TO mark the 70th anniversary of the launch of the NHS, BBC Scotland has recently published on its web pages a list of significant events in Scotland’s NHS, which includes several world-class technological contributions.
Included among these are the first diagnostic application of ultrasound (reported in The Lancet on June 7 1958) with the subsequent development of the world’s first ultrasonic B scanner by Professor Ian Donald and his team at Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital; and the world’s first MRI scanner developed in the Department of Medical Physics, University of Aberdeen/Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, which produced the world’s first clinically useful MRI scan on August 28 1980.
The article rightfully names Prof Donald, who drove the ultrasound development, and Dr Francis Smith, the consultant radiologist who performed the first MRI scan, but nowhere are mentioned the physicists and engineers who realised the ground-breaking instruments which allowed the data and images to be acquired. In the case of ultrasound scanning it was Tom Brown, a young electronics engineer from Glasgow, who designed and developed the equipment to allow Prof Donald to achieve his results, and in the case of the MRI scanner it was professor of medical physics John Mallard, and project technical director and electronics engineer Dr David Smith, from Cupar, who innovated the technique and the scanner to realise it. Tom Brown is still with us in Kirkcaldy, and Dr Smith, I believe, presently lives in the Isle of Man.
It is a disappointing but not surprising that the scientists and engineers whose ingenuity makes such innovations possible do not receive the recognition they deserve. This, in some measure, explains why science and engineering is held in a relatively low regard in this country.
Ken Gow
Banchory
A HUGE thank you to Kirsty Hughes for her objective, articulate, and thoroughly analytical response (SNP is not powerless on Brexit, June 26) to Lesley Riddoch’s article on the reluctance of the SNP to join the LibDems and the Green Party in supporting a people’s vote on the final Brexit deal (England wants Brexit ... and there is nothing Nicola Sturgeon can do to change that, June 21).
As a big fan of Lesley Riddoch and The National, I was disappointed and upset by both, enough to want to stop buying my favourite paper or liberate it in my local Co-op from its hiding place under the Racing Post.
It was the dismissal by Lesley of the “English wanting Brexit”, which is not true anymore and was only ever half true. But then The National followed the rest of the virtually UK-wide media blackout on the march in London against Brexit. Over 100,000 marched, and support for a people’s vote on the final deal is now well over 70% and growing. I wish we had as many in support for an indyref 2.
Polls show a majority now against Brexit and in the privacy of the voting booths many more would show they have changed their minds, even though they may never tell pollsters or anyone else that they have. Why should they? The bookmakers estimate such a vote will see over 60% vote Remain. Whichever way we want to vote, we should have that chance in a democracy once we know what Brexit will mean.
How lucky then, when I saw the reply to Lesley’s article by Kirsty Hughes. Thank goodness we have her contributions to this paper. If you want to know how people are feeling, ask them the questions on the brilliant and non-confrontational Brexometers doing the rounds at village galas, fetes and festivals. These were initiated by the LibDems, but anyone can use this tool to get genuine feedback on how people are feeling.
We have a responsibility to stop a Brexit of any kind for reasons that appear obvious with every day that goes by. It is our future and so it must be our choice. Many who voted to leave were not voting against the EU but many other things. We also know the vast majority will suffer as a result of any kind of Brexit. I agree with Kirsty that it would be a very good move to have the SNP leader coming out in support of a people’s vote, with a Remain vote as an option on the ballot paper. Whichever way you want to vote, you should have that chance.
I remain a fan of Lesley Riddoch, even at her most provocative.
Tony Martin
Gullane
I’VE got so many issues with these Tories with what they’re doing to Scotland, such as the way the DWP treated an ex-soldier who has cancer and PTSD by taking away his benefits. What a disgrace. The sooner we break the chains that bind us to England the better.
I just wish some of the misguided people of Scotland who think we are better together would stop and think of what will happen if we stay chained to England. I know we will become independent. Scotland has so much to offer to the world and we must grasp every opportunity we can to get our freedom.
AMH
Address supplied
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