Sky News has just announced:
Resident doctors in England to strike for six days after Easter bank holiday – The planned walk-out is due to start from 7 April at 7am, just after the Easter bank holiday in England, until 6.59am on 13 April.
The British Medical Association said in a post on X on Wednesday: “Resident doctors have been left with no choice but to strike.
“Weeks of negotiations with the Government have failed to deliver enough progress on pay, with the goalposts being moved at the last minute.
“We have called six days of industrial action to make the Government listen, stop the game playing, and come back with an offer that delivers fairly on both jobs and pay.”
There have now been around 66 days of industrial action by junior/resident doctors in England, in the 4 years since March 2023, with an estimated 1.6 to 1.8 million appointments lost.
While no confirmed link between missed appointments and additional deaths has been proven FullFact did find 53 000 more deaths in England in 2023, than expected.
https://fullfact.org/health/telegraph-junior-doctors-strikes-excess-deaths/
There have been no (none) resident doctor strikes in Scotland thanks to a long-running non-confrontational negotiating style by SNP ministers, praised by the BMA in England, with up to 200 000 appointments saved and an unknown number but potentially hundreds of lives saved.
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Talking-up Scotland 
We don’t expect from the MSM much if any acknowledgement of something favourable regarding Scotland’s public services, do we? And it seems this goes beyond the MSM to include prominent think tanks.
In a btl contribution on the topic of the newly published report on levels of public satisfaction with the NHS and social care across the UK (appearing under today’s TuS blog post entitled ‘NHS Northern Ireland faces stark warning …’), I noted this ‘oddity’ in the Kings Fund/Nuffield Trust report:
Under the sub-heading ‘Context – The NHS in 2024 and 2025′, we find this: ‘The Scottish and Welsh governments pursued their own reform agendas but against a similar backdrop of operational pressures, long waiting times and staffing concerns. While industrial action in the devolved nations was less sustained than in England, similar concerns persisted.’ (my emphasis)
Is ‘less sustained’ a carefully contrived way of avoiding having to acknowledge that NHS Scotland had no industrial action in 2024–2025 – no lost days or other forms of service disruption due to industrial action – because of the substantial and constructive efforts of the Scottish Government and trades unions to resolve disputes?
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People support the SNHS they know the good work they do. People are the patients and their relatives. The service is saving lives every day with advances in medical science.
Lifestyle choices have to be made to keep people healthy. Young people are consuming less alcohol (MUP). People are exercising more. Eating healthier food. Embracing good advice. Many people are changing life styles. Proper rehab facilities are helping people keep well. £250million over 5 years.
The child payment will result in better health outlook. Eradicating poverty will improve people’s chances of living a healthier life.
The SNP and Independence will mean more funds for SNHS, education and welfare. Westminster wasting Scottish revenues and resources on illegal war, Trident, redundant weaponry, financial fraud, tax evasion. Brexit has cost Scotland £Billions. £Billions which could have been spent on healthcare, education and welfare. Westminster misusing Scottish funds.
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