‘A message from my mum – thanks for not doing a wealth tax.‘
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In 2022, Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, said the A&E figures, obtained by the party through freedom of information requests, were “shocking”
NHS Scotland, though always far better than the other 3 nation’s NHS system, has not met the 95% within 4 hours target since the early days of 2020:
But yesterday, the Labour leader in Wales, who shares the same boss as Sarwar, said
The First Minister of Wales has blamed drunks for the Welsh Labour government never once meeting its waiting time target in hospital accident and emergency departments.
Mark Drakeford, who stands down next week, told the BBC “many, many people who wait in hospital to be treated are not sitting there waiting in pain, they’re sitting there waiting because they’re drunk”.
He suggested it would be better if the target didn’t include those who had had too much to drink.
“A more sensible system would not count them,” he told me.
Eminently sensible, don’t you think Anas?
What percentage tends to be drunk?
According to the BMJ in 2016 – around 21% https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4916572/
OK, let’s try this for August 2023, one of the best performances that year, when 116 700 attended A&E in Scotland.
So roughly, 21%, 24 507 of them were drunk and 92 193 were not.
So 79 331 of the non-drunk 92 193, or 86%, were seen in 4 hours. Pretty good.
Don’t tell Rishi. We don’t want NHS England to be claiming more than half in 4 hours.
Talking-up Scotland costs nothing so donate to our friends at https://www.broadcastingscotland.scot/donate/ or take out a subscription to the Scots Independent newspaper in which I have a column, at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/product-category/subscriptions/
Talking-up Scotland 
‘What percentage tends to be drunk? According to the BMJ in 2016 – around 21%.’
Then add in consideration of stats quoted on the BBC News website’s health section (22 November 2021) in an article headed: ‘Some vulnerable people use A&E weekly or more’.
It reports: ‘A small group of patients make up a large proportion of A&E attendances, call outs and hospital admissions, a new analysis of NHS data suggests. The British Red Cross, which did the work, says many are vulnerable people who say they have nowhere else to go for help. Figures suggest less than 1% of the population account for 16% of emergency department visits in England.’
It also notes: ‘Using data between 2012 and 2018, the Red Cross tracked the attendances of 376,000 patients who had been flagged for high intensity use of A&E – attending more five times (sic) in one year (2015).
‘Despite making up just 0.7% of the population, they accounted for 29% of ambulance journeys and 26% of non-elective hospital admissions. While the majority would call on emergency care less than nine times in a year, a handful attended their local A&E more than 300 times.
‘Many lived in the most deprived areas and were often dealing with mental health problems, relationship breakdown, housing insecurity and severe loneliness.’
Whilst additional resources for A&E services may well be needed in the short term, it seems that the solution to over-stretched A&E services substantially lies elsewhere.
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Sarwar and Starmer look quite high there…high on massive sums of £’s they take from the public purse and their dodgy pals.
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This has always been the case with A&E, Friday and Saturday nights in particular – It’s not usually the drink they’re being treated for, but the alcohol levels need to reduce sufficiently before treatment can be safely administered.
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But, while they are waiting some of them and their pals behave obstreperously towards hospital staff and to other patients.
I recall one occasion I had to go to the A&E at the old Western Infirmary in Glasgow because I had a nosebleed that I was unable to stop. While I was waiting the police brought in an elderly woman who was under the influence. However, at triage they found there was nothing wrong with her – apparently she was a regular who was at the A&E several times per week. She refused to leave and caused a fuss, so the police took her by the arms to take her out (they clearly knew her). When they did that she then grabbed hold of me (I was nearest) and wound part of my shirt around her arms. The only way to free me was to tear my shirt. Eventually, they managed to get her out. However, for about 15/30 minutes people turning up at A&E could not be seen.
Alasdair Macdonald.
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BBC Breakfast Kemi Badenoch being interviewed doing excessive blinking I wonder if there is any truth in what research says about it,make up your on minds.
Research shows that there is a corresponding increase in blinking when our heart rate increases in response to an external stress. Because of these connections, increased blinking is frequently attributed to lying in the face of a perceived threat to one’s safety and well-being.”
