[Closed] Scotland chief medical officer

65 miles away in the East Nuke o Fife

So the home has no symptoms? 😁

So, business as usual then?

One rule for the plebs, another for the rulers. The royal family buggered off to their country home as soon as they could, didn’t they?

She should be fined to set an example

The infected royal family buggered off to their country home as soon as they could, didn’t they?

FTFY bro. Bloody inbreds.

Sounds just like many others seem to be doing.

Do as I say, not as I do!

Aye, it's how these people operate.

To be fair, Prince Charles did not catch corona virus, then scuttle off to his second home against official guidance along with his retinue before bothering to get tested positive.

He's got loads of homes

Good to see The Sun presenting such an even-handed approach to this after their similarly scathing piece on the royals heading to Deeside.

I don't read the sun but are they wrong to report the family drove over , walked the golf course , stayed the night then back to Edinburgh next day. Anyone who has been fined for driving to walk their dog or flown their kite down the beach will be aggrieved. By the way I have a cat and have never ever had a kite

She's now apologised.

Even clever people can be thick

I felt calls for her resignation were a little over the top initially but as she does not appear to have any justification for her actions, which shows an appalling lack of judgement and disregard for the rules, it calls into question her fitness to be in the position and should make resignation inevitable.

I'm sure her voice and delivery will be missed by insomniacs all over Scotland.

she does not appear to have any justification for her actions

She says she has reasons, but admits they are not good enough to justify her breaking the basic rule she has been jamming down everyone's throat for the last 3 weeks.

Get rid; get someone sensible in. Her credibility is gone.

You would think a friend could have checked out the pad for her maybe a local if she was worried about security etc, it's a braw wee place to walk but a ghost town other than maybe Easter and a few weekends in the summer. Local young folk could never buy a property there , twelve years ago a two bedroom ex council was offers over £290,000
Had it been Navitie Crescent, Ballingry folk maybe wouldn't have bothered so much

Not really a surprise. A medic thinking they are above everyone else*

*some medics are not like this

The supportive comments from colleagues earlier this morning, prior to the apology, are particularly annoying too. Making excuses for someone who clearly thought the rules didn't apply to her. Idiots!!

I imagine a lot of MPs and MSPs are twitching at the moment. There will be plenty hopping between homes

I think what has happened is she is not used to being in the political firing line and thus made a misjudgment based on being used to working in the medical world not the political.

It's a nightmare tbh. Because she's been doing a good job, and Sturgeon's right that this would ba e terrible time to replace her. But she's massively undermined her advice. No good way through it tbh.

Does seem a wee bit OTT considering things like the Royal response, or the PM ignoring advice until he got it himself, but whataboutery doesn't help.

thus made a misjudgment based on being used to working in the medical world not the political.

So it was a political blunder but a pretty sound medical decision?

Doing it two weekends running is a hell of a misjudgment. The only thing that will save her is that it probably is a bad idea to lose your Chief Medical Officer at time like this. Someone else is going to have to do the stay at home adverts.

It's not the time to be replacing her. Stupid error, Police have publicly and privately warned her, let's focus on the real crisis here.

I think of an error is something you do by accident but this was a choice: she can't argue she didn't know/understand the rules so seems increbibly arrogant to assume they didn't apply to her..in that position i personally think the person in the role should be beyond reproach (the time we expected our MPs and Royals to be beyond reproach has long since sailed) as, by not being, could cost lives..."if the CMO can travel, why should i stay at home?" attitude. On that basis, regardless of how good a job she was doing, i can't see her position as tenable

Even clever people can be thick

This isn't being "thick", however, it's professional negligence. The authorities have been ramming the message about movement outside the home down everyone's throats because it is vital that everyone observes the rules, then the Chief Medical Officer decides to flout those rules for her own convenience. There will be a sizeable number of people out there today hearing this news and thinking that it is probably really OK for them to bend the rules a bit "if they need to".
I'm not one for knee jerk reactions, but this does feel like a resignation is in order. How does she retain any credibility when she's ignored her own advice?

Having just read one of the comments above, I hadn't even realised she had done it two weekends in a row...

We all make mistakes but she needs to go to send a message.

There's a lot of whatboutery regarding the "journalists" that tailed her but that's not an excuse and she was definitely  in the wrong. Unless she has some skill set that is irreplaceable, she should announce a handover and resignation.....

... immediately after Prince Charles does the same 😉

redmex
Member
... By the way I ... have never ever had a kite

There's a support group on here for you, my friend

The authorities have been ramming the message about movement outside the home down everyone’s throats because it is vital that everyone observes the rules, then the Chief Medical Officer decides to flout those rules for her own convenience. There will be a sizeable number of people out there today hearing this news and thinking that it is probably really OK for them to bend the rules a bit “if they need to”.
I’m not one for knee jerk reactions, but this does feel like a resignation is in order. How does she retain any credibility when she’s ignored her own advice?

what kcr said, it surely totally undermines her and the governments authority

Poor woman, she's on the wrong thread, she should be on the lockdown cycling thread, lots of folks on there need to drive somewhere. 🤣

it's a bit "chief air raid warden holds firework party during luftwaffe raid"

Just like the boxer last week a wee donation to a charity or maybe a tearful apology on telly, there must be many a competent doc to take her place, I've no idea what her salary is but must be pretty healthy unlike many of us unable to work, you would have thought her other half could have been advising her that it is a wee bit risky. Hope he got his pants pulled down and got a smack too

We shut our 'static' van before the lockdown came. We'd only had it open after the winter for 7 days. First visit was to open, clean, wash exterior and repair half the fence that had blown down. Next visit was to lock it up. No excuses for her.

Police have issued a warning to Scotland's chief medical officer for visiting her second home in Fife during the coronavirus lockdown

Maybe a shift on the front line, given that several of her colleagues have died as a direct result of doing their job might focus her attention a little better!

Anyone know how easy it is to replace a Chief Medical Officer at short notice?

This is very much a distraction from the bigger issue.

I think what has happened is she is not used to being in the political firing line and thus made a misjudgment based on being used to working in the medical world not the political.

Is this the "she knows better than everyone else so can ignore the public health message she fronts in the middle of a pandemic because that's for other people" defence?

She will have been shopped by the locals fed up of the weekend holiday home brigade who carry on regardless.

Sturgeon is defending her because others in the leadership of the pandemic response and generally in the SNP have been doing exactly the same.

This is very much a distraction from the bigger issue.

The issue of a virus, spreading across the country, killing people, with a chief means of prevention being getting people to stay home?

She will have been shopped by the locals fed up of the weekend holiday home brigade who carry on regardless.
I'm not sure Earlsferry has any actual locals - maybe up the coast either side a bit, but it is pretty much 100% Embra weekend holiday homes.

Interesting that Matt Hancock ignored the question a few minutes ago as to whether he had visited his second home, assuming he has one!

I’m not sure Earlsferry has any actual locals – maybe up the coast either side a bit, but it is pretty much 100% Embra weekend holiday homes.

There will be the cleaners and the people running the corner shop etc

She did it twice, she should be leading by example, immediate sacking, no one is irreplaceable.

If she wasn't much worried about the security of her house in Fife before, she certainly will be now.

Just watched her on the telly she didn't leave any humble pie for anyone else.