Heads Must Roll! (14/07/15)

I suppose some kind of independent review was inevitable after the police in Scotland fail to investigate a car crash until three days after the event was first reported.

But as things stand the only fact we know is that the original call was taken by an experienced police officer who for some inexplicable reason failed to 'log' the incident on the police computer system.

Yet the officer concerned is apparently still on active duty while opposition politicians call loudly for heads to roll and for the chief constable, Stephen House, to consider his position.

Now please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall senior officials or Labour politicians volunteering to fall on their swords when serious failings in public services have been exposed in years gone by.

For example, Andy Burnham was Labour's health secretary at the time of the Mid Staffs NHS scandal where poor standards of patient care caused up to 1200 patients unnecessary deaths, but neither Andy Burnham or the local NHS chief, David Nicholson, resigned.

In fact David Nicholson went on to become chief executive for the whole of NHS England, before being awarded a knighthood by Her Majesty the Queen, while Andy Burnham is, of course, staring to become leader of the Labour Party.    

Scots police face review as crash victim dies


John Yuill and Lamara Bell were left lying in a crashed car for three days PA

By Georgie Keate - The Times

An urgent review of how Police Scotland handles calls from the public was ordered by ministers yesterday after a woman who was left for three days in a crashed car died in hospital.

Lamara Bell, 25, died from her injuries after the car in which she was travelling with her boyfriend, John Yuill, 28, crashed off the M9 in Stirlingshire.

Even though a member of the public reported the accident to police, the couple were found only three days later, when a second member of the public telephoned in.

Mr Yuill was pronounced dead at the scene, while Ms Bell was taken to hospital with severe injuries and dehydration. Now Michael Matheson, the justice secretary, has directed Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland to undertake an urgent review of police call handling.

“It is essential that answers are found quickly,” he said. “This independent review will provide the Scottish government with an accurate picture of capacity and capability at present, and clearly identify any issues so they can be promptly remedied.”

The announcement came after allegations that the officer who took the original call was not trained to use the computer system for call handling. Police Scotland said it could not “go into specifics” but said that all those who worked in its call centres “should be” properly trained.

Sir Stephen House, chief constable of Police Scotland, has admitted that a member of the public rang the non-emergency number 101 at 11.30am last Sunday and the call had not been logged. He apologised to the families of Ms Bell and Mr Yuill for the “individual failure in our service”.

Union chiefs at Unison have claimed that civilian staff cuts at Police Scotland’s call centres have led to more officers answering 101 and 999 calls since the country’s forces were merged in April 2013. There are concerns that the failures could be systemic.

“What this is about is that an experienced officer did not know how to work the system,” Willie Rennie, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said. “It’s what an awful lot of my police sources have surmised and it’s what Unison have been warning about — where an inexperienced or inappropriate person is taking calls.

“Therefore, the way the chief constable implied on Friday that this was an isolated failure looks a bit hollow. The problem could be systemic.”

The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner is also investigating the case. There will also be an examination of Police Scotland’s actions after Ms Bell and Mr Yuill were reported missing last Monday — the day after the first call about the crash and two days before they were found.

“The commissioner will also examine the robustness of Police Scotland’s missing person inquiry and look at why that was not linked with the information received in the call,” a spokesman said.

Ms Bell’s brother, Martin, announced her death yesterday after surgery failed to remove a blockage in her brain.

The previous day, he had written on Facebook that she was “going to go downhill”. He said: “You can start down at her toe and work your way up to her head and you will find a cut, bruise or broken bone on every part of her body.”

At 7am yesterday he wrote “My sister just passed away”. The Yuill family said that they were “devastated by the sad news this morning”.

Over the weekend Mr Bell said on Facebook that he wanted the police “to see how a huge error by a senior officer has absolutely devastated us”.