Any excuse for a crisis, BBC Scotland get one consultant to tell them of the pressure in one hospital, Edinburgh Royal, and use that to justify the suggestion of a nation-wide ‘NHS crisis!’
EDI does seem objectively to be in trouble. They only see 60.8% of A&E patients in 4 hours compared to the national average of 72.7% or NHS Tayside at 92.1%.
Dr Whitworth, above, associate medical director for NHS Lothian and the rest of the board need to do something, I’d say and not just wait for the Health Secretary to solve their problems with more money. BBC Scotland wouldn’t say that. The Associate Medical Director, unlike say SNP politicians, is just a hapless victim of external forces they could not have been expected to foresee and plan for.
Most important, this is local not national. Infection levels are plummeting, admissions are falling from a peak only half that in February, Scotland has 50% more beds per head of population than England, many more nurses and doctors than all of the other nations, NHS Scotland staff absence rates are now way down on the peak and A&E performance is significantly better than England or Wales. The data is in earlier posts here:
Talking-up Scotland 
Ah, the redoubtable Susie Forrest, laying it on thick again ” “with “thousands” in pain while on hold for procedures ”
Yes there are evident problems at EDI as Dr Whitworth outlined, but what else did she say which Susie Forrest omitted in order to get the prime promotion slot on the Scotland page ?
BBC Scotland’s intent on reinforcing a national Scottish NHS crisis which the vast majority of Scots (including those working in the NHS) have never witnessed is a politically motivated as it gets.
I note from the screenshot when you published this the article was 7 hours old, and it was still there moments ago.
Then I refreshed the page and lo, it’s 41 minutes old with a new Scotland page article photo and expanded sources in the article…
Clearly PQ are observing your criticisms John but still playing the same old BBC tricks to keep promoted articles current 🤣
LikeLiked by 7 people
Associate Medical Directors job description
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oops.
LikeLike
Associate Medical Director Job Description | Salary.com
http://www.salary.com › research › benchmark
Seems to me She is responsible
LikeLiked by 7 people
Why doesn’t she leave and get some one more responsible to deal with it.
She could always stand as a unionist candidate, They are just as useless.
These people are part of the problem.
NHS underfunded £20Billion from 2015 to 2020. (ConDems). NHS funded £139Billion to be increased to £149Billion by taxing the poorer.. it will increase costs. 1/4 of all taxes raise in the UK. On average £600Billion+.
Many people are not attending for operations. Choosing not to go or being advised not to because of underlying conditions. Catching covid could kill them. Waiting for an operation will not.
No one is waiting in pain. They are waiting to keep them alive. Pain is manageable. Acute or emergencies are deal with immediately.
People are still attending appointments and being seen. People are being seen quicker because some people are choosing not to go for appointments or operations.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Medical Director’s salary for Melrose Hospital Borders. £120,000 to £130,000 with allowances. More than the FM. People can get more money for running a hospital list than they get for running a country. Both life and death. Hospitals have £Billion budgets. They have to prioritise them. One Doctor can run a practice and be an MSP. What is the priority. The patients or the electorate. Or the remuneration.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Javid puts Army General in charge of NHS England. Not content with killing and maiming millions. Wasting funds which could have been spent improving health care. The Tories want to mess it up even further.
The Tories cut NHS funding £20Billion from 2015 to 2020. The have increased Defence (attack) spending £5Billion. (£55Billion). They are now threatening the Chinese with nuclear subs. They are borrowing money from the Chinese,with interest, to build Hickley Point. The most expensive plant ever built. The threatening them with expensive nuclear subs, All a complete waste of money. A total waste. Where will they put the waste. Destroying the planet.
What planet are the Tories on. They are destroying everything. Austerity and the Brexit mess. Food, fuels and energy shortages. People worried and suffering mental health issues. A climate crisis. Covid poor outcomes. Fighting with every country on the planet. Tax evading imbeciles. They cannot count or read a balance sheet. Illegal non scrutinised Gov contracts going to donors and their associated. Led by a total incompetent. A bunch of fools and liars. A total embarrassment.
Increasing NHS funding by putting a tax on the poorer. It will make people ill. Putting up NHS costs further.
Scotland needs Independence to sort this out. To make Scotland a healthier, happy more equal prosperous place. Without Westminster colossal interference and mismanagement.
LikeLiked by 2 people
How do The Royal College of Physicians find the time to treat patients.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Involved in RTA on 30-Sep-21. People who stopped to help wanted to call ambulances quick assessment by medic on scene and ourselves ambulance not required.
Transported by Daughter to RIE for complete check over.
Results Wife extensive bruising and neat road rash on calf, Me cantankerous auld fart but otherwise healthy. Both of us completed in under 3 hr.
All the while a 6 or more police officer presence in the A&E. And while dealing with miscreants, drunks, students of modern chemistry, and a lot of other people in more pain and discomfort than us.
Have any of the people who complain about the SNHS ever actually spent any time in an A&E or any hospital in Scotland.
Over my years on the planet I have spent to much time there in one way or another. As part of my training decades ago I was required to work 24 Hr in A&E. And recent experience shows that very little has changed with the clientele.
The staff however over the years from then til now at every encounter have continued to exceed my expectations in their competent, professional and compassionate capabilities.
I SINCERELY HOPE THAT NO ONE WHO READS THIS AND NO ONE THEY KNOW EVER NEEDS TO AVAIL THEMSELVES OF AN A&E DEPARTMENT.
But if you are to be sick or injured SCOTLAND is the place to do it.
Believe me I have experience of medical facilities all over the world, one way or another.
LikeLiked by 6 people
I smelled a rat about this report as soon as it started. It filled a significant chunk of the allotted time for Reporting Scotland and seemed very much part of its “NHS in Crisis” trope. I was surprised how much filming was done within an allegedly very busy hospital and how many staff were interviewed while going about their work. It looked like something that had been scripted and choreographed.
With specific regard to Dr Whitworth, as a senior manager she and her colleagues on the senior management team and the health board are primarily responsible for the hospital, not the Scottish Government and the Cabinet Secretary for Health. The latter, of course, have responsibilities in this regard, but the immediate operational responsibility is the senior management of the hospital and that includes the senior doctors, nurses and other medical personnel.
As someone who has been a head teacher of three secondary schools, I was primarily answerable for operational matters at these schools. Some matters, particularly in the level of financing, were outwith my control, but I still had to provide an account of why things were as they were. A number of issues were the result of individual errors or omissions by people within the organisation as investigations revealed, and, on occasion, disciplinary action followed, but, the purpose of the investigation was to identify what could be done to minimise further recurrence or other failures. Some of these would, indeed, require further financial investment.
However, BBC Scotland are not interested in that. They want someone to blame, preferably a scapegoat, and not someone who attends the same dinner parties as BBC personnel or is a member of the same golf club or went to the same school. They are not particularly interested in improvements, because, as far as they are concerned, having blamed someone, the matter has been solved.
LikeLiked by 7 people
John, quite seriously, I have never witnessed a more rapid demotion of a BBC Scotland top spot ever, surprising given the guff they’ve given air-time to for days if not weeks on end.
As of 15.30 your time this headline story is about to fall off the page straight into drowned cars from a previous climate change pastiche.
Bravo sir 😉
LikeLike
16.10 3 from the bottom on page 1
LikeLike