Professor John Robertson OBA

Seeing the Guardian report today on the massive shocking scandal at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, I was reminded of the media-saturated story in 2018 – 2022, when Doctor Iain Kennedy made his name exposing bullying at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. The contrast in the media/opposition party treatment could not be sharper.

First, Blackpool:

In the Guardian yesterday following on from the above LancsLive piece in September 2025:

The report, leaked to the Guardian, follows a series of devastating incidents at the Blackpool Victoria hospital that have resulted in multiple arrests and six members of staff being imprisoned in the past two years. Two nurses were jailed for stealing drugs and unlawfully sedating patients to make their shifts easier. The trust’s leading heart surgeon was imprisoned for sexually assaulting five colleagues. In October, a coroner ruled that an elderly female patient had been sexually assaulted and unlawfully killed in her hospital bed; a murder investigation has concluded without identifying a culprit. The trust has been accused by the British Medical Association (BMA) of doing too little to combat a “toxic culture of fear” and failing to “make the necessary changes to improve conditions for doctors”. Wes Streeting, the health secretary, described the hospital’s recent failings as “abhorrent”. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/dec/03/culture-of-bullying-and-harassment-found-at-scandal-hit-blackpool-victoria-nhs-hospital

Notice how the current Health Secretary is platformed but only to join with the community in condemning the Health Trust. The previous Tory health secretary and government is not associated in any way with the scandal, even in the left-leaning Guardian. Imagine that had been in Scotland?

I can find no reports by BBC UK, England nor Lancashire. Imagine that had been in Scotland?

In Inverness, did any patients or staff die? No. Were any staff jailed? No. Did any staff have to be hospitalised? One senior member of staff did have to be hospitalised for anxiety. Imagine that had been in England?

Second, Inverness:

Instances of Scottish Government Involvement in Media Coverage based on an analysis of news articles (primarily from BBC, The Herald, Press and Journal, and Strathspey Herald) and social media discussions on X (formerly Twitter), the SG was explicitly asked to intervene, blamed, or associated with the scandal in at least 12 distinct media instances from 2018–2023. These are not exhaustive but represent major reports; the scandal’s media footprint includes dozens of articles, with SG links appearing in roughly 20–30% of them. Associations often stem from the SG’s oversight role (as NHS Scotland’s funder and regulator), while blames center on perceived delays or systemic failures.

Date	Media Source	Type of Association	Key Details
Sep 2018	The Herald (open letter)	Asked to intervene	Clinicians’ letter calls for independent SG-led probe into “bullying culture” at NHS Highland; SG responds by arranging meetings with NHS Scotland executives.
Oct 2018	Press and Journal	Blamed	Whistleblowers accuse SG of “brushing off” concerns; NHS Highland blames SG for delaying external support amid budget shortfalls.
Oct 2018	Inverness Courier	Asked to intervene	Victim stories prompt SG to schedule discussions with GMB union and Dr. Kennedy on bullying complaints.
Nov 2018	BBC News	Associated (intervention)	SG announces Sturrock review in response to media pressure; doctors demand “fully independent” SG action.
Nov 2018	Press and Journal (timeline)	Associated	Health Secretary Jeane Freeman travels to Inverness to oversee inquiry launch.
Mar 2019	BBC News	Associated	Sturrock report (300+ submissions) highlights SG-recognized systemic issues beyond NHS Highland.
Apr 2019	The Ferret	Blamed	SG’s financial pressures and “dysfunctional” oversight blamed for enabling bullying; Sturrock inquiry commissioned amid budget critiques.
May 2019	Gov.scot (Sturrock report)	Blamed	Report links bullying to “government target-driven” NHS model and under-capacity, implicating SG policies.
Sep 2021	BBC News	Associated	SG funds “healing process” review; panel reports ongoing bullying, tying it to prior SG-commissioned Sturrock findings.
Mar 2022	Press and Journal	Associated	SG monitors action plan implementation; Freeman visits Inverness to check progress on anti-bullying measures.
Jun 2022	BBC News	Associated	SG-funded payouts (£2.8m) to victims; review reiterates hundreds affected under SG oversight.
Dec 2023	Strathspey Herald	Blamed	Union claims bullying “still rife” despite SG’s “Once for Scotland” policies; calls for stronger SG enforcement.

More at: https://x.com/i/grok?conversation=1996301101235109931

Note the above is not exhaustive.