Drug deaths on the rise despite decline

By Cara Sulieman

THE NUMBER of drug related deaths in Scotland is going up, despite a decrease in the last year.

Figures published today show that in 2009 there were 545 drug related deaths in Scotland, 29 less than the year before.

But the numbers are the second highest ever recorded by the Register General for Scotland and it looks as though they are going to keep rising.

The vast majority of the deaths were of men, standing at 76 per cent.

The Scottish Government said it was doing its best to make sure the upward trend doesn’t continue and are introducing new drugs to try and reduce the number of drug related deaths.

Thousands of operations cancelled every year

By Cara Sulieman

MORE THAN 600 operations are cancelled in Scotland a week, with a quarter of them being scrapped by the hospital.

NHS Fife chalked up the most, with 146 operations a week being called off.

Just over half of Fife’s cancellations were made by the hospital, and the other half by patients or “other miscellaneous reasons”.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde were next with 99 a week.

Distillery bosses resurrect 130-year-old still

Jim McEwan is preparing to create new blends with the experimental stills

By Cara Sulieman

WHEN a tiny Hebridean distillery needed to bring in more equipment to meet rising demand, they ditched plans to buy new state of the art machinery and decided to resurrect a 130-year-old still, thought to be the oldest in the world.

Islay distillers Bruichladdich are almost ready to begin conjuring new whiskies with the still used when the original factory opened in 1881.

The company have also brought in a second still – dubbed Ugly Betty by staff – that they rescued from the closed-down Allied Distillers, near Dumbarton.

Distillery boss Mark Reynier said that they were both unique and would allow them to “play” with their spirits.

Scottish NHS Boards slammed by Ombudsman

By Cara Sulieman

SEVERAL Scots health boards have been slammed by the Public Services Ombudsman over a series of complaints by patients – on the same day that NHS Scotland was revealed as being the least efficient in the UK.

Jim Martin, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, has highlighted six cases where complaints were upheld against NHS Boards.

In his January report, which was delivered to the Scottish Parliament today (Weds), Mr Martin said that the cases “speak for themselves in the suffering many of them describe”.

The “stories of inconvenience, pain, distress and suffering” uncovered by the Ombudsman included an elderly woman with dementia who suffered in silence for two months before NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde finally diagnosed her broken leg.

Cancer fright inspired Glasgow ship-builder’s girl Cath Kidston

By Michael MacLeod

FLOWER power millionaire designer Cath Kidston says having cancer helped her avoid credit crunch debt.

Before launching her worldwide empire of floral-print shops, the Queen of kitsch was hit by a brutal cancer that deprived her of the chance to have children.

But she says the deadly disease helped her avoid bankruptcy and sparked her imagination to launch a business which now rakes in a staggering £31.3 million per year.

She believes her crafty firm is riding the wave of the recession because people are being forced into DIY and making or adapting their own clothes.

The 50 year-old, whose dad Archie was chairman of the Clyde Shipping Company, launched her self-named company after losing both her parents to cancer.

Descendent of heroic Scots sea captain honoured with medals

By Alexander Lawrie & Oliver Farrimond

THE SCOTS Captain of the two worst maritime disasters in British naval history has finally been honoured – almost 70 years after the loss of 6,000 brave men.

Captain Rudolph Sharp was in charge of the Clyde-built Cunard liner Lancastria which was attacked by German bombers in June 1940 and was sunk in just 20 minutes.

Sharp survived the attack, but over 4,000 of his men lost their lives that fateful day, and the wartime incident remains the worst loss of life in British maritime history.

Captain Sharp’s three great-grandchildren travelled from Australia to attend the Scottish Parliament yesterday and receive the Lancastrian commemorative medal from MSP Christine Graham.

Shetland-born Sharp, who came from a long line of seafarers, went on to perish while commanding another vessel, the Laconia, off the coast of West Africa in 1942.

The Laconia, a converted ocean liner, was torpedoed by German submarines with the loss of an estimated 1600 victims, and remains Britain’s second worst maritime disaster in history.

The brave Captain, perhaps conscious of the unfounded guilt he felt over the earlier loss of the Lancastria, reportedly ensured the women and children were placed in lifeboats, then walked to his cabin, locked the door and went down with the ship.

Vale of Leven C Diff report published

By Cara Sulieman

THE REPORT into the C Diff outbreak at Alexandria’s Vale of Leven Hospital revealed that positive changes have been made – but more still needs to be done.

It found that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have made “rapid and very significant progress” to the way the hospital is run.

Between December 2007 and June last year, 55 people contracted the deadly infection and 18 went on to die in one of the worst outbreaks of the disease in Scotland.

After drawing up a list of recommendations last year the review team returned to the hospital to make sure the staff were making the changes.

Joining the team were ex-patients and family members of those affected, including a representative from the Families’ C Diff Justice Group.

The report found that all of the recommendations had been implemented, but some improvement can still be made.

Professor Cairns Smith, a professor of public health at Aberdeen University who headed the review, said that there was still a long way to go.

He said: “It is clear that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have achieved a great deal over recent months they must however continue with this current level of commitment to maintain a high level of performance in infection control.”

But despite efforts to improve conditions, the MSP for the area, Jackie Baillie, is calling for a public inquiry.

She said: “I welcome the progress identified by the follow-up review into procedures at the Vale of Leven Hospital, but it is absolutely clear that we still need a public inquiry to give the families the answers that they deserve.

The review team said that a combination of monthly monitoring, new infection policies and a major training exercise for all staff have helped the hospital reach better standards.

These measure have all been credited with “positive changes to the physical environment and positive atmosphere of the hospital.”

With an initial report carried out last August, seven recommendations were put forward for the hospital to implement.

As part of the investigations, the review team went round the hospital to check that the changes were being made on the ground and interviewed senior managers at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Badly needed refurbishment of the hospital is expected to be finished in May, improving the conditions in which patients will be treated.

Nicola Sturgeon, who ordered the review, wants the lessons learnt from Vale of Leven to be followed by NHS trusts across the country.

She said: “Improving infection prevention and control is crucially important in our hospitals, both to reduce infections such as MRSA and C.diff and increase patient confidence in the healthcare system.

“The original report into what happened at the Vale of Leven highlighted a number of important shortcomings which required to be addressed urgently. This is happening not just in Greater Glasgow and Clyde but also throughout the NHS in Scotland.

“While it is heartening that the review team found that such significant improvements have already been made at the Vale of Leven, it is vital that we continue to build on this. I expect health boards across the country to learn the lessons of what happened at the Vale.

“We are committed to doing all we can to tackle ‘superbugs’ like MRSA and C.diff. A raft of co-ordinated measures has already been introduced with more to follow over coming months. It’s encouraging that the latest statistics give cause for optimism that our efforts are now reaping rewards.”

But Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dunbarton, has questioned the validity of the review, saying that not enough time was given to the team to find out what had caused the outbreak.

She said: “Professor Brian Toft, a patient safety specialist with Coventry University, said the report ordered by the Scottish Government was “not fit for purpose”. It gave little help to other Scottish hospitals hoping to avoid a similar serious outbreak.

“Even Professor Cairns Smith, the report’s main author, has admitted that the short investigation he led during the summer did not have enough time to get to the bottom of every aspect.

“Nicola Sturgeon’s approach to C. difficile has been complacent and piecemeal. We need a public inquiry to learn lessons so that other Scottish hospitals avoid a similar serious outbreak.”