Professor John Robertson OBA
Remember the days, less than 20 years ago, when corporate media like the Herald would only have trade unions on the front page to suggest they were selfish, overpaid, dishonest, a threat to the economy, the nation even. These days, they’re ‘useful idiots‘ to be exploited in the campaign for Labour in the next Holyrood election.
I have 1 bairn (born in Falkirk) and three weans (born in Irvine). The midwives were all wonderful. One of the consultants less so.
I’m not doubting they feel under pressure but:
By 2024, NHS Scotland had 2 581 midwives, 9.7% more than in 2016, 47 for every 100k population.1
NHS England had 24 000, 6% more 41 for every 100k population.2
That crude difference of 6 seems not that much but it’s 15% higher, very significant in statistical terms and a clear indicator of far greater competence in government of the SNP.
Sources:
- https://www.gov.scot/publications/report-recommended-actions-ministerial-scottish-nursing-midwifery-taskforce/pages/3/
- https://www.nursingtimes.net/workforce/nhs-data-shows-6-increase-in-nurses-and-midwives-25-01-2024/
Is that all we have in comparing maternity care in NHS Scotland and NHS England?
Of course not:
Police have investigated over 1 000 avoidable baby deaths in NHS England, none in Edinburgh and none in Scotland where ‘maternity failings’ pay-outs are tellingly less than half, per head, those in England
BBC Scotland on October 29th 2025: Damning report finds ‘culture of mistrust’ at maternity unit – Staffing shortages and a “culture of mistrust” led to delays and patients being harmed at one of the busiest maternity units in the UK, a review has found.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland‘s report based on a one/two day visit to the maternity unit in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh does say the same things but among more positive statements and nowhere does it quantify it’s essentially anecdotal evidence. We do not hear, within a 41 page report, what percentage of how many staff, reported these concerns and crucially, we do not see any actual figures on patient harm as useful context for these unquantified complaints. We do not even hear how many patients were complimentary and how many were not so. We need at least some indication of the scale of any problem.
For example, where is the reference, even to contest, the facts in my headline, based on published sources?
There is one very telling piece of evidence we do have but it’s never reported in Scotland:
NHS England has to pay out more than twice as much as NHS Scotland for ‘maternity failings’
£1.3 billion was paid out in Scotland in 2024/205 compared to £27 BILLION in England.
Per head, that £1.3 billion becomes £13 billion, less than half the NHS England pay-outs of £27 billion.
Sources:
https://x.com/i/grok?conversation=1983476698260623709
https://www.cwj.co.uk/site/newsandevents/legalnews/costs_of_NHS_maternity_care_claims_revealed.html
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
I was a career long trade unionist and had spells as workplace representative. I wish more people were in trade unions.
However, someone should give them trading that words have meaning and that we have a range of words relating to particular categories to enable us to express nuance and enhance accuracy. But if you use hyperbolic superlatives there can be little meaningful discussion and any possibility of compromise is curtailed because you have too far to travel from your initial stance.
Usually, the exaggerated terminology is delivered with performative rage.
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O/T tho’ still on healthcare workforce matters and to highlight another contrast in favour of Scotland’s healthcare system which will receive no MSM media attention and candidly, little or acknowledgement either from the relevant trade union. It concerns District Nursing.
Source: Nufffield Trust (May 31, 2025) 1 in 4 district nurses leave NHS – fix district nursing or risk jeopardising plans to shift care closer to home, warns think tank.‘
(Typical of England-based health think tanks, one has to read into their reports to confirm the scope is England only! Why cannot they simply – and always – use the term ‘NHS England’ in titles when that is what they are referring to?)
From the Nuffield Trust: ‘Government plans to move more NHS care into the community and out of hospitals won’t be achievable unless action is taken to address the dire state of district nursing, with an estimated one in four district nurses having left the workforce in the year to September 2024.
‘From 2009/10 to 2023/24, the number of district nurses fell by 43% …. It is projected that, as more people live for longer and with more complex health needs, demand will increase by another 34% over the next 15 years to 2040. The Nuffield Trust says this trend must be urgently addressed, and restoring the service to 2009 levels, relative to current population, could cost £376 million.’
In a press release dated October 31, 2025 in response to the report from the Nuffield Trust, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) General Secretary said:
“This report shows the value of district nursing to the government’s ambitions, but also how far this workforce has been allowed to fall. Numbers are half what they were over a decade ago, all while demand has risen and is set to continue to rise.
“District nursing is among the best investments a government can make. They are key to delivering expert interventions to help people live healthier lives in their communities, their visits are vastly cheaper than expensive hospital admission, and they will be absolute vital in the success of the planned neighbourhood health service.”
And now to the contrast, using data reported by the RCN itself: Royal College of Nursing Scotland (May 6, 2025) The Nursing Workforce in Scotland.
From page 21, on the District Nursing workforce between Dec 2019 and Dec 2023:
And more from RCN Scotland, within the increase in the registered district nursing workforce since 2019, the number of Band 7 nurses – more senior/experienced staff- in Scotland increased by 53.7% in the period to Dec 2024.
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