Worth a look.
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“BBC Breakfast Kemi Badenoch being interviewed doing excessive blinking”
Kemi Badenoch blinking !…..You would have choked on your Breakfast if you heard what Kaye Adams read out on radio while hosting BBC Radio Scotland ‘Call Kaye’ this morning.
Apparently some random (Tory voter), equated Humza Yousaf’s “Tory free Scotland” (as in Tory party) to what they said was akin to “Humza’s Final Solution”…..and he also said “what next a Labour Free Scotland”…..and noted it was also similar to what happened in the 1930’s (as in obvs referring to Nazi Germany) apparently….I mean just how “Extreme” are the Tories and some of their voters as well as the media that supports them (indulges them)…….in their voters spewing out such hate and the BBC employees reading out their bigoted rants. (and don’t get me started on the actual Tory party)
Ironic really considering Kaye’s employers, the BBC (and Kaye), are doing everything they can to try and make Scotland an ‘SNP Free Zone”…..and also ironic that the caller noted “what next a Labour Free Scotland”.…..when many a Labour politician calls the SNP “Tartan Tories“….is that meant as a compliment (Nope) or is it a label intended to be an insult for the SNP to be seen as a Scottish alternate version of the Tory party..…Hmm. (I guess that person who made the comments that Kaye read out would call that…banter from Labour politicians)
That she, Kaye Adams, saw fit to read out such an offensive and extreme comment kinda exemplifies whose side she is on and also very much the kind of churnalist she actually is…..the reality is that Scotland would be a far far better place if it were a ‘BBC Free zone’…..and thus Pro UK enabling gossip merchants like Kaye Adams……would no longer able to promote their biased, partisan and distasteful version of the news and discussions that seek to uphold the UK while undermining any political party supportive of Scottish independence.
I would strongly argue that someone from the SNP needs to complain that this offensive comparison was chosen to be read out via this broadcaster because this was not a true and honest opinion but it was offensive and derogaTORY comments from a voter of a party (Tory) who can hardly argue that his favoured party (Tories) are anything but ones reported as being corrupt, extreme, offensive, incompetent, self serving and who have no qualms in taking money from a donor who is racist and who considers it fine and dandy to say he would liked to have had a black politician shot who was in opposition to his favoured party (Tories)…..as in very much it seems his, the Tory donor’s, actual “Final solution” to someone that he saw as a political problem in his UK…………..
Also where Tories, as a party in government within the UK, act as if they govern like Dictators, within their own UK Dictatorship.………which kind of makes you realise why Kaye Adams really chose to read out such an offensive comment from a Tory voter that completely disrespected our FM…….she does have form though….and I do hope most fair minded people in Scotland (and elsewhere) would have found her choosing to read out what amounted to partisan and bigoted rants from a Bigot…..whose own choice of political party as a voter explains just how he holds the views that he does….. and him choosing to communicate these views via spouting inaccurate and offensive comments that amount to pure hatred.…and where Kaye Adams chose to indulge him his moment of infamy….. in allowing his shocking and totally misrepresented analogy to be heard, via her reading his comments out ‘Live’ on a Radio programme broadcast in Scotland.
Proves once more that for Scotland GB News & Talk TV were surplus to requirement as we already had our own (unwanted) version of these rogue news channels via the BBC in Scotland that employs BritNat churnalists here in Scotland ….who were and still are…..only too happy to constantly pander to Pro UK parties while dissing and undermining the SNP, the Scottish government, Green party and also all SNP FM’s past and present……..
BBC Scotland News (to include some employees like Kaye) are an absolute disgrace and most definitely not fit for (any) purpose in Scotland other than pro UK propaganda….and thus will have no place in an independent Scotland which we hope will be free from propaganda merchants like the BBC (and t’others too)……
I know what I would like to CALL Kaye….but will hold back…. as anyone who is decent and fair should be more than aware of what I (and perhaps they also) would like to CALL Kaye……no clues required…..as way too obvious based on her previous and present and I am sure future also) style of churnalism aka BritNat uber alles !
NMRN
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