Scotland’s health secretary has been urged to set out the full details of a deal between the health watchdog and the government after it was revealed its duties include shielding ministers from criticism. In a letter to Humza Yousaf, Jackie Baillie, Labour’s health spokeswoman, also demanded a copy of all correspondence between Public Health Scotland and St Andrews House relating to any published documents. SponsoredThe Times last week revealed that PHS, which reported on the mass discharge of patients from hospitals, has to score papers to determine whether they criticise government policies. Baillie wrote that it “must be clear that [PHS is] free to criticise ministers, to publish evidence independent of the Scottish government and act in the wholly independent way the public expects”.

Source: The Times June 14, 2021 23:02 UTC