Tag: Accident & Emergency

Warning as children’s eScooter and eBike incidents spike

The Royal Hospital for Children (RHC), Glasgow and Police Scotland have joined forces to warn parents about the dangers of eScooters and eBikes for children, as injuries rise sharply.
 
Over the past 12 months, the number of children attending Accident & Emergency in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde due to eScooter or eBike incidents has increased by more than 600%.
 
Between May and October 2025 alone, over 30 children required emergency care at the RHC – some admitted to intensive care. Injuries included major head trauma, broken femurs, chest injuries, and severe lacerations.
 
Children affected ranged in age from seven to 15 years old. This compares to just four cases during the same period in 2024.
 
Police Scotland officers visited the RHC to stand alongside the hospital’s Major Trauma Coordinators in urging parents to think twice before buying these vehicles as Christmas gifts for their children.

Mark Lilley, Major Trauma Coordinator at the RHC, said: “The rise in injuries this year is alarming. We know eScooters are popular and may feature on many Christmas wish lists, but the risks are significant.

“A fall at speed can cause life-changing head or brain injuries. We’ve seen the trauma these accidents bring to families, and we strongly urge parents to reconsider before buying one for their child.”

Privately owned eScooters cannot be used legally on public roads, pavements, cycle lanes, or other public spaces in Scotland. They are classed as Personal Light Electric Vehicles (PLEVs) and would require DVLA registration, insurance, a driving licence, and compliance with strict regulations – requirements most eScooters do not meet.

Sergeant Paul Mellis from Road Policing said: “We’re grateful to the Royal Hospital for Children for helping us share this vital message as we head into the festive period.

“We have seen a rise in the number of e-bikes and e-scooters being used illegally on roads across Scotland, including in Glasgow, and with that has come serious injuries to children from either falling off or being involved in a crash with another vehicle.

“These vehicles are not permitted on public roads, pavements or other spaces and anyone found riding a non-compliant e-bike or e-scooter on a public road will likely have it seized by officers.

“I’d urge parents and carers to consider the dangers e-scooters and e-bikes present before purchasing one for a child this Christmas.”

The Royal Hospital for Children and Police Scotland’s messages to parents this Christmas are:

  • Think twice before buying eScooters or eBikes for children.
  • eScooters are illegal to use in public spaces in Scotland. It is illegal for under 14s to ride on eBikes in Scotland.
  • The risk of serious injury is real and rising.

For more information on the eScooter or eBike guidance please visit Riding an electric bike: the rules – GOV.UK

ONE FULL YEAR since NHS Lothian met A & E waiting times

Briggs blames SNP for ‘workforce crisis’

According to ISD figures the last time that the A&E waiting time target of 95% of patients to be seen within four hours, was met in NHS Lothian was 29th October 2017. Continue reading ONE FULL YEAR since NHS Lothian met A & E waiting times

Minor Injuries Clinic is twenty years old!

WesternGeneral

The Minor Injuries Clinic will mark a major milestone this week when it celebrates its 20th anniversary​. The unit, which was the first in Scotland, opened at the Western General Hospital in 1994.

It broke new ground when it was launched by becoming the first nurse-led unit of its kind. Now 20 years on, the unit continues to be one of NHS Lothian’s flagship services and treats around 25,000 people every year for a variety of aches, pains, cuts and sprains.

Fiona Churchill, lead nurse practitioner, NHS Lothian, said the unit was a one-stop shop for patients and provided a crucial alternative to busy Emergency departments which were dealing with life-threatening injuries.

She said the unit has ensured that patients are treated at the right time, by the right people in the right place.

She added: “We are delighted to be celebrating our 20th anniversary. The minor injuries clinic was pioneering when it was created and over the years it has continued to be at the forefront of quality care.”

The service has grown and evolved over the last two decades and paramedic practitioners and a physiotherapy practitioner are now attached to the unit.

One of the other major changes has been that all staff are, or are working towards becoming independent prescribers, which has helped enhance the patients’ journey and help the unit become the one-stop shop it was designed to be.

The number of patients attending the clinic has more then doubled since it was launched in 1994 because of its prompt and expert care.

It is estimated that on average 60 adults and children now attend the clinic every day – around 25,000 every year – for a range of injuries, especially to their ankle or wrist and for burns, cuts and sprains.

The clinic will continue to evolve and will soon move into a specially-designed unit on the same site as part of the work to re-design the Western General Hospital site to make it more effective and improve patient flow.

It will continue to be a walk-in service, so no appointment is required for treatment from a range of staff, including nurse, physiotherapy and paramedic practitioners.

Over the years, opening hours have been extended to make the clinic more accessible and in line with patients’ needs, meaning that it is now open every day of the year from 8am to 9pm, with last book in at 8.30 pm.​

That seems incredible – can it really be that the Western General Action Group campaign was over twenty years ago?

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