Professor John Robertson OBA
To set the scene for this report, do listen to John Grady MP for Glasgow East, corporate lawyer and holder of a typical Edinburgh University accent, above. If you can, then read on.
From the Guardian yesterday:
Surge in flu cases risks overwhelming hospitals in England, says NHS chief – Health service concerned that early ‘flood’ of infections will be made worse by family gatherings at Christmas…Last week 125 people were so seriously ill with flu they were being treated in critical care, almost double the 66 who were receiving life-or-death care because of the virus the week before.
From Public Health Scotland, also yesterday:
Attendances to GP practices for influenza-like illness and acute respiratory infections increased steeply this week, although they remain at levels not unusual for this time in the season…..There has been no notable increase in admission to intensive care because of influenza.
What might explain these differences given Scotland’s colder weather, older population and, according to Scottish Labour MP’s in Parliament, worse performing NHS?
Could the Scottish Labour MPs be lying, shaming their own folk, just to please their master?
Looks that way when you consider the evidence:
First, there are 13 695 hospital beds in Scotland, 3 695 more than you’d expect, per head, more than a third more.1
Second, there are 12 nurses per 1 000 people in Scotland but only 9 in the UK.2
Third, Scotland has 27.3% more GPs than England.3,4
Fourth, cleaner hospitals as evidenced by far lower hospital-acquired Covid cases. Independent sources collect in this.5
Sources:
- https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-annual/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-annual-annual-year-ending-31-march-2023/#:~:text=Bed%20numbers%20and%20percentage%20occupancy,88.1%25%20in%202022/23.
- https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/uk-fewer-nurses-per-head-33961132
- https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/sep/04/nhs-faces-tipping-point-in-england-where-most-appointments-will-not-be-with-gps
- https://turasdata.nes.nhs.scot/media/v00by43i/2023_gp_workforce_survey_report.html#:~:text=Information%20from%202012%20to%202023,2023%2C%20equivalent%20to%203%2C478.4%20WTE
- https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2021/11/17/why-99-5-of-new-covid-cases-were-not-caught-in-scotlands-clean-hospitals/
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Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Slightly off-topic but talking of lying Labour MP’s it was I think either BBC or STV yesterday interviewing Ian Murray as he visited the H&W yard in Methil in their efforts to restore some credibility for Labour portraying them as some sort of saviour but conveniently forgetting that the UK Government had refused the Company a loan to keep it afloat.
Just another example of how the Scottish media and Labour cooperating.
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