'Guarding A&E' stops cops' work

THE massive number of health calls taking up officers' time is "crippling" the ability of Scotland's national force to police the country, a leader of rank-and-file cops has claimed.

- BY CRAIG MEIGHAN

David Threadgold, chairman of the Scottish Police Federation, said police are now the “default security guards” at A&E units. He claimed up to 60 per cent of their capacity is now devoted to dealing with health calls.

Threadgold said officers are consistently spending hours with Scots facing health issues because of failings in the system.