data from week one of its Test and Protect system, said it has now received “the full backlog of data” but is still unable to publish it.

It comes amid claims that testing at one of Scotland’s worst-hit care homes in Angus was put in place too late after 18 residents died.

South Grange Nursing Home in Monifieth was not prioritised because its outbreak was not “new or recent” despite the high death toll.

The number of missing Covid-19 test results carried out in Scotland has snowballed to 70,000 amid ongoing issues between the UK and Scottish governments.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon promised almost a month ago the results from Uk-run regional test centres (RTC) would be published in “a matter of days”.

However, little progress has been made since and in the latest update yesterday, 70,631 results from the centres were still not known.

It comes amid recent daily updates purportedly showing a large reduction in positive cases.

The opposition in Scotland say it calls into question the wisdom of easing lockdown.

Scottish Labour shadow health secretary Monica Lennon MSP said it’s “worrying” that the public still don’t have access to the “full picture” on the number of positive cases in Scotland.

She said: “I called on the Scottish Government to get a grip of this situation a month ago when this was first brought to light by The Courier.

“It’s not good enough that major problems are still being experienced this far into the pandemic.

“Both the Scottish and UK governments have been too slow at every stage of the response to this crisis.”

The issue, which first came to light in mid-may, has led to conflicting statements between the two administrations in London and Edinburgh.

The Scottish Government said it only received the “full backlog” of test results last week and plans to publish them as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the UK Government claims to have been sending the information to Holyrood for weeks adding it is “completely incorrect” that the data is missing.

There are five of the centres in Scotland, including one at Perth College, as well as various mobile testing units.

The UK’S Department of Health and Social Care say the results from them are still being published as part of the UK totals. The test centres are located throughout Scotland and England, but the Welsh government decided to opt out as it realised early on data sharing would not be efficient enough.

The individuals tested have been receiving the results of the programme, administered by accountancy firm Deloitte.

Scottish Green health spokesperson Alison Johnstone MSP said the fact so many tests are missing at this stage of the pandemic is of “great concern”.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We publish the number of tests done by the drive-through and mobile testing units on a daily basis.

“As part of test and protect we now receive all positive test results in Scotland into our tracing tool and these figures will be included in the data we intend to publish this week.

“There have been a number of issues in receiving historic results from the UK Government testing scheme into Scotland. We have been working to progress this issue, and as of last week we received the full backlog of data.

“We expect to shortly be in a position to include the historical data from UK Government testing, to complement the current reported tests. Then, on a daily basis, we will report on the combined NHS Scotland and UK Government data for Scotland.”