By Professor John Robertson, OBA
From The Scottish Health Survey 2023 – volume 1: main report, published today, the above graph reveals a steady maintenance of levels of self-reported well-being in Scotland, despite 14 years of Tory austerity policies only partly moderated by the limited powers of the SNP in government but including, crucially for this measure, free prescriptions, bus passes, more GPs, nurses, beds and no NHS strikes.1
In can find no earlier comparable data for Labour-run Scotland before 2008 but we were drinking far more then.
I can also not find directly comparable data for England for 2022 or 2023.
They may have had a reason to stop in 2021.
From Health Survey for England, 2021 part 2 released in May 2023:
In 2021, the mean wellbeing score of adults in England was 26.0. Men (26.1) had, on average, higher scores than women (25.8). 2
Sources:
- https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-health-survey-2023-volume-1-main-report/pages/7/
- https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/health-survey-for-england/2021-part-2/loneliness-and-wellbeing#:~:text=Wellbeing%20scores%2C%20by%20age%20and%20sex%20In,amongst%20those%20aged%2065%20to%2074%20(26.9).
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Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Something that might affect BBC Reporting Scotland’s mental health. A story about Ferries but not CalMac. Wonder if it will be mentioned
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/nov/13/po-ferries-spent-47m-on-mass-layoffs-amid-financial-difficulties-accounts-show
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Especially since P&O’s anti trade Union anti worker attitude appeals to the BBC hierarchy. They are ruthlessly driving down costs and that is the kind of tough language the BBC likes to promote.
Of course it does nothing for the public and does nothing for the good of the company. Still, the directors get their bonuses.
Alasdair Macdonald
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Alcohol causes depression. It is a depressant. If people are drinking less, on average, there will be less people depressed. Not being able to work.
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There appear to be two different scales being used to arrive at these results –
The Scottish result is based on the WEMWBS 14-item scale
The English result appears to be based on the SWEMWBS 7-item scale – so the two can’t really be used to make comparisons.
On the first of those two, a score of 41-44 indicates mild depression, so Scotland’s 48.9 (slightly better than Wales’ 48.2) is probably quite impressive.
On the second, a score of 18-20 indicates mild depression, so England’s 26 isn’t too bad.
Quite why England chooses to use a different scale to both Scotland and Wales is open to conjecture, but they do have a history in that regard – eg they measure NHS performance data differently, as well as having a different idea about what constitutes a drug death.
In this instance, the cynic in me says that they don’t use the same scale as us in an attempt to hide the fact that people in Scotland are happier with the way they are being governed.
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