Hospital patrol could be just what doctor ordered

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of the East Kilbride News. From On the Beat to On the Wards. That is the journey for some police officers in Lanarkshire.

A Police Scotland-led pilot scheme is operating at University Hospital Wishaw where two dedicated community officers are based. The project is now being extended to University Hospital Monklands in Airdrie.

At present, University Hospital Hairmyres is not included but the results of the studies in North Lanarkshire will be monitored closely – if the presence of officers helps reduce trouble and the number of missing persons there, why not roll out the scheme to East Kilbride?

Not only would extra reassurance be provided to patients and our hardworking medical staff, there is the potential for disorder to be quickly nipped in the bud if there are a couple of cops in plain sight.

In many ways, this scheme could be just what the doctor ordered.

You can read more about it on pages 4 and 5 of today’s paper with East Kilbride police inspector Aidan Higgins giving his view.

Elsewhere in the paper, you could treat yourself to a shopping spree if you win our £50 EK, East Kilbride gift card competition. For details on how to enter, check out page 16.

And for those of you who enjoy eating out, why not enter our Di Maggio’s East Kilbride competition with a £50 gift voucher up for grabs.

Finally, on behalf of the team at the News, we were very sad to learn of the passing of campaigner Graeme Macklin.

He was a stalwart of the community and featured in these pages regularly. Our condolences go to his family and friends at this difficult time. Colin Paterson