Several papers focus on Health Secretary Humza Yousaf’s advice to “think twice” before calling an ambulance – and only call when it is “absolutely critical”. The Scottish Sun reports that opposition politicians said the comments, which were made in a BBC radio interview, could put lives at risk.
Mr Yousaf made the comments as he warned of an “extraordinarily difficult winter” in the coming months, reports the Metro. The NHS in Scotland is already under increasing pressure and people are facing long waits for ambulances. The recent surge in virus cases has resulted in rising numbers of patients in hospital, with more than 1,000 being cared for across the country, the paper reports.
The Herald leads with the case of a 65-year-old man who died following a 40-hour wait for an ambulance. The paper says Gerard Brown’s GP, who repeatedly told call handlers his case was critical, described the issues around the ambulance service “third world medicine”.
The Daily Star of Scotland calls on the first minister to “think twice” about Mr Yousaf, questioning whether he is “up to the job”.
The Daily Record’s front page features a photograph showing an 86-year-old woman on the floor where she lay for almost eight hours waiting on an ambulance. The paper says her case is further evidence of a “growing crisis”, with the average ambulance response time having risen to six hours.
A number of front pages are dominated by the prime minister’s reshuffle of his cabinet. The Scottish Daily Express describes it as Boris Johnson’s “biggest shake-up yet”, calling it a “ruthless cull”.
The Daily Telegraph says the prime minister’s decision to demote Dominic Raab, promote Liz Truss and move Michael Gove “out of the centre of power” was part of a reshuffle “that was more extensive than expected”. The paper suggests it was a culling of ministers seen to have made high-profile blunders or who had lost the support of the party base.
“Johnson sacks blundering cabinet allies” is the headline in the i newspaper, which says Mr Raab was “angry” and refused to accept his demotion from foreign secretary to justice secretary until he was also given the title of deputy PM.
Mr Johnson’s reshuffle was part of an effort to refocus his premiership beyond the pandemic, claims The Times. The paper says one of the most significant promotions was making Mr Gove housing secretary, giving him the responsibility of delivering the “levelling up-agenda”. It says that means the man who once sabotaged the PM’s tilt at the leadership will “play a central role” in his attempts to be re-elected.
The new-look cabinet has been called “strong and united”, reports The Scotsman. Similarly, it says Mr Gove’s role will be seen as a “major promotion”, while Mr Raab’s “demotion” comes after he enjoyed a summer holiday in Crete as the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.
The Scottish Daily Mail leads with the announcement that nearly 200,000 women who were excluded from the cervical cancer screening programme are to have their records checked to ensure their exclusions were correct. It comes after a further two women died of cervical cancer after being wrongly excluded from the programme, the paper reports.
The National reports that a judge has ruled the Cabinet Office should disclose polling it conducted on the Union – a decision that MP Tommy Sheppard called a “full-frontal slap-down” to the department.
The Courier leads with a woman left with “life-changing” injuries after botched surgery who has been awarded £2.8m in damages. Carolyn Almond-Roots was a patient of Sam Eljamel, a former head of neurosurgery at NHS Tayside, in 2013, the paper says. It comes after a BBC Scotland investigation in 2018 revealed that dozens of people claimed to have been harmed by Mr Eljamel.
A man who gave police a false confession to murdering another man prompted a major search involving HM Coastguard, according to The Press and Journal. It says Donald Macleod gave officers the name of a man who was already dead as his bogus victim.
The Glasgow Times leads with concerns for a disabled woman living in a “rodent-infested death-trap”. The case was highlighted to the paper by the woman’s neighbour.
The Evening Telegraph reports that a busker was arrested for allegedly pulling a piano down the A92 on the outskirts of Arbroath.
The Edinburgh Evening News leads with a consultation on using the city as a filming location for movies, TV shows and documentaries – which the paper claims is partly to do with “negative” portrayals of Edinburgh.
And the Evening Express reports that a nationwide shortage of bicycles – caused by an increased appetite for cycling during lockdown – is delaying plans for a bike-sharing scheme in Aberdeen.
