Fears over death rates at flagship Scots heart hospital (The Herald)

Scottish independence: Pound at heart of debate (The Scotsman)

Ukip leader Nigel Farage condemns ‘fascist scum’ who forced him to take refuge in Edinburgh pub (Daily Telegraph)

A third of roads maintained by councils ‘not acceptable’ (BBC Scotland)

£37m harbour vision promises 2,000 jobs (Press & Journal)

RBS branded ‘brutal’ for plan to axe 1,400 jobs (Daily Express)

Criminals could be given choice of serving short jail terms at home (STV)

Aberdeen Donside by-election: Nominations close on Friday (BBC Scotland)

Police criticised for spending £600,000 on foreign travel (The Herald)

Donald Trump begins wind farm legal challenge (The Scotsman)

For full details of all current and upcoming Scottish Parliamentary business, check out the official Business Bulletin.

Ex-Canadian PM: indyref poll could tear families apart (The Herald)

Boris Johnson: ‘London should have Holyrood powers’ (The Scotsman)

Science qualification call for new primary teachers (BBC Scotland)

Independent Scotland a ‘basket case’ if it refuses share of UK debt (Daily Telegraph)

MPs urge jail for any oil chiefs in price fix (Press & Journal)

UKIP leader Nigel Farage in Edinburgh to launch Scottish campaign (STV)

Health boards scrap postcode lottery for couples wanting IVF (Daily Express)

French MSP Christian Allard sworn in at Holyrood (Daily Record)

Scottish referendum: EU membership ‘not impossible’ in 18 months (BBC Scotland)

Vatican tells O’Brien to quit Scotland (The Herald)

Today’s Scottish Parliament highlights:

09.30: Mary Pitcaithly, convener of the Electoral Management Board, and Gordon Blair, chair of the Elections Working Group for the Society of Local Authority Lawyers and Administrators in Scotland (SOLAR), are among witnesses set to give evidence before the Referendum (Scotland) Bill Committee on the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill.

11.40: What action the Scottish Government is taking to combat antisocial behaviour is one of nine General Questions to be posed to ministers later this morning.

14.30: Energy Minister Fergus Ewing will lead a Scottish Government debate on electricity market reform.

For full details of all current and upcoming Scottish Parliamentary business, check out the official Business Bulletin.

A: We should be scaring the shit out of the public.

As answers go, it’s pretty succinct.

Addressing Holyrood magazine’s 4th annual Telehealth and Telecare conference in Glasgow earlier today, Professor James Ferguson, clinical lead for the Scottish Centre for Telehealth and Telecare (SCTT), was in typically, and refreshingly, blunt form as he opined how best to bring about the much needed change to Scotland’s NHS.

In a thought-provoking presentation Ferguson spoke of our “addiction” to hospitals and why it is a habit we sorely need to break.

An individual’s chance of death increases by 20 per cent after just 12 hours in hospital, compared to a 45 per cent reduction in mortality rate by using telehealth. And yet many continue to “overtriage” and choose hospital admission as the only solution, he said.

People – clinicians, patients, public – need to understand how serious those statistics are if we are to bring about a tipping point where they understand, question, and demand change.

Ferguson explained:

“If I came across someone who told me they were allergic penicillin and gave them penicillin – only 7 per cent would die because only 7 per cent who think they are allergic to penicillin are allergic. But, I would be struck off for that…

“But if I go to an elderly patient with multiple problems and go, ‘I think I’ll just send them into hospital,’ and they’ve got a 20 per cent increased chance of dying, nobody comes and slaps me on the wrist or says that is bad practice. And we’ve got to start thinking like that,” he said.

“We have to really guard against the answer to the overflowing A&E departments being more beds at this point in time. Because we know that just sucks up the acute resources, ” Dr Margaret Whoriskey, Director, Joint Improvement Team agreed.

“We have to build the confidence of the public, and of clinicians, and of politicians, that we can support people safely, and more effectively with the sort of outcomes that we would want for ourselves and our families in another way. Hospitals have their place and we absolutely need them. But we need them to be there for the right things.”

However, despite these ongoing challenges and frustrations about the pace of change, Whoriskey pointed out that Scotland is actually recognised as a world leader in telehealth and telecare and has been attracting interest, and investment, from around the world.

