05/01/2017 Reporting Scotland

Good evening.

over a 19 month period from March 2015.

That's according to figures released to Scottish Labour,

under Freedom of Information.

The Scottish Government says it's allocated more than ?30 million

to help tackle the problem.

Our social affairs correspondent, Reevel Alderson reports.

Doctors agree when a patient is well enough they should leave hospital.

But sometimes it's not possible, because there is nowhere suitable

to meet the patient's needs.

This is bed blocking.

Very many of the people that are blocking beds in hospital,

if you use that expression, are people affected by dementia.

If they are very poorly, they have to go into a care home.

If there is not a bed for them there, they have to stay

in hospital until they die.

The reason for there not being a care home

bed can be financial, or it can be that the

care homes are full.

In the majority of cases, it is a question of organising

finance, that is something we should do earlier.

The Scottish Government pledged two years ago to eradicate bed blocking,

but it is still happening, with what Scottish Labour

calls shocking results.

In a 19 month period, almost 700 died in hospital,

though judged fit enough to be discharged.

Almost a quarter of cases, were in NHS Grampian, with Lothian

and Lanarkshire close behind.

Overall, bed blocking is reducing by 9% last year.

Labour says that is no consolation to those whose relatives died.

This is 700 people who have lost their lives in hospital

while waiting for a care package.

It could be your mother, father, grandfather,

tragic cases and tragic stories.

I think the Scottish Government needs to wake up to the reality,

the impact it's having on patients and families, that cuts

are having on patients and family.

The Scottish Government insists that patients continue to receive care

in hospital and says that while being discharged

is preferable, there is no evidence to link the deaths with patience

with delays in leaving.

We don't ignore them, they are well looked

after in the hospital.

The delay means that we cannot get them home or to a nursing home,

or with a social care package.

Sometimes, that might be a more appropriate place for them to die,

at home or in a nursing home, with family around them.

Ministers say they have given ?33 million to the NHS to tackle

the wider problem of bed blocking.

Air accident investigators are being sent to Aberdeen,

after the wheel of a helicopter caused damage to a helideck

in the North Sea.

It happened last week.

The helicopter has since been brought ashore by boat.

Our energy correspondent Kevin Keane explained what happened.

Well, as you say, the incident happened on Wednesday of last week,

on the West Franklin platform in the North Sea.

It was in the final stages of landing, the Cessna helicopter,

when it failed to respond to some of the inputs being issued

to it from the pilots.

It landed heavily on the deck itself.

The wheels caused a few points of significant damage,

although CHC described it as minor.

Photographs on social media taken by somebody on board the platform

clearly show some degree of gouging in the metalwork.

The nine people, the passengers and crew on board, none of them

suffered any kind of injury and they were taken

off the platform.

The helicopter itself has been brought back here to Aberdeen

by boat and investigators are examining it.

Neither the company nor any of the unions involved in offshore

work have been willing to be interviewed about this today,

but they have jointly issued a statement saying

that the investigation is focusing on part of the tail rotor.

That tail rotor has been the subject of some concern in other parts

of the world in recent months.

The group responsible for helicopter safety in Aberdeen says it has been

assured that previous incidents bear no connection to what happened here.

The investigations editor for the Scottish Sun newspaper has

told a jury how acid was thrown at his face during

an attack at his home in Glasgow.

Russell Findlay was giving evidence at the trial of William Burns

and Alexander Porter - who deny targeting him

in December 2015.

From the High Court in Glasgow, John McManus reports.

On the first day of the trial, the court heard evidence

from Russell Findlay, the investigations editor

for the Scottish Sun newspaper.

He told the court he had been at home on the morning

of the 23rd of December, 2015, when he answered his doorbell.

The caller said they were a postman and wanted him

to sign for a package.

He said that when he answered the door, he felt a liquid

on his face and then saw a bottle fly past his head.

Then he came through the door and attempted to fight me,

I pushed back and we both exited the front door and fell

Mr Findlay said his ten-year-old daughter, Daisy, appeared,

and he sent her to get help from neighbours.

