From senior editorial guy and specialist in Nicolaphobia, Tom Gordon, perhaps filling in for striking juniors, a task below his usual remit – the one week, statistically meaningless, A&E figures for NHS Scotland:
A RECORD number of patients waited too long in Scotland’s A&E units last week, as performance levels fell back to close to their worst ever level. Official figures from Public Health Scotland showed 9,146 people waited more than the four-hour target in emergency departments in the week to August 14.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/20713169.new-record-people-waiting-long-scotlands-e-units/
Struggling for a story as he doesn’t find the lowest percentage seen in 4 hours 65.1% (64.8% and 65% recently), Tom goes for the total number which, of course, is also statistically much less meaningful than a percentage, even a one-week one of only 2.8%.
He ignores, of course, the very meaningful fact for performance, that attendance had gone up by a whopping 1 482 or 6%, from 24 731 to 26 213, in one week, thus making for a very different assessment of the performance last week.
Source, not provided by Tom: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/nhs-performs-weekly-update-of-emergency-department-activity-and-waiting-time-statistics/nhs-performs-weekly-update-of-emergency-department-activity-and-waiting-time-statistics-week-ending-14-august-2022/
Only Scotland publishes weekly figures but in July, the figure was only 57%. For the local health trusts in the constituencies of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, the July figures were positively ‘third world’ at 47.5%, 39.3% and 45.8% (Darlington is nearest). Local MPs have a duty to constituents to do something about this. Sturgeon’s local hospitals in Glasgow did 68.8% in July and 63.3% last week. Independence City Dundee in Tayside did 83.8% last week and 90.3% in the previous week. They are commonly at above 90%. You never hear that figure do you?
Talking-up Scotland 
John
Check your e mail please
Messaged you re.farce of Type 23 Frigate £ 20 million refit and major breakdown and crewing up
Of ship
Having to towed to Dry dock at Rosyth for major repairs
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Tom Gordon, aye, the desperation is strong with this one.
How’s the sales of the Herald doing Tom?
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It really is such a shame to see journalists of once proud standing reduced to this to make a living…
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How does Mr Gordon know that people are waiting too long in A&E? One of the key reasons why people have to wait in A&E is for the medical staff to decide that they can be discharged. It is a clinical decision.
There is a target for the percentage of patients to be discharged within 4 hours, but that is a statistical target which applies only to the entire group. For each individual patient, a specific clinical decision regarding discharge has to be made.
On three occasions I suffered an epistaxis – severe nose bleed – on two of these the bleeding was staunched within an hour. Then, a decision was made to cauterise the nostril and then there was a further wait until the staff were satisfied. In one occasion, this was beyond four hours. I was not complaining. On the third occasion, my nose had to be plugged and I was discharged to the QEUH for overnight observation and treatment. I left A&E at Glasgow Royal within 2 hours.
This continual carping by Gordon et al indicates the lack of any journalistic skill or integrity.
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Where is wee “Maryhair” Gulhane, with his theme of “Scotlands shame”, even when our NHS stats are MUCH better than dann saff.
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