“One of the real achievements, I think, from the collaborative approach over the last few years has been our engagement with our European colleagues and Scotland’s success in terms of raising the profile of what Scotland is doing across Europe…” she said.

“So there are huge opportunities to learn from Europe, but also to showcase what Scotland is doing.”

She also said it was “absolutely fantastic” that Scotland now has a joined-up national telehealth and telecare delivery plan.

“First and foremost it recognises the synergies between telehealth and telecare agendas. Telecare has sat largely within a local authority context, telehealth has been NHS. But I think there are some really good examples now where local services are integrating the way they work and respond around telehealth and telecare.”

It’s a practical document that also clearly sets out the contribution telehealth and telecare will make to our policy ambitions, she explained.

The Scottish Government’s Health and Social Care Integration Bill will shortly be introduced to Parliament and, if passed, is expected to be enacted by 2015. However, telehealth and telecare are already out there “pioneering” health and social care integration, Whoriskey said, adding her belief that there are “fantastic opportunities” to move this agenda forward further still.

Holyrood magazine’s ‘Telehealth and Telecare: Towards 2015, Scotland’s National Strategy,‘ conference continues tomorrow, featuring keynote addresses from Health Secretary Alex Neil and Jonathan Linkous, Chief Executive Officer, American Telemedicine Association. 

You can also read more from Professor Ferguson about overcoming the barriers to change in this recent interview with Holyrood magazine.

Darling says No campaign needs to win well to avoid ‘neverendum’ (The Herald)

Salmond: ‘Independence only way to ensure EU stay’ (The Scotsman)

Cold weather and early Easter ‘double whammy’ for shop sales (BBC Scotland)

Campaigner urges Holyrood to launch full public inquiry into the building of Donald Trump’s Scottish golf resort (Daily Record)

‘Pathetic’ MSPs blasted over bedroom tax debate (Daily Express)

Lochhead hails talks ‘significant step forward’ (BBC Scotland)

Top film producer warns lack of studio could cost Scotland (The Herald)

Independence: Sturgeon rejects prisoner vote calls (The Scotsman)

Pensions nightmare looms if Scotland vote for independence (Daily Express)

Isle in line for massive boost – and new village (Press & Journal)

Today’s Scottish Parliament highlights:

10.00: John Berry, Sustainable Transport Team Leader at the Association of Transport Coordinating Officers, and Eric Stewart, Assistant Chief Executive, Operations for Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, will give evidence as part of the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee’s community transport inquiry.

14.00: What the results were of the recent ministerial visits to North America is one of this afternoon’s Portfolio Questions on Culture and External Affairs.

15.00: Minister for Environment and Climate Change Paul Wheelhouse will lead a Stage 3 debate on the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill.

For full details of all current and upcoming Scottish Parliamentary business, check out the official Business Bulletin.

Brown attacks Tory ‘Enoch Powell’ immigration policy (The Herald)

Scottish independence: armed forces size concerns (The Scotsman)

Free wi-fi for 25 Scottish railway stations (BBC Scotland)

Planning for independent energy (Press & Journal)

Independence referendum ‘affecting oil investment plans’ (Daily Telegraph)

Most welfare claimants ‘will struggle to apply for benefits online’ (STV)

Two-thirds of Commonwealth Games tickets will be sold at £25 or less to encourage a family friendly atmosphere (Daily Record)

Scottish housing market ‘continuing to grow’ (BBC Scotland)

Parents group warns policy on class size limits school choices (The Herald)

Scots beaches worst in Britain for bottle litter (The Scotsman)

Today’s Scottish Parliament highlights:

10.00: Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill, is among witnesses set to give evidence before the Justice Committee on the Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Bill.

14.00: Whether the Scottish Government considers that North Sea oil and gas production will continue for the rest of the century is a Topical Question to be posed to ministers this afternoon.

14.30: Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will lead a Stage 1 debate on the Scottish Independence Referendum (Franchise) Bill.

For full details of all current and upcoming Scottish Parliamentary business, check out the official Business Bulletin.

