Because if they do, they are not provided with a radio or mobile phone to call for help. This time, a helpful member of the public offered their mobile phone for the driver to use, but what would have happened if no-one stepped forward? The driver would have been forced, one presumes, to leave his customers in the bus, scrabble around for change, walk to the nearest pay phone and then call his superiors for help. This seems a very strange way of protecting drivers and passengers - especially in a world where bus drivers can be, and have been, a target for muggers and attackers. Why should drivers be expected to provide their own mobile phones while at work? And why should paying passengers be obliged to come to Stagecoach's rescue?

The revelations about superbug C. diff being implicated in 13 deaths at the DGH certainly make horrifying reading. The hospital has plenty of hard-working, committed staff and the vast majority of patients are perfectly satisfied with their treatment. However, this outbreak will do nothing to reassure people about to enter the hospital. DGH chiefs need to come clean and reassure the public that absolutely everything that needs to be done, is being done.