Unreliable dated self-selecting sample of only 3.6% of Scotland’s nurses used to construct a PPE crisis here too

On a weekend when intensive care units in England are expected to run out of protective gowns, endangering their lives, the Herald has headlined a survey from the RCN to try to transfer this shocking situation into Scotland’s hospitals where there is no real evidence of its presence.

The survey was done between 6 and 8 days ago. Much will have changed in that time.

Only 3.6% of the RCN’s 40 000 members in Scotland bothered to respond.

A tiny self-selecting sample during a period of fast moving change is near worthless.

BBC Scotland covered the story too though in muted uncritical tones that won’t please Jackson Carlaw.

Anecdotal I know but maybe revealing:

2 thoughts on “Unreliable dated self-selecting sample of only 3.6% of Scotland’s nurses used to construct a PPE crisis here too”

  1. What’s more, these RCN data for Scotland have been extracted from a UK-wide poll.

    https://www.rcn.org.uk/professional-development/publications/rcn-ppe-survey-covid-19-uk-pub-009235

    In total 13,605 people responded overall of which 78% work in England, 11% in Scotland, 4% in Northern Ireland and 6% in Wales. Try finding reference to this RCN poll on the BBC News website – yes on the ‘Scotland’ and ‘Wales’ pages but on the ‘England’ page? Guess. On the ‘UK’? I can’t find it.

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