Guilt Free Railing 13

[WouldBeGood]

Unlucky for some.. maybe lucky for us?

It crossed my mind to try getting the app but I don't actually need it so won't bother now.

I'm not sure that a UK app would actually work as all 4 nations have different NHS systems that don't talk to each other. It can be hard enough to view info from another health board within the same country.
I've downloaded the app and it's working fine although not yet showing my covid booster from last week.
I've got the app as I go to football games and might need it for that.

@ladylunchalot if it was offered though then it would have been possible as the app used in England also uses the same basic information that the Scottish one does of a NHS number.

My NHS number for instance has stayed the same, I was born in England, lived in Wales, back to living in England and then to Scotland. My NHS number has never changed and the information has always been transferred.

@Scottishskifun that's right, your chi will never change as it's unique. Any information held would then be sent (and probably not electronically!) to wherever you have moved to.
What I meant is that there is no NHS system that holds all the 4 nations info so I doubt that an app would be able to operate with having to extract the info from 4 different databases.

So, the Uk offer was meaningless as the app couldn’t be tailored to use the Scottish info…??

I think not.

Anyway, I’m not getting it just now as it’s pretty pointless and I disagree with it and it’s deliberate exclusion of people without fancy phones, passports, or driving licences, never mind who are not vaccinated.

[quote Ladylunchalot]@Scottishskifun that's right, your chi will never change as it's unique. Any information held would then be sent (and probably not electronically!) to wherever you have moved to.
What I meant is that there is no NHS system that holds all the 4 nations info so I doubt that an app would be able to operate with having to extract the info from 4 different databases.[/quote]
That's correct @ladylunchalot.

@WouldBeGood

So, the Uk offer was meaningless as the app couldn’t be tailored to use the Scottish info…??

I think not.

Anyway, I’m not getting it just now as it’s pretty pointless and I disagree with it and it’s deliberate exclusion of people without fancy phones, passports, or driving licences, never mind who are not vaccinated.

No. It could have been tailored but not for 'free'. It would have needed work and money to make it compatible.

That being said I think resources should be shared where possible. If the English one was any good we should have just used it. It was similarly repulsive when England rejected similar offers of a working track and trace system from
Ireland, or indeed didn't build on their existing track and trace system, and instead wasted billions on a shitty system that didn't work.

Managed to get into the Scottish app first time right enough but I only tried today. Hopefully that means any issues have been sorted. It isn't ideal that you need ID to access it though. It is exclusionary. Does the English app require ID does anyone know?

@forfucksakenett no English app doesn't require photo ID it's linked to NHS number and accessed through the NHS app which also shows vaccination record (along with things like GP appointments) and the covid pass has a QR code.

Well that would definitely be better.

You do need to show ID in the English App also , it's not sufficient to just input the NHS number-

You will have to take a photo on your mobile of one of the following accepted types of ID:
Passport
UK driving licence (full or provisional)
Full European driving licence
European national identity card

I suppose the English app is for travel outwith the uk.

It’s all super depressing,

There is a lovely wee video that takes you through the process for the English one and whilst you need a smart phone or PC to set it up, you don't need photo ID for the app and it also then goes on to describe how to get a paper record. Very straightforward.

However there may be a pre registration identity check for the main App but it doesn't say. I think the main app is used for more than just Covid stuff.

I think it also
Provides for the ability to get one if you have natural immunity for 180 days after a positive PCR??

Can I ask what would happen if for example a couple from England fancied spending the weekend in Glasgow or Edinburgh and wanted to go to an event that required a vaccine passport? Could they just use the English app?

@imstilljenny2

Can I ask what would happen if for example a couple from England fancied spending the weekend in Glasgow or Edinburgh and wanted to go to an event that required a vaccine passport? Could they just use the English app?

I believe so, it just shows the information regarding your vaccinations so it wont matter which App it is.

If the Scottish Covid passport reader app can read the English QR code..?? 🤣

Anyone could’ve shared the app. Although it’s curious that no scottish firm was deemed capable of running the project, which is worrying enough for Scotland’s creative and technology industry. I’m actually curious to know the tendering process for the app. Who signed off the successful bid?

