The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland - a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson
By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS
The above from BBC News is misleading and they’ve done it before.
The above figure of 73% is the average for all A&E departments, including those little ‘County’ hospital units which only deal with cuts, bruises and minor breaks. The figure for full, consultant-led, Type 1 A&E departments was only 57.7% treated in 4 hours.1
The NHS Scotland equivalent figure was 64.2%.2 11.3% better, meaning around 14 000 patients seen within the 4 hour target who would not have had they been in and average NHS England hospital.
Source:
- https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/
- https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/healthcare-system/urgent-and-unscheduled-care/accident-and-emergency/interactive-charts/how-long-people-spend-in-ae/
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Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
‘ BBC News is misleading’ – now that is a statement of fact!
The BBC’s health editor’s piece verges on the laughable.
“A&E performance still below target“- that is a headline working very hard on understatement! (my emphasis)
And this: “At first glance these numbers look like the highest since records began.”
At first glance? A BBC editor with all his research resources to interrogate the readliy available, well documented NHS England performance statistics should not be relying on a “first glance”! It is the highest or it isn’t – he should do his job and inform readers properly!
And the references to waits for a bed indicates that the BBC health editor is using the metric time to admission AFTER a decision to admit is taken. How long was spent in A&E BEFORE the decision was taken: what was the total time?
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) campaigned for NHS England and the Department of Health to follow NHS Scotland’s practice and publish waits from time of arrival at an emergency department.
In evidence to a House of Lords committee in 2023 a senior representative of the RCEM called the metric the BBC editor seems to be reporting – the time from a decision to admit – ‘dishonest’! Eventually the further information on time spent since arrival was provided. Why is the BBC editor not using the latter, the true waiting times patients experience?
In January 2025, 61,529 patients waited over 12 hours from DECISION TO ADMIT to admission in NHS England departments.
In January 2025, 172,515 patients waited over 12 hours from ARRIVAL to admission, transfer or discharge, i.e. 12.7% of attendances.
There is a HUGE difference in the numbers involved. The BBC’s health editor MUST know this!
Source: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/
In December 2024, 6.9% of NHS Scotland patients spent over 12 hours in A&E from time of arrival to admission, transfer or discharge. The BBC and many others seem remarkably keen to avoid reporting that 6.9% in NHS Scotland is MANY FEWER patients experiencing long waits than 12.7% in NHS England!
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