Heart attack patients filmed secretly by ambulance staff (The Herald)

Oil will last for rest of century – Fergus Ewing (The Scotsman)

Economic activity gathers pace (BBC Scotland)

Residents offered £6m to buy petrol stations (Press & Journal)

Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games ticket prices to be revealed (STV)

Revealed: Number of Scots reduced to poverty after having their benefits taken away on the rise (Daily Record)

Gordon Brown out of the shadows to fight for the Union (Daily Express)

Survey suggests support for public spending on Gaelic (BBC Scotland)

Council accused of ignoring law by granting pub licence (The Herald)

Trump to launch legal campaign against Salmond (The Scotsman)

For full details of all current and upcoming Scottish Parliamentary business, check out the official Business Bulletin.

• Cameron facing rebellion over EU decider (Scotsman)
• New poll reveals Trident ‘support’ in Scotland (Holyrood)
• SSE boss ‘ashamed’ over mis-selling (BBC Scotland)
• Referendum ‘purdah’ to be enforced on SNP, but not UK ministers(Scotsman)
• Sir Tom demands answers from the Yes and No camps (Herald)
• Scots MPs told to repay profits from homes (Herald)
• Patients left ‘to languish’ in A&E (Telegraph)
• Cafe culture coming to Edinburgh’s Princes Street (Scotsman)
• Blow for Nats as anti-independence rivals surge in poll (Scottish Sun)
• Green light for LED plan (Holyrood)

For full details of all current and upcoming Scottish Parliamentary business, check out the official Business Bulletin.

More than half of people in Scotland want to see Trident replaced – a new poll has claimed.

The surprising research from Lord Ashcroft, which contradicts claims made by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament from earlier this year, showed that 51 per cent of Scots wanted the UK’s nuclear deterrent replaced when it comes to the end of its useful life.

A total of 43 per cent of those 1,236 people polled thought nuclear weapons should continue to be based in Scotland with 39 per cent against it – although 68 per cent of people who said they were pro-Scottish independence said were against keeping UK nuclear weapons in Scotland.

Also included in the poll, 29 per cent though the country needed nuclear weapons just as much in the Cold War and 10 per cent said the need was even greater. Of those who backed replacing Trident, kept at the naval base in Faslane, 20 per cent wanted an equally powerful system and 31 per cent one that was less powerful, but cheaper.

In February the Scottish CND released its own survey that said 60 per cent of Scots were opposed to the UK Government replacing trident and only 14 per cent supporting.

Lord Ashcroft said: “It is always worth looking twice at any survey that seems to show that the public support the agenda of whoever commissioned it.

“Perhaps not at all surprisingly, a recent poll about nuclear weapons conducted in Scotland for CND is a case in point.

“Most importantly, CND omitted to mention that the government plans to replace Trident because it is coming to the end of its useful life. As it was, the question allowed those polled to assume the government wanted to spend billions on new nukes just for the hell of it. Looked at in that light, the results are hardly remarkable. Even so, the numbers served CND’s purpose, and were duly seized upon by parts of the Scottish press, and the SNP, which declared the issue a huge opportunity for the independence campaign.

“Told that the Trident system is coming to the end of its useful life and will soon have to be scrapped or replaced, only one third of Scots said the UK should give up nuclear weapons completely. More than half thought Trident should be replaced, either with an equally powerful system or a cheaper but less powerful system. Asking a separate sample the same question but adding that the cost of replacing Trident would be £20 to £25 billion made no significant difference.”

Last month Prime Minister David Cameron, on a visit to Scotland which included Faslane, said Britain still needed a nuclear deterrent to protect against new threats from countries like North Korea.

Later that month there were Scrap Trident demonstrations organised in Glasgow and Faslane to demonstrate the level of anti-nuclear feeling in Scotland.

In 2005, research from MORI commissioned by Greenpeace, showed 52 per cent of people in Scotland did not believe Trident should be replaced and only 34 per cent believed it should – the second lowest level of support across the UK behind London.

Reacting to news of the latest poll, Arthur West, chairman of Scottish CND said: “I would find these results surprising.

“It goes against all the other polls and research, not just from ourselves, but from others and it also goes against our experience of meetings and public events.”

An SNP spokesman said: “We are extremely confident that a majority of people in Scotland want to get rid of Trident nuclear weapons – in line with every other survey of opinion, and the recent overwhelming vote in the Scottish Parliament. Lord Ashcroft is guilty of the very thing he complains about – his question only included the procurement cost of a Trident replacement, when independent research shows that its lifetime costs will be nearly £100 billion.”

