Professor John Robertson OBA
Sandesh Gulhane MSP, Conservative Shadowy Health Secretary has a casual visit to Scotland’s leading cancer care centre and spots rain-bins, after several days of rain last week. We don’t hear the number nor see any photos but with no other evidence offered, he and his Herald chums work up the above disgusting account.
A Healthcare Improvement Scotland inspection report in January 2025 is glowing and makes only two requirements for action. Neither concerns the building.1
Not, of course mentioned by the Herald or Gulhane:
The Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow is widely regarded as a leading facility in the UK, particularly for its scale in clinical activity, patient volume, and specialized non-surgical cancer care (radiotherapy and chemotherapy). It serves as Scotland’s largest cancer centre and ranks among the top in the UK for these metrics.
Scale and Patient Numbers: It is the busiest cancer centre in the UK for clinical activity and new patient registrations, treating over 8,000 new patients annually from a catchment population of 2.5–2.9 million (about 60% of Scotland’s population). It delivers all radiotherapy and much of the chemotherapy for the West of Scotland, with links to 16 hospitals across five NHS boards.
Facilities: Home to 13 linear accelerators (the second-largest fleet in the UK), enabling around 6,500 patients and 97,000 treatment fractions per year. It is described as one of Europe’s top cancer hospitals for facilities and equipment, providing “cutting-edge” radiotherapy and contributing to clinical trials.
Reputation and Innovation: Opened in 2008, it is called an “internationally renowned” and “world-class” centre, with a focus on innovative care in a therapeutic environment. It is Scotland’s primary non-surgical cancer hub and plays a major role in UK/European oncology research groups.
Research Ties: Closely linked to the CRUK Scotland Institute (formerly Beatson Institute), one of Europe’s leading cancer research centres, funded with £123 million by Cancer Research UK in 2023 for 300+ researchers.2
Sources:
- https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=43e48e66515ebff7b6478454d3a58db42a07b5c94c73170d73bde24c6a719b62JmltdHM9MTc2NDk3OTIwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=040f0c0f-8f6f-69bb-36d4-18948ed46872&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaGVhbHRoY2FyZWltcHJvdmVtZW50c2NvdGxhbmQuc2NvdC9wdWJsaWNhdGlvbnMvYmVhdHNvbi13ZXN0LW9mLXNjb3RsYW5kLWNhbmNlci1jZW50cmVnbGFzZ293LWlybWVyLWluc3BlY3Rpb24tcmVwb3J0LW1hcmNoLTIwMjUv
- https://x.com/i/grok?conversation=1997245749923283373
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Sandesh Gulhane has an alternative approach to the Doctor’s oath of ”First , do no harm ! ”
In SNP Governed Scotland this English import criticises the Scottish Health Service as a matter of course . He does not pause for thought but adopts the classic Damn Jaikie Baillie strategy of lie , misinform and ignore the facts .
If the Scottish NHS is doing so badly I am puzzled as to his constant flouting of his NHS lanyard at his numerous TV appearances . Does the criticism of all things Scottish NHS not apply to him too ?
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I have had relatives and friends who have been treated at the Beatson and not one had a complaint. In fact, they had nothing but praise for the staff and the treatment they received at very difficult times in their lives.
To have this nonenity afforded a front page spread in a supposedly Scottish newspaper to voice his opinion after what would have been a very short stay is ridiculous and he and the newspaper should be thoroughly ashamed
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Where does this part time GP have his surgery and I wonder how he treats his patients
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Ban all non staff from visiting hospital
UNLESS THEY ARE VISITING RELATIVES
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I suspect Dr Gulhane was prompted to do this by some of his medical chums in the BMA.
Shortly after he was elected, Dr Gulhane was invited on to the BBC Scotland Sunday morning politics programme to talk about some alleged concern in NHS Scotland. The presenter informed us that ‘although Dr Gulhane is a Conservative MSP, he is speaking here in his capacity as a member of the medical profession’.
Aye, right!
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I so remember that ‘Guiser’ blatant lie…
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Seriously, what is it with Herald journalists’ fascination with ‘Exclusive’ in their race to the anas or anus, Becky McCurdle included with https://archive.ph/pH2eK, but all credit to her in having the Board’s response in by para 5, others such as James Cook et al would mention it as a footnote.
