Deputy Chief Medical Officer WhatsApp messages during the COVID-19 pandemic: FOI release

Information requested

The WhatsApp messages of Professor Nicola Steedman, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, during the Covid-19 pandemic, which for practical purposes we have interpreted as the period from 21 January 2020, the date on which the WHO published its ‘Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Situation Report’, to 30 April 2022, the date on which remaining Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in Scotland.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you have requested. I should note that the copies of these messages held by the Scottish Government comprise text only and do not include other media such as images.

The Scottish Government holds a copy of a WhatsApp conversation between Professor Steedman and Humza Yousaf MSP dating from 2021 during Mr Yousaf’s time as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport. I have attached a copy of this conversation, containing most of the information you have requested. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections 30(b)(i) and(ii), 37(1)(b)(i) and 38(1)(b) of FOISA apply to that information. An explanation of exemptions is provided in the annex.

Professor Steedman was a member of a group chat with colleagues from the DCMO Office used for managing day-to-day office logistics. I have provided a copy of this conversation, containing some of the information you have requested. We are unable to provide some of the other information in this document because exemptions under sections 37(1)(b)(i) and 38(1)(b) of FOISA apply to that information (again, see annex for further details).

Professor Steedman was also part of a WhatsApp group with colleagues, largely used to organise calls between participants. An extract of this chat has been published by the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. For the non-published portion, I have provided some of the information you have requested. We are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections 30(b)(i),37(1)(b)(ii) and 38(1)(b) and of FOISA apply to that information. As noted, an explanation of these exemptions is provided in the annex.

Professor Steedman was also a participant in a number of other group discussions with colleagues which the UKI has not published in full or in part at the time of writing. I have therefore provided copies of these to supply some of the information you have requested. As before, we have been unable to provide some of the information requested because exemptions under sections 30(b)(ii), 36(1), 37(1) (b) and 38(1)(b) of FOISA apply to that information (see annex for further detail).

The Scottish Government also holds a copy of a conversation between Professor Steedman and SG colleagues present at the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). We are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections 30(b)(ii) and 38(b)(i) of FOISA apply. In relation to the s.30(b)(ii) exemption here, I would note in particular that it is necessary for senior clinical advisers to have private space in which to discuss the implications of UKwide scientific meetings freely and frankly. Disclosure of these private deliberations would substantially inhibit their ability to explore options in a provisional way prior to offering formal advice. An exemption under section 30(b)(ii) therefore applies to some parts of this discussion, mainly relating to SAGE meetings held on 16 December 2021, 7 January 2022 and 10 February 2022. However, SAGE minutes for all three days have been published, so you will be able to access the public record of the meetings themselves and find formal accounts of the matters being discussed using the dated hyperlinks provided above, which I hope will be helpful.

Professor Steedman was also part of a discussion with her CMO counterparts in the UK Government and other devolved administrations. This document, which briefly features Professor Steedman on the final page, has been withheld in full under section 30(b)(ii), after discussion with the CMO Office about the conditions under which such conversations are carried out. They have advised that there is an expectation of confidentiality when discussions are held between CMOs and that maintaining a private space in which to exchange views freely and frankly is critical to the development of sound clinical advice. If the information exchanged in private between different CMOs were to be disclosed, it would substantially inhibit the continued ability of CMOs to discuss emerging clinical matters with their counterparts across the UK in a way that allowed provisional exploration of ideas and inter-CMO scrutiny, which in turn has an impact on their capacity to provide sound advice to decision-makers.

The Scottish Government hold a record of a group discussion between DG HSC directors. In the final page for which a record is held, Professor Steedman was added, but no messages to or from her containing government business were exchanged. The relevant section of text is therefore fully exempt under section 37(1)(b)(i) as this part of the conversation is held only for the purposes of a public inquiry (see annex for further information).

Professor Steedman was also a member of an additional WhatsApp group chat with officials, extracts of which have been published by the UK Covid-19 Inquiry (UKI). The Scottish Government has been supplied with a reference copy of this group conversation in confidence by the UKI as a core participant of the public inquiry. Please note that this material is subject to the UKI’s general restriction order of 23 February 2024. We are unable to provide this information because an exemption under section 37(1)(b)(ii) of FOISA applies to documents created by a person conducting an inquiry or arbitration for the purposes of that inquiry or arbitration. This exemption is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

In relation to the published extracts of the group conversation, under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the UKI website, please let us know and we can arrange to supply it in a different format.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses 

FOI 202400422235 - Information Released - Annex A and B

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