It’s a sad indictment of journalism in Scotland that they don’t invest more in background research
In the Herald, a ‘Scottish’ newspaper, remember, their Health Correspondent writes today:
‘A SHORTAGE of nurses across the NHS should have triggered an increase in wages to meet demand. The reason this has not happened – at least not to the extent required – is because most nurses are women. That was the depressing conclusion this week of a study carried out jointly by the Royal College of Nursing and researchers at Oxford Brookes University.’
Like the research from Oxford and the RCN, McCardle seems unaware of differences in staffing levels and in the treatment of nurses, not ‘across the UK’ but in Scotland.
First, on ‘shortages’:
NHS Scotland has 50% more nurses per capita See these this parliamentary answer from Jeanne Freeman in April 2019:
Second, on wages:
By 2020/21, Scottish staff will be significantly better paid than NHS staff anywhere else in the UK. For example, relative to staff in England:
- Pay for a ward nurse at the top of Band 5 will be over £1,030 more
- Pay for a paramedic at the top of Band 6 will be nearly £1,280 more
- Pay for an advanced nurse practitioner at the top of Band 7 will be over £1,500 more
https://www.gov.scot/news/9-percent-pay-rise-for-nhs-workers/
How can you claim to be a health correspondent and report so badly?
Talking-up Scotland 
“How can you claim to be a health correspondent and report so badly “ A great question that deserves an answer.
She claims to be a health correspondent but is in truth an anti Scottish Independence propagandist. Like the current fibber at the BBC Lisa Summers and her predecesor Elanor Bradford, then there’s helen Puttock at the times. Followed by Penny Latin and Kate Devlin
There’s a whole platoon of health propagandists who pose as journalists. Between them they have failed to convey to the great ill-informed Scottish public just once that Per capita Scotland has 50% more nurses than England enjoys.
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Penny Taylor not Penny Latin.
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