That the Beatson has no treatment available for the cancer of English politics in Scotland is not a problem for them but us, simply disown them – Preening self promoting clowns should be let nowhere near Scottish politics, any more than his pals Damn Baillie and poser Dr Kennedy or his boss ‘WhichOneIsItNow’.
On your ‘We don’t hear the number nor see any photos but with no other evidence offered’, I can only presume you saw an earlier version – Scroll down the article John and there is the evidence, a solitary bin with a hose clipped all the way into the suspended ceiling, with the title ” Rain bins placed at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre to tackle roof leaks. (Image: Scottish Conservatives) ” – All credit to the maintenance guys, those tiles collapse under any water contact, but we can only surmise the salivations from Gulhane’s opporchancity did not defy gravity and hit the ceiling, so the cleaners only had to wipe up his drool from the floor…
If Becky has quoted Sandesh correctly with ” City’s cancer hospital ‘chronically rundown’ “, one must assume the preening Sandesh’s “additional language ” is English.
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The Herald amplifying and elaborating upon – on its front page no less – Tory health spokesperson, Dr Gulhane’s sighting of buckets catching rainwater from a hospital’s leaking roof, presents a fine, cutting-edge example of the best of mainstream news media serving Scotland – doesn’t it?
In its article The Herald reports: ‘Earlier this year, it was revealed that the NHS in Scotland has a high risk repair bill totalling £64,490,724.’ (As an aside, don’t you admire the journalist’s attention to detail here? Crucial to get that last £4 a mention!)
Note that the c.£64.5m figure quoted is for a ‘bill’ i.e. payment for work actually done. Is that not a good thing, or should the NHS estate not need to have repairs done, ever? For perspective, let’s have some good old whataboutery. Let’s look at the legacy of Dr Gulhane’s own Tory Party in government running the NHS in England.
From the Health Foundation (December 21, 2024) ‘The NHS maintenance backlog: rising costs and falling investment’.
‘The NHS maintenance backlog is the estimated cost of bringing NHS estates or buildings back to a minimum expected standard.
‘The maintenance backlog more than doubled in real terms between 2015/16 (£6.4bn) and 2023/24 (£13.8bn), with the fastest growth in the highest risk category (urgent repairs to prevent catastrophic failure or disruption to clinical services). Since 2021/22, the backlog has grown by £2.1bn. Over the same period, investment to reduce the backlog fell by £707m in real terms, contributing to this growth.’ (my emphasis)
These big numbers are of course for work that needs doing but under the Tories, was not done!
The Health Foundation adds: ‘The Darzi review described the NHS as an organisation suffering from ‘capital starvation’, with capital budgets repeatedly raided to pay for day-to-day spending, all the while NHS estates are crumbling. The latest NHS Estates Return Information Collection is consistent with this finding. While staff numbers have grown since the pandemic, capital spending on buildings and equipment has been flat in real terms. Despite a continued rise in the maintenance backlog – particularly in those issues presenting the greatest risk to the NHS and its patients – investment to reduce that backlog has fallen. This is compounding the ongoing deterioration of the NHS estate and contributing to the rise in the maintenance backlog.’
Given the ‘capital starvation‘ under the Tories, it seem relevant to note that The Herald quotes Gulhane demanding that the Scottish Government ‘redirect funds for repair‘. If the Tories in government in Westminster had used all the financial powers – powers unique in the UK – at their disposal in order to avoid a maintenance backlog and ensure an NHS England estate in decent condition, then it would have incurred bills amounting to well over £10bn. And such additional UK government investment in NHS England should have brought (consequential) financial benefit to the devolved governments in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh – and by extension, potentially to the NHS in these parts of the UK too!
And coming up to date, from the ‘Health Property’ website (November 3, 2025) ‘NHS backlog maintenance bill hits nearly £16bn’.
‘The publication of the annual NHS Estates Returns Information Collection (ERIC) for 2024/25 reveals the investment needed to restore buildings to a defined condition based on assessed risk, excluding planned maintenance, is £15.9bn – an increase of 15.7%.
‘Even more worrying is the significant increase in ‘high-risk’ backlog, which went up by 27.8% to £3.5bn, while ‘significant risk’ backlog also jumped by 14.2% to £5.6bn.’
Meanwhile in Scotland ….. For The Herald, a Tory’s tale of a few buckets to catch rainwater from a leaky roof of a large, complex building generates front page news! Serious politics allied to serious journalism? We are not well served!
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