WATCHDOGS have been urged to investigate a “series of blunders” by the Scottish Government over its coronavirus data.
Labour MSP Monica Lennon has written to the UK Statistical Authority asking for a review.
It followed Health Secretary Jeane Freeman publishing data on Covid tests for care home staff that failed to include around 7,000 tests by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs the total was around 11,000 on Wednesday, but the true figure was 18,110.
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Despite the data being published because of a Government policy to offer tests to all staff set on May 18, it was also bulked up by a month’s worth of data from before the policy existed.
Ms Lennon said: “A series of blunders by the Scottish Government during this crisis is worrying and ministers cannot be left to mark their own work.
“Nicola Sturgeon has stressed her ministers are working hard and sometimes trip up due to tiredness, however, mistakes and muddles are piling up and cannot be ignored.
“The First Minister claims to be open and transparent but the evidence doesn’t back this up.
“Public safety is at stake and we all need to be confident that the Scottish Government is being open and accurate at all times.”
Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw said the handling of the data had been “shambolic”, and urged Ms Sturgeon to correct the official record at Holyrood.
He said: “Mr Carlaw said: “These figures are of the utmost importance because they reveal what progress is being made in testing care home staff. That can’t happen again.”
At the daily briefing, Ms Sturgeon blamed “an administrative error” in relation to the test data.
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She added: “We will publish this data every week so you will be able to assess the changes week-on-week and that is what will be used for myself and the Health Secretary to scrutinise the progress that is being made but it will also allow both the media and the wider public to go and look at this data to see the progress that is being made.
“So there’s complete transparency around this information as I think people have a right to expect.”
The Government later blamed Public Health Scotland for it.
A spokesman said: “The original figures published yesterday were compiled by Public Health Scotland, but did not take account of all information provided by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
“The revised figures remain an underestimate of the number of tests carried out as they do not include tests done by routes other than NHS labs.
“As we have said, in the coming days we will work with NHS Boards to enhance this publication for the next set of data on 17 June, including further information on staff and residents tested in non-Covid homes in the previous week.”
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