Under the Tribunals Bill, introduced today by Minister for Legal Affairs, Roseanna Cunningham, a two-tier structure is to be rolled out under the judicial leadership of the Lord President of the Court of Session.

A First-tier Tribunal will hear cases in the first instance and an Upper Tribunal will largely be devoted to appeals from the First-tier, though capable of receiving cases in the first instance that are deemed complicated or controversial.

The Additional Support Needs Tribunals for Scotland, the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland, the Private Rented Housing Panel/Home Owner Housing Panel, the Lands Tribunal for Scotland, and the Scottish Charity Appeals Panel are among the first devolved tribunals expected to see functions transferred in a process likely to commence by the end of 2015.

However, the Law Society of Scotland has raised concerns the new legislation fails adequately to safeguard the continued existence of a specialised Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland and delivery of justice for the most vulnerable within society.

A new office, President of the Scottish Tribunals, will be created to ensure effective disposal of business in the new system in a relationship with the Lord President akin to that of the Sheriffs Principal.

The Bill will also introduce a common system of appointments to tribunals, albeit the distinctiveness of existing tribunals will be protected, ministers say, via a chamber structure organised according to subject matter with separate judicial leadership of each.

“Tribunals are a central part of our justice system, providing access to justice for some of the most vulnerable people in our society,” said Cunningham. “However the current system is overdue for reform – it has developed over a long time in different ways, with differing leadership structures, appointment processes and ways to appeal.”

She added: “By simplifying the tribunals structure and standardising some processes, the Bill will make the system more user-friendly and effective, saving time and resources while retaining the benefits of the current specialised tribunals.”

Convener of the Mental Health and Disability Committee, Adrian D Ward, said: “The Society is supportive of the proposed Scottish Tribunals system and the Scottish Government’s current commitment to a specialised mental health tribunal.

“The Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland has the power to make or prevent significant interventions in highly vulnerable people’s lives. These include the power to detain patients in hospital, to specify where they reside and to give them medical treatment for mental disorder against their will. With such an extensive range of powers over people’s lives, the Society considers it necessary for the Tribunal to retain its existing highly specialised competence, to ensure the best decisions possible are made for the most vulnerable people in Scottish society

“We recommend that the Scottish Government’s commitment to the Tribunal should be reflected in the terms of the Tribunals (Scotland) Bill. The Tribunal’s place within the proposed chamber structure ought to be enshrined in primary legislation which could only be amended by a further Act of the Scottish Parliament. This would ensure full parliamentary and democratic scrutiny of any change to the Tribunal’s status. “

The plan is one of a number of energy efficiency programmes being looked at which could be  rolled out across the Scottish Government’s, and other large public sector, estates.

The GIB is already considering more than £500m worth of Scottish low carbon projects across the public and private sector. Work is on-going to assess to what extent the UK GIB will invest in these projects and what structures can support this investment.

Speaking at a Green Investment Bank conference in Edinburgh today, Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said: “By working closely with the GIB, converting Scotland’s street lighting to LED is a programme the Scottish Government has identified which would be ideal for potential GIB funding. Payback time is estimated at around seven to nine years, which is an outstanding spend to save case based on energy savings of as much as 40 to 60 per cent. It is an excellent example of how investing in low carbon projects can have long term savings as well as helping to protect the environment.

“Projects like this are important as indicative analysis by the Scottish Futures Trust indicates that an investment of £350 million in low carbon measures – across the Scottish public estate – could lead to potential cost reductions in the region of £900 million.

“The GIB is already actively looking at projects in excess of £500 million and I have no doubt it will not be long until there is a significant Scottish GIB investment announcement.

“Scotland is already an international destination of choice for low carbon investment as well as being a global leader in tackling climate change. So there really is no better place for green investment.”

UK Government Business Secretary, Vince Cable added: “After only five months in operation, the Green Investment Bank is already punching above its weight. Today’s results are a pleasing start for this groundbreaking institution. They show that the Bank is doing precisely what we set it up to do – draw in and not shut out private sector capital.

“I now want to see the Bank move on to become a valued and integral part of the UK’s financial infrastructure, playing a pivotal role in the financing of our transition to a green economy. We must seize the opportunities for jobs and economic growth in this sector before others do.”

Read more about the work of the Scottish Futures Trust project here.