98% target-busting by NHS Scotland – IVF, drug and alcohol treatment and now planned operations – but all ignored by the media

Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair

From Public Health Scotland today:

In the 12 months from March 2024 to February 2025, there was a 1.4% increase (+4,009) in the number of planned operations compared to the previous 12 months.

Of all planned operations during February 2025 in NHSScotland, 707 (3%) were cancelled by the hospital for clinical reasons, 731 (3.1%) were cancelled by the patient, 420 (1.8%) were cancelled by the hospital due to capacity or non-clinical reasons, and 70 (0.3%) were cancelled for other reasons.

Patients and doctors change their minds about surgery. They’re entitled to. It’s a good thing they feel free to. This is not a negative statistic. There is only one statistic you can consider a measure of the efficiency of NHS Scotland – the percentage cancelled/postponed due to sudden unavailability of staff [illness?] or facilities/theatres [sudden emergencies?] which cannot be planned for. In February 2025, only 1.8% were cancelled for this reasons. NHS Scotland was equipped thus, in that month to carry out 98.2% on time.

For a system of such size, complexity and sophistication that’s, to use a technical term, bloody marvellous and you’ll see from the graph above that the figure hovers around 2% month after month, year after year. This target-busting performance is never reported.

Two other target-beating NHS Scotland performances are never reported either:

They’re never going to tell you about this – 100% seen within the target for years, 79% waiting less than half the target time and numbers well above pre-pandemic levels – Scotland’s IVF programme creating and saving live

and

Never reported by ‘Scotland’s media’ – 97% of drug abusers referred to NHS Scotland begin treatment within three weeks and every part of Scotland hits or betters the 90% target

This is not an accident, repeating month after month, year-after-year, it’s an editorial policy never to cover them but to always cover any other target missed.

6 thoughts on “98% target-busting by NHS Scotland – IVF, drug and alcohol treatment and now planned operations – but all ignored by the media”

  1. Fantastic achievement by NHS Scotland it’s staff, plus of course, all the support workers that keep the organisation running.

    As for the “Trusted Journalism” 🙂 Aye, that lot are probably making up complete ferry stories from complaints by the St. Kilda Hoteliers Association.

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  2. The plan is clear. This from the Daily Record – now the (candidly, too obvious) house journal of the British Labour Party in Scotland – back on January 27, 2025: ‘The SNP will lose the Holyrood election if the NHS is the top issue of voters’.

    Then the insight into the ‘big idea’: ‘The SNP’s grip on power will end next year if voters enter the polling booths thinking about the NHS.’

    So one can readily flesh out the plan:

    1. put NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government’s responsibility for it at the forefront of news coverage in the run up to the Holyrood election – work to ensure it is an election issue firmly in the minds of voters. Then to exploit this:
    2. focus on negative framing– and importantly, be relentless: use the tactics of repetition of negative frames and the politicisation of individual tragic cases (of so-called ’salient exemplars’, pushing the notion that the aberrant is the norm)
    3. aggregate and amplify the statements of opposition politicians in Holyrood: for the Daily Record this is especially Labour spokespersons
    4. continue to shun provision of context and perspective – avoid comparisons of NHS Scotland with NHS performance in NI, England and Wales unless of course NHS Scotland can been shown to perform more poorly. For the Daily Record especially – of course – any objective comparison with NHS Wales under a British Labour Party government must be avoided like the plague
    5. persist with omission of positives in the news reporting.

    And to repeat, to have a chance of success these negative actions in the plan must be repeated and repeated and repeated!

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  4. Labour are reportedly putting £22Billion into the NHS. Scotland funds SNHS £18Billion + social care. Another £2Billion. Increased to £20Billion. Improving healthcare.

    Labour cutting support for the disabled £5Billion. More people will end up in hospital. No joined up policies.

    Increasing Defence (attack) spending. Already wasting £Billions. On redundant weaponry. Trident a total waste of monies. 180,000 military personnel. 10,000 based in Scotland. Scotland paying too much for the military. Trident dumped in Scotland. A danger to Scotland.

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  5. Pingback: The deep irony of BBC Scotland talking about ‘hidden’ waiting lists when they routinely hide target-beating and lists much shorter than elsewhere in the UK – Talking-up Scotland
  6. Pingback: Our NHS is strong and improving but this Unionist part-time GP poses regularly to lie about it – Talking-up Scotland [Collective]

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