{mosimage} Lethal cocktails of cocaine and alcohol will wreak a “heavy toll” in years to come, the country’s drugs tsar warned yesterday as fresh figures revealed the Class A drug was responsible for a record number of deaths last year. In Scotland’s capital alone, cocaine is now present in the blood of about 15 per cent of people who have died from drugs. And Tom Wood, chairman of the Scottish Association of Alcohol and Drug Action Teams, warned the number of people dying after taking cocaine was likely to rise even higher.

Managers at Scotland’s state hospital have been told they must continue to improve services for patients with drink and drug problems. The hospital at Carstairs, which provides psychiatric care for dangerous offenders, has already cut its waiting times for alcohol and drugs programmes. Patients now face an average three-month wait for help compared to six months previously.

A health board was censured yesterday over the care of a dementia sufferer who was made to sit at a table to prevent him wandering round his hospital ward. The patient was confused and disoriented after being transferred to three wards in two days, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman ruled.

Social engineering has something of an image problem. It is a phrase used by right wing columnists who make confused literary allusions to Orwellian Brave New Worlds, warning that New Labour is a party of soviet-style autocrats who seek to mould us into Blairite poodles.

A psychiatrist specialising in addiction therapy hosted a three-day drink and drugs binge which ended in a guest fatally overdosing on ecstasy, a hearing was told yesterday. Dr Clint Tatchell discovered David Steel dead in his living room and then hurriedly cleaned his Glasgow flat before police arrived, it is claimed. Detectives later discovered Mr Steel had also taken 19 diazepam tablets as well as ecstasy, heroin and cocaine during the party.

Vulnerable people in Glasgow East are set to receive peace of mind thanks to a new scheme that will ensure medical and care staff have instant access to vital personal information. The Message in a Bottle project will see essential details such as medical conditions and medicine needed stored in an easy-to-find, plastic container so that the emergency services can make quick and well-informed decisions over any treatment.

An innovative drug and alcohol programme using horses is being trialled at a hospital in the Borders. Recovering addicts at the Castle Craig Hospital are taking part in treatment known

Scotland’s Health Minister Andy Kerr has given his backing to a drive which is aiming to cut the number of people admitted to hospital by a quarter in two years. Teams of doctors, health and council workers in north-east Scotland have been set a target of reducing use of hospital beds by 25% by 2008. The move follows a survey which found as many as 44% of patients staying overnight in the wards did not need to be there. Mr Kerr praised NHS Grampian for giving community health teams the goal and is encouraging other authorities to follow in their wake with similar target schemes.

The policy of free personal care for the elderly is still beset by confusion over what it covers, ministers conceded yesterday. The admission came in the Scottish Executive’s response to a report by Holyrood’s health committee which identified “major problems”, such as questions about funding, the use of waiting lists by some councils and confusion over whether services such as help with preparing meals was covered.

Scots youngsters have made a record number of complaints about bullying to ChildLine, it emerged yesterday. More than 9600 children phoned the charity hotline in 2005-2006, up from fewer than 9200 a year before. Bullying is now by far the single biggest reason to approach ChildLine, accounting for a quarter of all calls. The overall UK figure for bullying calls was up 12% at 37,000. And that is only for the children who got through.