For comparison, it really is as simple as, say a project which aimed to put a saltire graphic on your U.K. driving licence…for those that would wish that…and then not letting DVLA lead the project🤷‍♀️

@StarryEyeSurprise

You do need to show ID in the English App also , it's not sufficient to just input the NHS number-

You will have to take a photo on your mobile of one of the following accepted types of ID:
Passport
UK driving licence (full or provisional)
Full European driving licence
European national identity card

That's if your using it for international travel yes.

If your not using that section for international travel then the NHS app shows your vaccination status.

To be fair on the app thing - and I am really loathe to defend the SNP on anything - the two NHS systems really are totally separate. I had to attend a walk-in clinic in the south of England with a nasty infected insect bite on holiday. My Scottish postcode wasn't recognised by their system. My GP practice did not appear on their database. To all intents and purposes, I was as foreign a patient as someone from China or South Africa.

I am not a techie and have no idea how easy it would be to upload the NHS Scotland database onto the English NHS database to allow them to talk to each other. Might be easy, might not.

It's fairly clear though that the app roll out has been yet another fuck up in a long line of Scottish government fuck ups. People like my parents who don't have a smartphone, laptop or printer - ok so they're not going clubbing, but may want to go to the theatre or a sporting event. People who have had their first jab in England/Wales and second in Scotland (so loads of students) aren't recognised by the app as fully vaccinated. Hospitality industry up in arms over how long it will take and how difficult it is going to be to manage.

So over all the rubbish of it now, cases are yet again falling rapidly from a peak about a month ago, but we're still having to wear masks in Tesco?

And what happened to the statement in August that school children would wear masks for 6 weeks, with Shirley Anne whatsit saying they would drop the masks and other nonsense restrictions in schools/Unis "as soon as possible"? So 6 weeks from 12th August was 23rd September. And we're now almost at the October week.

18 year old DS has had 1 day in Uni because of this, and has 2 more days between now and fucking Christmas. He's not meeting any people, everything on Zoom. Because of fucking Nicola fucking Sturgeon and her zero fucking covid. He is struggling enormously and it is ALL DOWN TO HER and her "advisors" like that Devi one.

It really is all shite @KingsleyShacklebolt. But top quality railing!

"I had to attend a walk-in clinic in the south of England with a nasty infected insect bite on holiday. My Scottish postcode wasn't recognised by their system. My GP practice did not appear on their database. To all intents and purposes, I was as foreign a patient as someone from China or South Africa."

This is ridiculous @KingsleyShacklebolt given that we are all part of the UK. If there must be separate systems (and I'm yet to hear a good reason why there needs to be) then at the very least they should talk to each other, since we all travel/work/whatever quite freely across the whole of the UK!

(I also agree with other parts of your rail - cases are rising/falling irrespective of masks or any other pointless 'look, we're in control' type measures, and they should all be made voluntary at this point!)

Top class railing.

As far as I understand, I think what they were sharing was the technological platform. It didn't need to be joint, just a separate but essentially the same App, so similar to the current situation but aside from a small bit of IT stuff, free.

With the further advantage of being easier to join the two at probably a small shared cost at a later date.

We do similar at my work, a file platform is used by many clients. It's essentially the same thing with a few client specific tweaks and obviously each client only sees their own files but we can access all versions.

That will be right @ElephantOfRisk it would mean they share the tech not the admin system.

Public sector IT is a quagmire of bespoke systems, you could be between two health boards in the same country and suffer issues, but much has changed in years in that regard.

I logged on a bit tired last night and wondered why you were all taking about chi energy and that the thread had gone woo!

Yep, the tech (the build and function of an app) not the associated data, that would be entirely separate (and cost sub600k to migrate, obviously).

Loved your rail @KingsleyShacklebolt with you 100%. I really did benefit from two weeks in London for work (and of course fun in the evenings). Coming back the differences are stark, right from when you step off the train at Waverley. The mask wearing being the most obvious. I’m back to feeling bleak about the winter months ahead.