MEDICS and carers arriving in Scotland will be forced to quarantine for two weeks, despite not having to do so elsewhere.

The Scottish Government is the only devolved administration to require health and care professionals to isolate for 14 days if travelling to the country from abroad.

Regardless of whether they are travelling to help in the fight against coronavirus, or for another reason, they will still be asked to remain in one place for a fortnight before being allowed out.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland these professions are on the list of exemptions and do not need to go into lockdown, enabling them to work on the front line straight away if needed.

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The Scottish Government has also taken a different approach to people who travel frequently for work, forcing anyone who works abroad at least once a week, or travels to the UK at least once a week but lives abroad, to quarantine for 14 days.

In the other devolved administrations, these people are also exempt.

A Scottish Government spokesman said "Our position is we don't have the same exemption, and all healthcare workers coming into Scotland from abroad (or if they fly into the rest of the UK and travel to their place of residence in Scotland) will have to self-isolate for 14 days before being able to work in a hospital or care home."

Miles Briggs, Scottish Conservatives health spokesman said the decision by the Scottish Government was "very odd".

He explained: "A very sensible decision has been taken to allow medics to deploy immediately to help NHS England fight against Covid-19.

"Considering identical advice will be available to the UK and Scottish governments, it is very odd the same isn't happening in Scotland.

"The reasoning behind it should be explained and I'd also like to know when this policy decision will be reviewed.

“Increasingly questions are being asked about SNP Ministers' handling of the coronavirus crisis and the incompetence we have seen from Jeane Freeman.”

The Herald understands some members of the Scottish Government's COVID-19 Advisory Group had not been informed or consulted on the decision to quarantine medics before it was announced. 

Labour MP Ian Murray, Shadow Scottish Secretary, said: “Measures are needed at the UK’s borders, but quarantine is a blunt instrument which we’re introducing just as it’s being lifted elsewhere in the world.

“A testing regime at airports would seem more sensible, particularly for medics and carers.

“The Scottish Government should produce its evidence for choosing a different path to the other nations of the UK.

“But given the SNP government’s track record of secrecy, and its failure to test healthcare workers in Scotland, the public is unlikely to get a clear answer.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat Health Spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton said the measures were "a recipe for confusion". 

He said: "Any further easing of the lockdown, including international travel, can only happen once the Scottish Government significantly improves testing and tracing.

“Scottish Ministers adding their own stipulations for key health and care professionals without explanation is a recipe for confusion. 

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“The Scottish Government is asking a lot the public and we deserve clear and honest answers in return. Ministers must publish the evidence underpinning their decisions or risk losing public confidence.

“Once we are through this crisis, there must be an independent inquiry with the strongest possible powers to review the Scottish Government’s actions, so we can learn lessons.”

Critics have questioned the UK Government Home Secretary Priti Patel's quarantine measures which came into effect yesterday, and said they were impossible to police.

Border force staff said they were only given the full list of exemptions to the restrictions on Friday, just two days before the policy was to begin.

While people can be fined for failing to comply with the quarantine restrictions, it has also emerged that just 20% of people travelling into the UK will be checked up on by officials.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We have not replicated the exemption in place in England to avoid a two-tier approach in which non-registered health and social care professionals coming to Scotland would have self-isolate for 14 days but registered health and social care professionals would not have to do the same.

“By removing this exemption, we are ensuring there is no risk in Scotland of health and social care staff who might potentially be carrying the virus arriving from overseas and going straight to work with immuno-suppressed patients.  

“This potential disparity was raised last week by our trades union partners Unison and the Health Secretary wrote to Unison on Sunday to assure them that all arriving health and social care workers in Scotland will be treated the same.”