Question reference: S5W-28407
- Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 15 April 2020
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Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 8 June 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Scotland's established life sciences sector, for what reason it is not making greater use of the expertise in university and research institute labs throughout the country to increase the testing capacity for COVID-19.
Answer
Academic partnerships have already been set up with laboratories at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Aberdeen and two further academic partnerships are expected to go live in June. Additional capacity is provided by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service.
The University of Glasgow hosts one of three Lighthouse Labs established across the UK to analyse samples taken from regional testing centres, which are part of the UK Expanded Testing programme.
National Services Scotland is assessing offers of laboratory space from various sectors in Scotland. This requires ensuring the testing is done in a way that is safe and meets high quality standards for confidence in the results and complies with due diligence. National Services Scotland are working with Enterprise Scotland to engage with private laboratories that have offered assistance.