A war of words has broken out over the resignation of a leading scientist in the island’s Covid testing lab.
Dr Rachel Glover announced her departure in a tweet last week following public disagreements over the government’s testing policy.
Asked for a response to her resignation at the weekly Covid press briefing last week, Health Minister David Ashford said: ’I’m saddened that Rachel has decided to take that course of action but it is a decision for her.’
He stressed that the testing system was not based around one individual and there were highly qualified microbiologists and staff in pathology.
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Mr Ashford read out a letter apparently from a member of DHSC staff.
The writer, whose name was not disclosed, said they were demoralised at the implication that the test regime was down to one person and would not function without her.
’That is as far from the truth as can be. It’s left me feeling why do I bother?’ the letter writer said.
But Dr Glover questioned in another Tweet the authenticity of the letter. She said that it read like ’someone who is not all that close to the day-to-day testing lab’.
’Who writes anonymous letters these days anyway? Am I back at high school?’
She said that staff in the hospital lab had contacted her to say they were ’mortified’ and the contents of the letter was not representative of their views.
Dr Glover had criticised the government’s decision to suspend seven-day testing as this meant losing valuable data about the rate Covid-19 is being imported to the island.
She wrote: ’I don’t have a problem with a 14-day isolation. However, I do have a problem with us not testing people at all during the period when they’ve recently returned from an area of high infection prevalence.
’Pathogen surveillance shouldn’t be overlooked in favour of political gains.’
Dr Glover has also disputed claims that she had not been a member of DHSC staff.
Mr Ashford described her as ’contract bank staff, not an employee of DHSC.’
In response, she tweeted: ’Well, with all due respect Minister, I do hope the bank doctors, nurses, HCAs and other associated professionals in the DHSC who tend to prop up services enjoy hearing as much as I did that they’re not employees.’
l Examiner comment, see page 14.