Year: 2025

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Unelected Ayrshire Tory MSP prefers not to tell you about the 99% on time treatment of children and adolescents with mental health problems

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Daily Record yesterday: A row is brewing over delays to complete a multi-million pound mental health inpatient unit, designed to care for children aged 12 to 18 in Ayrshire. The £19m National Secure Adolescent Inpatient Service, known as Foxgrove, was initially due to be completed more than three and a half years ago. Now Scottish Conservative shadow public health minister- and List MSP for South Scotland- Brian Whittle– has gone on the offensive and attacked the SNP-led Scottish Government for its handling of the scheme. He said: “This shocking delay is having a devastating impact … Continue reading Unelected Ayrshire Tory MSP prefers not to tell you about the 99% on time treatment of children and adolescents with mental health problems

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It doesn’t look as if the British Labour Party will bring about reform to England’s social care sector anytime soon

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stewartb Many expert commentators argue that long waits in A&E are caused – to a substantial degree – by delays in discharging hospital in-patients when medically ready for discharge and that this is caused by deficiencies on social care. It doesn’t look as if the British Labour Party government in Westminster – despite its campaigning rhetoric – will bring about reform to England’s social care sector and its financial resourcing anytime soon. The Health Foundation think tank published a blog post on October 22 entitled: ‘Social care: a year in, what prospects for reform?’ It included these statements. First for context: ‘Labour … Continue reading It doesn’t look as if the British Labour Party will bring about reform to England’s social care sector anytime soon

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NHS Scotland performance likely to be even further ahead as five examples of cover-up and distortion by NHS England managers is revealed

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stewartb making this comment below, yesterday, reminded of how previously, he, I and others have revealed the trickery used by NHS England, operating in a Tory/competitive/managerialist culture, contrary to the public service model still operating in Scotland, have found ways to massage their published statistics. When comparing statistics on long periods spent in A&E in England with those in Scotland, it is always important to check the exact nature of the metric being used. For NHS Scotland, it is always likely to be time spent since arrival up to admission, discharge or transfer. For NHS England the metric in use could be … Continue reading NHS Scotland performance likely to be even further ahead as five examples of cover-up and distortion by NHS England managers is revealed

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Families in Labour-run Bath and North-East Somerset wait 40 to 200 times as long for social housing as those in SNP-run Glasgow or across Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie once more alerting me to this: In the Guardian today, the above and: The stats are stark: families on Bath and North East Somerset council’s social housing list face a 200-year wait for a four-bedroom property and the latest available figures show England is building just a little over 10,000 social homes a year. Tackling this crisis was a key element of Labour’s election promise to build 1.5m homes over five years, with the government in July announcing plans to spend £39bn building 300,000 affordable homes over a decade, 60% of them for social rent. But hopes of hitting … Continue reading Families in Labour-run Bath and North-East Somerset wait 40 to 200 times as long for social housing as those in SNP-run Glasgow or across Scotland

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Road fatalities trend is relatively flat in last ten years but the level was nearly 70% higher under last Labour government

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Professor John Robertson OBA Yesterday, STV had: Surge in number of people killed in crashes on Scotland’s roads Statistics for 2024 show 161 people were killed in reported road collisions in Scotland. They did not have the above graph revealing: In 2007, as the the SNP began 18 years of government in Scotland, there were 270 road death, 67.7% more than in 2024 s: https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/reported-road-casualties-2007/ Continue reading Road fatalities trend is relatively flat in last ten years but the level was nearly 70% higher under last Labour government

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There are NO places in Scotland where anything close to this horrific claim of ‘almost 100% of children live in poverty’ but there are 73, SEVENTY-THREE, in England

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie for alerting us to this. In the Guardian yesterday, the above and: Almost 100% of children in 73 neighbourhoods in England are living in income-deprived families, according to new measures that factor in the impact of soaring rents. Changes to official measures reveal the neighbourhoods where in effect all children live in low-income households. Of these, 31 are in inner London boroughs with high housing costs such as Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Haringey and Westminster. The new indices of multiple deprivation confirm that attempts at levelling up have failed to shift stubbornly high levels of deprivation in so-called … Continue reading There are NO places in Scotland where anything close to this horrific claim of ‘almost 100% of children live in poverty’ but there are 73, SEVENTY-THREE, in England

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Let’s be sure we learn this lesson from history as global uranium demand and Labour’s nuclear plans threaten the lives of the people of the Orkney Islands: Edited

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Frances McKie for alerting us to this again, as she did in March 2025. In Investing.com, two days ago, the above graph and: When the U.S. government announced an $80 billion commitment to build new nuclear reactors, Cameco Corp (NYSE:CCJ) became the talk of Wall Street. The stock skyrocketed 20% in a single day, adding $9 billion to its value and reaching an all-time high of $106.91. Analysts gushed. Investors piled in. It was the obvious winner. But here’s what almost nobody noticed: America is about to need far more uranium than it can get, and the companies … Continue reading Let’s be sure we learn this lesson from history as global uranium demand and Labour’s nuclear plans threaten the lives of the people of the Orkney Islands: Edited

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Long A&E waits for the over 90’s shocking 36% more common in NHS England than in NHS Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC UK’s Breakfast show is covering an Age UK report suggesting a corridor care crisis in ‘NHS’ hospitals and the Guardian, above, is reporting Nearly 150,000 aged 90 and above wait 12 hours in England’s A&Es each year increasing serious harm for them. NHS Scotland figures are not mentioned. Scotland’s media today are, of course, only front-paging Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Rachel Reeves. Age UK‘s report is nowhere on the BBC News websites. They are unlikely to get round to the long waits for over 90’s in Scottish hospitals for this simple reason. From a Freedom … Continue reading Long A&E waits for the over 90’s shocking 36% more common in NHS England than in NHS Scotland

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Fireworks-related incidents – the falling trend and police confidence information being denied Reporting Scotland’s older, sensible viewers

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland continues to give firework offences daily reporting in anticipation of serious problems, which last year’s huge decline and Police Scotland activity for this year, suggest that more reductions are likely. Some BBC Reporting Scotland reporting so far has deliberately ignored the lower 2024 data and even stated that the higher 2023 data was ‘last year!’ Here are the facts, from Police Scotland, that BBC Scotland chooses not to tell you. Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs, Gold Commander for Operation Moonbeam, said: “Last year, following Bonfire Night, I reflected on what was a successful policing … Continue reading Fireworks-related incidents – the falling trend and police confidence information being denied Reporting Scotland’s older, sensible viewers

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Maternity care experience at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh – 90% felt it was very good or good

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Professor John Robertson OBA I know, I know – small sample, self-selecting and open to abuse but, nevertheless, a useful counter to the media reporting even the inspection report, based on interviews in the unit over the space of only two days then reported with no measure of how many held different views or reported different experiences on the day. I make no great claims for this survey but I insist it is superior to the evidently very small-scale survey carried out by the inspectors over just two days and which has been used as the basis for high profile … Continue reading Maternity care experience at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh – 90% felt it was very good or good