Thanks to Dorothy for alerting me to this.

Today, the BMA estimate that 2 million operations have been lost to strikes.

Using a method happily employed by BBC Scotland in the past, to attribute health concerns based just on dividing BMA or RCN survey results by 10, I think we can safely say that by averting this 3 day strike by all doctors in England and all the previous health strikes, that Humza Yousaf has saved 200 000 operations in Scotland but is, of course, getting no credit for it.

On 16 August 2023:

Junior doctors, only in Scotland, have voted by a massive 81.64% in favour of a deal which Humza Yousaf promised in July to try to achieve in a bid to avert ‘turmoil’ in the NHS. The damage done in England by successive strikes of nurses, paramedics and junior doctors is massive and deeply worrying.

He gets no credit for this, of course, in the media coverage, and BBC Scotland is careful not to mention the scale of the vote to accept until well down the page.

This is the culmination of efforts by Yousaf as Health Secretary and then First Minister over several months to successfully avert damaging action in NHS Scotland, by nurses, paramedics, radiographers, physiotherapists and now junior doctors.

This is a massive achievement which, had a Labour or Tory leader done so, would have made them politician of the decade.

On July 27, I wrote:

As junior doctors in England announce further strikes in August, the Guardian today has:

Thousands of patients in England are experiencing “catastrophic health impacts” as a result of vital NHS appointments, procedures and operations being delayed or cancelled, a damning report warns.

A devastating report by Healthwatch England, a watchdog, says that last-minute cancellations were causing patients to get even sicker and their mental health to deteriorate. Some in severe pain have endured multiple cancellations and postponements, it found.

In 2022-23, there were 77,266 last-minute cancelled operations for people waiting for pre-planned care in hospitals in England. Meanwhile, separate figures show that strikes over the past eight months have led to 819,000 appointments, operations and procedures being postponed.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/27/nhs-cancellations-causing-catastrophic-health-impacts-watchdog

As Health Secretary and then as First Minister, Humza Yousaf (SNP), with his colleagues, has now averted all health sectors strikes, by nurses, ambulance staff, junior doctors, consultants and radiologists.

In one of the most striking examples of bias by omission, Scotland’s media have largely ignored these key stories and have scrabbled for anything negative they can find on individuals with a health complaint, ferry delays, opinion polls and homelessness, in a desperate effort to suggest a man in trouble.

Using the best BBC Scotland estimation practice, I’d say the above report suggests that there could have been, pro rata, around 82 000 appointments, operations and procedures cancelled, should these strikes have happened in Scotland.

While there is, as yet, no hard evidence that the strikes in England are causing the loss of lives, it seems quite unlikely that such evidence will not emerge in time, such is the scale of the disruption, not yet ended.

The question in the title stands and stands even more proudly.

Why not?