Dumping continues
Strathaven’s fly-tipping problem more visible than ever
NHS Lanarkshire have apologised after it was revealed more than 400 data breaches were recorded by the health board in less than three months.
Hundreds of patients had their Covid-19 data breached in the region – a statistic Central Scotland Conservative MSP Graham Simpson called “worrying”.
There were 414 data breaches between March 12 and May 25, but the health board have moved to assure the public these occurred among NHS staff.
Gabe Docherty, director of public health and health policy, said: “We take incidents like this seriously and have written to offer our sincere apologies to those affected.
“The first incident relating to 20 patients was reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office who acknowledged human error.
“The second incident involving 388 patients was an internal staff email which was immediately recalled and deleted.
“We have updated our processes to avoid similar incidents from occurring in future.”
The information came to light after a freedom of information request by Graham Simpson MSP.
The Scottish Conservative asked how many data breaches there had been in the health board in relation to coronavirus test results or associated patient data.
On March 12, 20 patients’ data were compromised, with that figure rising to 388 patients on April 28.
Mr Simpson said: “It is quite worrying to see almost 400 patients were affected in one incident.
“NHS Lanarkshire should look into why these breaches happened so they can understand what went wrong and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“We don’t know the nature of the data breaches, we just have the figures so it would be useful to have an explanation from the health board.
“It is important that patients feel their information is secure, so I would like to hear from the board that measures are in place to ensure there is a tightening up of procedures.”
• On Monday, SLC took to their Facebook page to slam fly-tipping in South Lanarkshire, posting a series of pictures of recent incidents and commenting:“fly-tipping is illegal, unacceptable and costs time and money when council resources could be better spent elsewhere, especially at this time.”
On Tuesday morning they said:“officers from Roads and Transportation Services attended an incident on the A71 and made arrangements for the road to be cleared.”
Irresponsible fly-tippers have yet again blighted Strathaven beauty spots and country roads.
Over a four-day period, two separate fly-tipping incidents were spotted by residents in the area, with more further afield.
Nearby Powbrone Burn was a sight for sore eyes as “mindless vandals” left behind the remains of a camp site, with a make-shift fire an abandoned tent, bags of rubbish, food and plastic tarpaulin strewn across the land.
One resident, who wished not to be named, said: “It’s absolutely disgusting – to leave such a mess behind at a local area where many people take their kids and dogs is completely selfish.
“I just can’t understand the way people behave.
“Clearly, these mindless vandals have brought their tents, food and drinks along , had a great time, but can’t take their belongings back home again. That baffles me.
“Leaving a fire behind is dangerous, but to leave a tent and plastic tarpaulin is disgusting. It’s a danger to wildlife and harmful on the environment. It saddens me.”
And in the early hours of Thursday morning, a massive heap of earth, rubble and scrap was ditched just off of the A71.
A furious resident said: “I believe the rubbish was ditched by a yellow tipper truck in the morning.
“They just drove along and dumped the rubbish in the middle of the road, completely blocking it.
“It is beyond selfish, people couldn’t use the road and the police had to be called.
“What if there was an emergency and an ambulance or fire engine needed to use that road? It’s disgusting.
“Some people are so selfish.” The fly-tipping has also been blasted as ‘lazy’ as South Lanarkshire Council have reopened their skip sites.
Recycling centres across South Lanarkshire reopened in June with a raft of restrictions put in place at them after being closed for weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Just after a week some restrictions were lifted and as of last Thursday (July 9), recycling centres started to allow single-axle trailers to attend the sites on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
As of yesterday (Wednesday, July 15), sites will now be accepting metals in addition to what’s already being accepted:
- black bag waste
- flattened cardboard - compostable garden waste - wood & laminate
- soft furnishings, mattresses, carpets & underlay
- electrical items
John Sharkley added: ““It’s absolutely disgusting that people continue to fly-tip.
“Fly-tipping was a huge problem in lockdown when the skips were shut, but it continues to be a problem from now they are reopened again.
“There is no need for it. It is complete ignorance to leave waste out for other people to have to deal with.
“It is sheer laziness and the highest form of disrespect to the country that we live in.”
Shirley Clelland, head of fleet and environmental services at South Lanarkshire Council, said: “Environmental services officers have not been contacted concerning these incidents, but are happy to investigate incidents of fly-tipping. They can be contacted on 0303 123 1015 to enable the necessary information to be gathered.
“If the material has been dumped on private ground, Environmental Services can provide guidance to the landowner on steps they can take to deter flytipping.”