Bill Wilson MSP

Former MSP Bill Wilson's correspondence with UK Defence Minister Dr Liam Fox has been the subject of an article on the website of the International Coalition to Ban Depleted Uranium.  The article, pointing out disturbing inconsistencies in the UK Government's attitude to the use of depleted uranium weaponry, may be read here .

New figures out this week show Clostridium difficile rates  in the over-65s have fallen by 77% in the last four years.

MRSA rates, despite a small rise in the last quarter, are down 31% on December 2009 and 63%  over the last four years.

These figures show the difference between PFI and publicly run services.   Under PFI we saw a decline both in the number of cleaners and in the wages of those cleaners who kept their jobs.  Under the SNP government the number of cleaners has increased by 1,000 and the living wage is being fully implemented within the NHS.  Provide a sufficient number of people and pay them fairly and you get the job done; provide insufficient people, treat them with contempt, and the job does not get done.  Of course, proponents of PFI will argue that you can save money by hiring fewer cleaners.  Perhaps, but you pay when patients develop complications (never mind the personal cost to the patient).   It has never ceased to amaze me that the Labour party still supports PFI.  Just how spectacular and consistently does a system have to fail before they realise that it does not work?