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Professor John Robertson OBA

Dr Iain Thomas Robert Kennedy is a Highland GP with a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. That’ll come in handy in his local area. Kennedy is just the doctor’s trade union, the BMA, rep in Scotland.

You remember when your union advertised union rep vacancies? Who applied? The best? The top? Aye right.

‘Top’ doctors, to my mind carry out cutting edge research or are, at the very least, involved in that. Alternatively, they are in charge of several doctors in a large or specialised unit requiring qualifications well beyond his undergraduate degree. He’s not a ‘top doctor’. He’s a part-time GP who spends most of his time as a trade unionist campaigning in the media. Notably, he used to have a Union Flag icon on his twitter page.

In the above interview with BBC Scotland‘s Glen Campbell, he mounts his oft-repeated but entirely evidence-free tirade against NHS Scotland and sickeningly smug accounts of his apparently purely intuitive methods of diagnosis (watching his patients walk to his room) and repeats claims like those above.

It’s all pure bollach as they say in the Highlands. Why?

Where to begin?

How about this – In August 2025, only 4.1% of patients wait more than 12 hours in Scotland’s EDs, while in England, it’s 8.3% and in Wales, 15%.¹ Remember, the percentage differences refer to thousands of patients every month.

Or this – The risk of dying from cancer falls by 11% in Scotland² and performance leads that in England³?

Or this – Scotland’s ambulances FOUR times faster than in England?⁴ 

Or – Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP), introduced by the SNP Scottish Government in 2007, praised by a leading European expert on patient safety as ‘top pillar?’⁵

Or – NHS Scotland busts 90% target for three straight years as 95% of nearly 4 000 drug abusers are seen within three weeks?⁶

Or – 100% seen within the target for years, more than 80% waiting less than half the target time and numbers well above pre-pandemic levels – Scotland’s IVF programme creating and saving lives.⁷

Or – New analysis reveals NHS Scotland’s Type 1 A&E departments treat almost twice as many per head within 4 hours as NHS England.⁸

Or – As resident (junior) doctor strikes begin today in NHS England, SNP settlement praised by BMA UK means NHS Scotland set to avoid thousands of excess deaths again.⁹

Or – NHS Scotland treats 98% of urgent skin cancer cases within 31 days compared with only 82% in England.¹⁰

Or – NHS Scotland fully ready to operate on more than 98% of more than 25 000 operations.¹¹

Or, to end, this pure sh**te from Dr Kennedy in June 2025 – Dr Kennedy says NHS Scotland is dying as a third of us turn to private care, this map shows only Scotland keeping its head above the tide.¹²

Right! Don’t think I’ve run out. I’ve barely begun to fight but he’s not worth any more of my effort.

Sources:

1. https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2025/08/21/willie-jackie-baillie-suggest-west-streeting-order-nhs-england-and-nhs-wales-to-copy-nhs-scotland-and-get-12-hour-emergency-waits-down-to-its-level/ based on official stats
2. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancer-mortality/cancer-mortality-in-scotland-annual-update-to-2022/
3. https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancer-waiting-times/cancer-waiting-times-1-july-to-30-september-2023/ and https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2025/08/14/cancer-waiting-times-latest-updates-and-analysis/
4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59549800
5. https://mobile.twitter.com/DrGregorSmith/status/1481211002301685760
6. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/national-drug-and-alcohol-treatment-waiting-times/national-drug-and-alcohol-treatment-waiting-times-1-april-2024-to-30-june-2024/
7. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/ivf-waiting-times-in-scotland/ivf-waiting-times-in-scotland-quarter-ending-31-march-2025/ and https://fertility.scot/about-nhsscotland-fertility-services/#:~:text=Learn%20more%20about%20Fertility%20Services%20in%20NHS%20Scotland,births%20across%20all%20UK%20nations.
8. https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2025/08/05/new-analysis-reveals-nhs-scotlands-type-1-ae-departments-treat-almost-twice-as-many-per-head-within-4-hours-as-nhs-england/ based on official stats
9. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2023/jul/13/doctors-strike-nhs-rishi-sunak-pay-uk-politics-live
10. https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancer-waiting-times/cancer-waiting-times-1-january-to-31-march-2025/ and https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/
11. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancelled-planned-operations/cancelled-planned-operations-month-ending-31-may-2025/
12. https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1_vYkm4Yb_3r1SCl76qvgdR6zwqqB4u4&femb=1&ll=53.46300759093687%2C-2.5837003812500114&z=8