By Professor John Robertson and Mr Robertson Primary 7 class teacher, Bainsford Primary School, Falkirk (1984).
Headlining in the Herald this morning, Scottish Labour’s promise of an extra £134 million for NHS Scotland.
Me, 40 years ago: Now, Primary 7, £134 MILLION!!! Sounds great, or does it?
Victoria: It might not be Mr Robertson!
Me: Why Victoria?
Victoria: We’d need to know what percentage that is of the total budget!
Me: Exactly!
Fast forward to another Primary 7 in 2024 – What is the NHS Scotland budget for this coming year. On your phones, go!
Bobbie: £19.5 BILLION! Up 3.4% from last year!
Lana: That 134 million is only 0.687%!
Mr Robertson (28): Altogether class – rate that increase?
PIDDLING!
Talking-up Scotland / Facts on NHS, Crime, ferries and everything else you can think of 
Especially when you consider Grampian NHS is looking to make 77 million in cuts. And that’s just one Scottish hospital.
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So with rising costs it’s even worse than piddling, and we all know London HQ’d Labour are planning to dismantle the Scottish NHS and sell it off anyway. Christ I hope people see through Labour lies and propaganda, otherwise Scotland’s going to be thrown to the dogs by whichever party takes over in London. The SNP are the only party with Scotland’s best interests at heart, their policies, even with limited powers, have had a positive impact on the Scottish people, Labour would reverse that crucial progress, straight away.
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And, in the Daily Mail, of all papers, Labour has just promised to increase spending on nuclear weapons and new submarines.
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And in the national today they say highland council have given permission to ” the derry boys ” from Belfast to do a march through Inverness city centre , when questioned by many angry residents the council leader said there were no objections so they allowed it , the residents said but nobody knew about it how can you object to it if you dont know about it.Inverness residents in particular are furious , SNP Greens and Alba have between them 26 of the 74 councilors whilst labour lib dem and tory have 24 of the 74 councilors , the other 18 are independents who as a group decided to join SNP who with 21 were the biggest single group , to form a council , clearly there are a lot of unionists hiding undercover.I believe this is the most recent tactic deployed by the english unionists in Scotland , they are now joining the Scottish independence parties or becoming independents then working against Scottish independence undercover.Joining a political party gives them a louder voice to effect their real intentions.Beware those in greens or alba etc who claim to be for Scottish independence but strangely work and put forward actions that damage those prospects that Scottish independence stand for.
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No doubt SNP are being infiltrated as well. Folk can be taken in by these “Independents” as well as witnessed here in Ayrshire
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Indeed very much so….
NMRN
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O/T I stumbled across an online article from the ‘UK edition’ of The Sun dated 5 April with this headline: ‘DRUG DEAL Brits face having to make ‘unbearable’ decisions ahead of NHS prescription charge rise next month – The exact amount your prescription will rise by and who is exempt from charges.’
The main news is that ‘Charges for prescriptions will increase by 2.59 per cent as of May 1, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced.’ There are a less serious remark to be made about the piece and a wider and more serious observation.
Throughout the article the journalist uses the term ‘Brits’ multiple times to refer to those residents of England (only) affected by this change. Way down in the article readers are finally told: ‘England is the only country in the UK that still charges for prescription meds. Meanwhile Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland scrapped the charges more than a decade ago.’ I note in passing that the UK consists of multiple countries!
The more serious point is the lengthy text required to explain to Sun readers who England is and is not exempt from prescription charges. The journalist also provides this link to official guidance: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/help-nhs-prescription-costs/free-nhs-prescriptions
The latter guidance has this warning: ‘Don’t run the risk – It’s your own responsibility to check that you’re entitled before claiming free prescriptions. If you claim free prescriptions that you’re not entitled to, you could have to pay a penalty charge of up to £100.’
This warning needs to be read in the context of the complexity of the rules where one finds this as just one example:
‘Universal Credit – Not everyone getting Universal Credit is entitled to free NHS prescriptions. Your entitlement depends on your take-home pay in the last assessment period. View our UNIVERSAL CREDIT PAGE to check if you are entitled free NHS prescriptions.
‘If you’re entitled to free NHS prescriptions because you claim Universal Credit and your take home pay is under the limit, tick box ‘U’ on the prescription form.
‘Not all prescription forms have a tick box for Universal Credit. If that’s the case you should tick box ‘K’ for income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance instead.’
The ‘Universal Credit page’ referred to has this: ‘You are only entitled if your take-home pay in your last assessment period was:
– £435 or less
– £935 or less if your Universal Credit includes a payment for a child, or you have a limited capability for work or limited capability for work and work related activity
– If you claim Universal Credit as a couple, the take-home pay limit applies to the joint income of you and your partner.
‘If your working hours and income change it’s important to regularly check if you are entitled. The last assessment period is the one that ended immediately before the date you claim help with health costs. It runs for a calendar month.’
Easy to access? Nothing to worry about then?
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Nobody going to laugh at my classroom sketch? Sigh
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I smiled John, it was a clever way of getting your point across though
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The Tories funded the NHS £125Billion a year from 2015. A cut in real terms. Not a needed increase. Increasingly elderly population that use the NHS more. Frail human bodies.
The ConDem cut funding, after being elected to increase it. Cameron/Clegg. Labour agreed with austerity. The Tories are spending £1090Billion a year. On Trident, illegal wars, redundant weaponry, HS2, Hickley Point. All wasted £Billions. No increased funding for the NHS. Raising £731Billion in the UK. Tax evasion and cutting taxes for the wealthiest. Increased poverty. Lower life expectancy.
The Scottish Gov has funded SNHS £13Billion + social care. Allowing the elderly to stay in their homes longer. Instead of residential care £1000. Hospital care £1000 a day with operations and specialist care. Prescriptions keep people well. Saves costly hospital care.
Health before wealth.
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