Scotsman Daily Bulletin Wednesday 25 June

The Scotsman

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's Daily Video Bulletin for this Wednesday. My name's Dale

00:12Miller. I'm Deputy Editor of the Scotsman and I'm joined today in our Edinburgh office by

00:17transport correspondent Alistair Dalton. Alistair, we've got a couple of stories to talk about.

00:23There's a bit, as always, happening on the transport brief, but firstly, I just want to

00:27discuss today's front page of the Scotsman. And we led on what were being described as appalling

00:33cancer wait times, soaring to the worst level recorded. This is for the first three months of

00:41this year. Some, only two thirds of people were meeting the government's target around cancer

00:48wait times. It had dipped from the corresponding quarter last year. It had also dipped from the

00:53end of last year as well. Plenty of concern around this. It comes at a time when the Scottish

00:59government is under pressure to do more around the NHS and around the use of the money that

01:05they've allocated in the most recent budget to try to improve wait times and the access

01:11to appointments. It also comes against the backdrop of more concerns around the NHS Scotland app

01:17as well, which will be launched in December, but only to one type of patient or patient area

01:23in one region of Scotland. So there's big question marks over whether the Scottish government are

01:29achieving or making any progress in outcomes. And there's been comments from the BMA Scotland

01:35chair as early as earlier this week, where he spoke about the number of patients moving to private

01:42treatment because they just can't get what is required on the NHS. It is going to be a story

01:48and issue that affects many, many people watching this and is going to shape the run up to next

01:54year's Scottish election. Alistair, we're here to talk about roundabouts. Firstly, you've done

02:01a bit of a piece where you've looked and spoken to a couple of experts on roundabouts that are

02:07the trickiest, the most notorious, perhaps the most congested across the country and it's

02:12thrown up some interesting results. Yeah, I think roundabouts will probably be one of the most

02:18stress-inducing bits of driving as you come up, worrying about traffic behind you, anxious to get on,

02:28waiting to pull out, trying to judge the speed of vehicles, particularly when on a big roundabout,

02:34they're going around pretty fast. And then getting the right lane, that can often be a problem if

02:39the markings are eroded and then making sure you're in the right position to exit where you want to.

02:45There's one or two of the ones we've covered certainly give me palpitations because I never

02:49seem to get it right or seem to be in the wrong lane. So yeah, it's necessarily subjective, but

02:55we've taken some of the major ones in Scotland where it's known they've either have long tailbacks

03:02or are pretty tricky to negotiate. But it's not just our opinion. We've taken some figures from

03:09Crash Map, which analyse incidents and also some road safety experts from the AA, the IAM and Neil

03:17Gregg, who until recently was the IAM's man in Scotland. So you won't be surprised by some of these.

03:25It's going to be some of the main tourist routes, the A9 features, two big roundabouts in Perth and

03:32one at Inverness. You've probably grown when you think of heading up north and your travel is

03:39restricted. But also some big ones for commuters, Hummerston Gate at the east end of the M8 in

03:45Edinburgh and also probably the most notorious, the Sheriff Hall roundabout midway through the

03:52Edinburgh City Bypass. And that's where the Scottish Government does actually want to improve

03:58things, but it's been delayed by a public inquiry and lots of objections and ministers are still to

04:06get the results of that and decide what to do. Alice, my two personal bugbears, not to spend too much

04:12time on it, is the lack of investment in flyovers at some of these junctions. They cost all the

04:17money, but they do really help with congestion. We've seen this in other countries. But also when

04:22you're approaching the roundabouts, it's great if you know them. If not, you often virtually get to

04:27the roundabout and then you get an arrow indicating whether you can turn left only, straight ahead,

04:31right only. There's a lot of roundabouts like that across Scotland and you really need to know the

04:37intersection before you get to it. If you're a first time user or not a frequent user, it can be

04:42an issue. I also want to speak to you about another mode of transport that can frustrate

04:48our readers and some of the viewers of this as well. It's airports. And there's some figures

04:53out about two Scottish airports this morning and it doesn't make for great reading for them

04:57or the passengers using them. Yeah. And this is about how well people with disabilities and reduced

05:04mobility of CAD were looked after and assisted as they go through the airport. Now, this might have

05:10been in the past a very small number of people, but it's actually increasing faster than the overall

05:19growth in air travel. And it now counts to about one in 50 flyers. About five and a half million

05:26passengers a year in the UK are needing help getting to the aircraft, getting on board or getting off.

05:32And we've heard those horror stories about people being abandoned and for perhaps hours on end

05:38moving round. So the industry regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, does an annual check to see how

05:45airports are doing. And there's been some changes in the major Scottish airports this year with Edinburgh,

05:54which is by far the biggest airport, busiest airport in Scotland, has slipped from a good rating

06:01last year to needs improvement. And this was, they say, to do with a change in the company providing

06:09the service and the airport says things have improved. The report was year to March. Well, we'll see and

06:17you can let us know. And the other airport that slipped even in further, Prestwick, which is, only has

06:24Ryanair flights, slipped from very good to needing improvement as well. And that was to do a lack of

06:30consultation with disability groups. But the airport has pledged to fix that. The other two, Aberdeen has

06:38improved very good from good and Glasgow, very good, gone down from very good to good. We're waiting to get

06:44details. But the CAA is saying it's a huge challenge to keep this service provided well. And they talk

06:53about a dramatic increase in passengers as this aging population, people with more people with disabilities

07:00probably still able to fly. It will be a significant issue in future years. If you have any stories about

07:09passenger experiences or access at any of the airports, obviously Edinburgh and Glasgow press were

07:17highlighted there, please get in touch directly on email or social with Alistair. You can read both the

07:25stories, including our piece on the roundabouts at scotsman.com. If you ever can't find any of our

07:32transport coverage, there is a specific tab in the navigation bar available off the homepage. And follow

07:37us on all social media channels, and you'll be able to pick up a copy of this Scotsman tomorrow,

07:42where we will have coverage of the Scottish Government's announcement of its medium-term

07:47financial strategy. And also there's plenty else happening on the politics front, including more

07:52out of the NATO summit as concern continues over the situation in the Middle East. Thanks to you,

07:59Alistair, and thanks everyone else for joining us.

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