By Professor John Robertson OBA
You have to laugh as BBC Wales use the image on the left above for Ambulance chief says ‘drink sensibly’ over New Year after critical incident but BBC Scotland can only find the one parked outside a corner shop in Forfar as the paramedics nip in for bridies, for Ambulance crews put on highest level of emergency.
BBC Wales have this staggering report:
Welsh ambulance service chiefs have urged the public to “drink sensibly” at New Year to help reduce demand on emergency services that suffered a 340-call backlog on Monday. Jason Killens, chief executive of Welsh Ambulance Service, made the plea after the service declared a critical incident.
In addition, more than half of the trust’s ambulance vehicles were waiting to handover patients outside hospitals. Mr Killens asked the public to use the service “wisely” and only call during a “genuine emergency”, adding it was prepared for the additional pressure and 999 calls.
Wow! Surely the Labour Government in Wales will be put under pressure on this?
Nope, it’s not their fault. There’s just this in the 23rd paragraph.
The Welsh government said urgent and emergency care services across Wales continued to see high levels of demand this winter.
Surely the opposition parties have something to say?
Nope. Not a word.
But, in Scotland, under that one wee ambulance photo, on 24th December, BBC Scotland had:
Scottish ambulance crews have been put on the highest level of emergency due to “significant pressure” placed on services. The Scottish Ambulance Service stepped up its resource escalation action plan (Reap) to level four – the highest available status – last week.
The decision means all leave could be cancelled for workers and that all available staff might be called to the front line. However, the Scottish government insisted that services were still able to urgently treat patients in a critical condition.
So, just the SAS getting ready, no actual delays yet, certainly no crisis as in Wales but straight-off the Scottish Government linked to the potential delays.
The Scottish Government is mentioned 5 times and the SNP Health Secretary is pictured. In Wales a full-blown crisis but the Labour Welsh Health Secretary and the Welsh Labour Government are given a pass.
Opposition parties in Scotland? Not mentioned in Wales at all but in Scotland:
The news comes as both the Tories and Labour say more than 2,000 people are estimated to have died this year because they waited too long in Scotland’s A&E departments.
Both parties cited research from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, external, which says there will be one additional death for every 72 patients who wait between eight and 12 hours in A&E.
The Tories claimed there could have been a “shocking” 2,181 excess deaths this year, basing calculations on the 226,328 patients who waited more than eight hours in the emergency room for treatment throughout 2024.
Labour claimed 147,223 Scots had waited more than eight hours to be seen in A&E and then be admitted, transferred or discharged over the period from January to October this year.
They estimated this would equate to as many as 2,045 excess deaths.
Official statistics from Public Health Scotland showed just under three out of five patients (59.7%) in A&E were seen and subsequently admitted, transferred or discharged within the target time of four hours in the week ending 8 December.
On those excess deaths, see:
The RCN? Not mentioned in Wales but in Scotland:
Colin Poolman, the director of the Royal College of Nursing in Scotland, told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme that “huge demand” was becoming a year-round problem.
He said: The pressures are getting unbearable and unsustainable and we need to look at the symptoms of this. All of these are symptoms of a service that is at breaking point and they [the Scottish government] need to invest in all parts of the system.”
Mr Poolman said an expanded workforce was required to break a “continual circle” of problems with the health service.
Sometimes media bias can be subtle and require careful analysis but this just slaps you in the face.
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Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Forgive me if I have misrepresented the FACTS here but …Welsh Ambulance crisis – Wales is a Celtic country – Scotland is a Celtic country , therefore Scotland needs to take its share of the blame for the Celtic Ambulance Crisis ; in fact as Scotland has a bigger population than Wales , it needs to bear more of the blame !
Misreporting Scotland will soon be interviewing the Scottish Health Secretary and demanding action AND his resignation for the Celtic Ambulance Crisis !
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Also There reports of flooding but no reports of properties being flooded As you have said before more and more areas have been future proofed one noticeable area is Carmyle which used to flood regularly but has been sorted out Also the Cart and Levern Water use to always flood
No more
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On X a couple of days ago, Scottish Labour made the claim that Scotland’s infrastructure had been left to crumble by the SNP.
Anas Sarwar is one of Glasgow Region’s 7 List MSPs and should know that between 2013 and 2018 there was a £250 million investment in a new sewer network for the Greater Glasgow area because it benefitted his constituents!
It is unfortunate some voters will believe any old rubbish Scottish Labour post, while major regeneration projects the Scottish Government are helping to fund are taken for granted.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-44998611
“Scotland’s biggest sewer – the £100m Shieldhall Tunnel which runs under Glasgow – is now operational.
The project took two years to complete and involved 100 workers from around the world.
It is the biggest waste water tunnel in Scotland, with a 3.1 mile (4.8km) underground channel from Craigton to Queen’s Park in the south of the city.”
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Unfortunately even Shieldhall is struggling to cope with the sheer volume of shite from ‘Pacifier Quay’….
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The BritNats England HQ’d parties would have sewage running through the streets of Scotland if they were in power at Holyrood. They really would.
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No way clicking on BBC links sorry. Also they are England HQ’d party we should call them the English party, operating in Scotland, they work only in the interests of the BritNat English state.
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I agree about Scottish Labour. I refer to them as the Labour Party in Scotland. The claims made by “Scottish Labour” on X are outrageous. The good news is they are so inept they are easily busted. No one took credit for writing the BBC article, but I’m assuming from the praise heaped on the project and their positivity and enthusiasm writing about the subject, that it was written by an apprentice 😉
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Your ” but BBC Scotland can only find the one parked outside a corner shop in Forfar as the paramedics nip in for bridies…” reminded me so much of ‘Sun EXCLUSIVE’ of coppers being pilloried over taking a break and an ice-cream in the height of summer in England, it conjured thought of Chris Musson having become a consultant for BBC Scotlandshire ?
I’ve no doubt whatever ambulance crews as all emergency services will be stretched over the new year period, it’s a given at this time of year, hence the propaganda machine in Scotland going into overdrive clutching at any straw.
Perhaps a poignant time to remind ourselves those people in EMS are there to help US in our time of need, not to abuse a full fire crew to extract the heads of Sarwar, Baillie, ACH-me, Cook etc from Starmer’s rear end whilst gargling muffled pleas for efficiency gains.
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There would be NO real functioing SNHS if the BritNat, England HQ’d parties were in control at Holyrood. They started to run down a major hospital, the Western General in Edinburgh, Labcons planned to close it down, prime real estate, they would have made a killing for themselves!! Thankfully the SNP government saved it, extended it and of course crucially it’s has a cancer research unit.
Be in no doubt whatsoever the Scottish NHS WILL be dismantled by the BritNat LabCons should they take control of Holyrood, a terrifying thought to say the very least.
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