Volume 9: Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Part 2: Scotland
11. Comment
Bovine eyeballs

11.10 On the second occasion, Scotland took action well in advance of England. This was the issue of advice to schools by Mr Atkinson of the Scottish Education Department in March 1990 about the dissection of bovine eyeballs. This initiative regrettably was not followed in England and Wales until the end of 1992, for reasons examined in Chapter 9 of Volume 6.

11.11 We commend Mr Atkinson for acting promptly and decisively. We note there was criticism within the Scottish Office at the time that this advice had been issued without adequate prior consultation with colleagues. However, the initiative addressed a currently occurring occupational risk from potentially infective material. It ultimately prompted advice from SEAC. Mr Atkinson's short-circuiting of the usual procedures may have been imperfect administration and not a model for general adoption, but it had the merit in this case of avoiding the quagmire of delay into which the clearance process was to fall south of the border.