He continued to grapple with the attacker.

He told the court he said to the man, why did they send

a fat clown like you?

Is that all I am worth?

He said that the assailant spat at him and said wee

Jamie sends his regards.

He said he had contact with one of the accused in 2006,

but he denied a suggestion that he had asked him to come

round to his house the night before the incident.

I would find it beyond laughable that he would come up

with that, he told the court.

The trial continues.

An all party parliamentary group on social integration is suggesting

the UK Government should consider devolving more power over

immigration to Scotland and other parts of the UK.

MPs and peers in the group think a Canadian model,

which means provincial governments are able to issue region-specific

visas, could work here, and want ministers in London

to consider giving Holyrood more control over immigration.

Scots athlete Laura Muir smashed the British indoor record over 5,000

metres in Glasgow last night.

Now Laura and her coach have their sights set on major

championship success.

Alasdair Lamont reports.

No TV cameras to record the occasion, but this piece

of history was recorded by one alert spectator.

Laura Muir, wiping 14 seconds off the British

indoor 5,000 metre record.

That beat Liz McColgan's time, set in 1992.

As she reflected today, it adds to the British 1,500 metre

record she set last year.

Being in the record books is always very special,

especially the names I am getting them off, Dame Kelly Holmes

and Liz McColgan, big names.

I'm really honoured to be alongside where they were.

I just hope I can get a few more.

An element of doubt had emerged about whether the time she ran

would qualify as an official record.

Liz McColgan congratulated her fellow Scot, but did query

whether the official criteria had been met by the race,

in terms of the doping controls at the event and also the fact

the other athletes in the race only ran 3,000 metres.

British Athletics told BBC Scotland today that,

subject to normal checks, they expected the time

to be confirmed.

With that in the bag, the focus is very much on turning

record times into major medals.

It takes time to learn to race in championships,

to get that experience.

So, that is why I tried putting more realistic times on.

She was running remarkably fast times in 2013-14,

but I recognised there was still some sort of athletic

development, some learning to go on before you are probably

in a position that you should be challenging for those models.

I think that is where we have got to now.

Definitely, I think I had been unlucky in previous championships.

The World Championships, I was placed fifth.

That was a really big achievement for me.

Getting back into the medals.

Diamond League success shows she can beat the best.

Now she is ready to do that on the biggest stages.

The distance of last year's

Great Scottish Run is to be checked, after concerns that the

route was too short.

The official who measured the course says he believes

competitors may have run a route that was shorter than

the one he'd certified.

Huw Williams reports.

It is a highlight of the year for thousands of people,

elite runners, club competitors and sweaty enthusiasts.

They fill the city centre, their supporters line the streets,

and good causes across Scotland benefit from all that

sponsorship money raised.

Last year, the added excitement of a new Scottish

half marathon record.

He's a record-breaker here in Glasgow today!

An absolutely staggering run from Callum Hawkins -

a new star is born!

I was not expecting anything near as quick as that.

I am just pleased I went out to win, and that's what I did.

But now, the record could be in doubt, after the man

who certified the distance watched BBC Scotland's coverage

and felt that the runners were not following the route

that he had measured.

The questions were also raised by competitors,

like these runners we met today training on the banks of the Clyde.

Hundreds of their GPS recorders told them that they had run less

than the official distance of 13.1 miles.

It is still a personal best for me regardless.

I think that will still be true for 95% of the people who ran.

It does not make a difference for your average runner, I don't think.

Some people are just in it to compete and have fun.

For them it probably does not matter.

But if you are more of a top runner, looking for a personal best,

it will have more of an impact.

I would be pretty annoyed, actually.

If it is not an accurate time, I wou

It is good you want to run your half marathon, but for me,

it was just about finishing.

Organisers say an independent re-measuring of the course will be

completed by the end of January.

They say they're confident that it will be confirmed

that it was the correct distance.

COMMENTATOR: He deserves this!

An official measurer is due to cycle the route later in the month.

And then we will know if that new record can stand.

And then we will know if that new record can stand.