On the surface, a mistake made during the search for pensioner Janet McKay was another worrying sign that all is not well at Police Scotland.

Superficially there are similarities with the M9 crash which led to the deaths of Lamara Bell and John Yuill and the terribly sad

conclusion to the search for Mrs McKay.

On both occasions Police were searching for missing persons and in both cases accurate, useful information from members of the public appears not to have been used or to have reached the right people.

This time, one lesson at least appears to have been learned and Police Scotland have moved quickly to own up to the communication breakdown and apologise for the fact that it occurred.

In the case of Ms Bell, the insufficient response may have led to her death. We do not know whether a delay in acting may have influenced the outcome of the search for Mrs McKay - it may simply have cut short the days of worry suffered by her relatives and this in itself would have been desirable.

The full details have not been made public and the 'adverse incident' to use police jargon, will be investigated.

That process should be allowed to run its course, and no-one should leap to conclusions.

The lesson here, according to Calum Steele of the Scottish Police Federation, is that there may be no lesson beyond the fact that sometimes mistakes are made. A young inexperienced officer forgot to pass on information that may well not have influenced the investigation, given that it was not first hand. In social media postings made in a personal capacity, Mr Steele said people had to be allowed to learn on the job and implied criticism of the decision to refer the case to the Police Investigation and Review Commissioner (PIRC).

"If we create an environment where officers believe any mistake will result in a press release & PIRC referral this will destroy morale," he said.

One would expect communications to be better within a single force than under multiple bodies, so any breakdowns are concerning.

However what is really worrying is the way the force has become a lightning rod for criticism. Under the new single force every problem is viewed as systemic, every failure part of a culture of crisis.

Failures must be addressed, of course. But that does not mean every mis-step should become a resignation issue or a political football.

After months of pressure on Chief Constable Stephen House to step down, he announced his intention to bring forward his departure from Police Scotland, after the M9 crash scandal. Now calls for his resignation have been replaced by calls for the resignation of justice secretary Michael Matheson.

Labour's Graeme Pearson justifies this on the basis that government ministers created Police Scotland, and "shouldn't hide behind front line officers."

But this is a dangerous path. Ultimately, ministers must indeed be accountable. But there is a difference between that and treating adverse events as charges on a party-political rap sheet. Operational control is not and should not be a matter for ministers.

It would be advisable for all those involved to await the findings of the PIRC investigation and take a more measured approach rather than making capital out of what was surely more than anything, a tragic accident.