By stewartb
THIS is the British Labour Party – here are more insights into its track record in government and into how low it will stoop nowadays to win power.
It seems reasonable before ‘buying’ what the British Labour Party is likely to offer the Scottish electorate in 2026 to ask: ‘what’s been happening to the performance of A&E waiting times in NHS Wales?’ And what’s happening now that the long time British Labour Party government in Cardiff has been joined by colleagues in power in Westminster?
The analysis of official statistics by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) helps with this. Moreover, it offers useful perspective on the performance of A&E in Wales: it provides similar statistics for NHS Scotland. The latest data considered by the RCEM – for major emergency departments in Wales and Scotland – are for the month of September 2024. (See https://rcem.ac.uk/data-statistics/ ) Here are the key figures:
NHS Wales (NHS Scotland):
– patients admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours from arrival = 56.5% (NHS Scotland = 65.9%)
– patients spending more than eight hours = 23.4% (10.9%)
– patients spending more than 12 hours = 14.7% (4.5%).
The differences in performance between major emergency departments in Wales and Scotland is to say the least, substantial – NHS Scotland is performing very much better within the same context of the UK-wide health (and social care) systems, albeit not as well as I suspect any one would wish.
Why is it relevant to compare and contrast NHS Scotland with NHS Wales? Here is one reason: a headline from the Daily Record on 31 October 2024. It should not be forgotten as it says much about the ethic of British Labour Party politics at least within its leadership. It also says much about the newspaper involved!
Headline: ‘Rachel Reeves challenges SNP to improve NHS performance in Scotland after £3.4bn boost – the Labour Chancellor claimed NHS performance in Scotland was “worse than in any part of the United Kingdom”.
In the article there is this: “Frankly, the performance of the NHS in Scotland under the SNP is worse than in any part of the United Kingdom, and that money now needs to be used to address the priorities of the Scottish people.’ Adding: “In Scotland, the SNP now need to use that money that we have allocated wisely to start to reduce those waiting lists in Scotland, because they are out of control, and that is a sad legacy of the Government in Scotland.” There was no challenge to this big lie in the Record’s coverage!
And we thought that the Tories were the duplicitous party! Electoral victory in 2026 by any means? ( And for the avoidance of doubt – and as regular TuS readers will know – NHS Scotland compares favourably with its UK peers across a range of important performance metrics.)
The contrast in A&E performances is not restricted to September 2024. Usefully, the RCEM has published graphs of waiting times performance extending over a decade or more: based on official statistics, they reveal that NHS Scotland’s main Emergency Departments have long performed better on waiting times from patient arrival to discharge, transfer or admission. (The RCEM website publishes the evidence which confirms this!)
Once must assume the Daily Record is more interested in amplifying the lies of a senior British Labour Party politician intent on duping voters in Scotland rather than inform its readers with independently – and easily accessed – verified facts.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
lies such as Rachel Reeves concerning Scotlands NHS should be given the highest profile possible. The unionist media has had it all too good to themselves. This duplicitous rhetoric by Westminster needs to called out and reach the people that only read the Scottish unionist media!
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Frankly Liebour, Scots don’t give a damn.
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A longstanding contention by those seeking solutions to the crises in the NHS across the UK – especially those in acute hospital services – is the need to fix social care. For example, bed blocking resulting from delayed discharge is a critical issue caused by deficiencies in adult care services.
Now that a Labour Chancellor has given more money to NHS England and by extension to the governments in NI, Scotland and Wales, the message from British Labour Party politicians to voters in Scotland is emerging: ‘Scotland’s public services have been and still are crap; we’ve given the SNP government loads more money; now they have the means to fix the NHS and every other public service; and when this doesn’t happen before the 2026 Holyrood election – see Labour’s been right all along – ‘SNPbad!’
But what did Labour do about fixing social care in its miraculous Budget? Next time we find BBC Scotland or the Daily Record etc. amplifying Unionist politicians crying ‘crisis’ or ‘shame’ when commenting on social care or delayed discharges or local government finances in Scotland – and we will – what follows will be relevant for context and perspective.
Source: Nuffield Trust (November 22, 2024) Will the Autumn Budget push the social care sector beyond breaking point? (https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/will-the-autumn-budget-push-the-social-care-sector-beyond-breaking-point )
From the Nuffield Trust (with my emphasis): ‘Already fragile after Covid, runaway inflation and a decade of deep cuts to funding, the near 18,000 organisations that provide care in England now fear they will be pushed over the edge of financial viability when the changes to the Employer National Insurance Contributions (ENICs) regime announced in the budget kick in. We estimate that the ENICs changes will cost independent sector social care employers in the region of an additional £940 million in 2025/26, on top of around £1.85 billion more that will be needed to meet new minimum wage rates from April 2025 also announced in the budget.’
And: ‘Recent ADASS (Association of Directors of Adult Social Services) surveys have underlined how precarious council finances are. Local authorities are set to overspend on social care by around £564 million in this current financial year, and 37% say they are planning to draw on non-recurrent sources (e.g. reserves) to prop up budgets. The Health Foundation estimates that an additional £1 billion would be needed next year just to keep pace with demand for adult social care, let alone make any improvements.
‘In this context, it is difficult to see how councils will be able to increase the rates they pay for care sufficiently to enable providers to make financial ends meet. Providers will face their own tough decisions. If they can’t increase fees sufficiently, they may look to cost-cutting measures, such as cutting more experienced highly paid staff, reducing staff hours, or freezing pay for those above the legal minimum wages. Some may opt to leave the council-funded market or choose (or be forced) to close down altogether.’
In a section entitled ‘The human cost of market failure’, the Nuffield Trust notes: ‘The government, so far, has stood firm in its stance that no non-public organisations are exempt from the new ENIC regime. But as work starts to “save the NHS”, they cannot remain unaware of the likely consequences of the budget for social care.’
Of course, British Labour Party leaders with the help of a compliant mainstream media will strive to ensure that voters in Scotland are told that – unique in the UK – none of the above Westminster actions/inactions have negative spillover consequences in Scotland. Here all problems are caused – apparently – by that SNP government!
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