Read the facts, fully sourced, at: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/?s=cancer+waiting+times Read the facts, fully sourced, at: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/page/2/?s=radiog Read the facts, fully sourced, at: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/page/2/?s=radiol Continue reading As BBC Reporting Scotland campaign on cancer care, the facts about the best and best staffed service in the UK

By Professor John Robertson Thanks to Jimmock for alerting me to this. Justin of Radio 4’s Today programme just before 8am: Putting money to one side what more are these strikes about? What is it that is not happening that you say should be happening? Mick Whelan of ASLEF: Well basically nobody talking to us at all in any way shape or form. We haven’t seen the Transport Minister since 2022. We haven’t seen the Railways Minister since January of 2023. We haven’t seen the employers since April of last year, some twelve months ago. When people say ‘Why aren’t … Continue reading ASLEF don’t have a problem in Scotland

In the Guardian today: Tens of thousands of patients will be unable to have scans on Tuesday when radiographers join consultants and junior doctors in strike action, hospital bosses have said. Radiographers across England will take industrial action from 8am, which will limit the chances of patients using cancer, A&E and maternity services getting a scan or X-ray. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/oct/03/radiographers-strike-on-tuesday-will-stop-thousands-in-england-getting-scans There’s no mention of Scottish radiographers in the above report. On September 3, the Daily Record had a report of a threatened radiographer strike in just one hospital (Hairmyres) with this gleeful comment: Radiographers threaten strike action at Scots hospital days after Humza … Continue reading Thousands of patients will be able to have scans thanks to another Humza Yousaf intervention to avert a health sector strike!

In the Guardian but nowhere or low down on the screen, on BBC England or BBC London or, of course BBC Scotland: Junior doctors and consultants in England will strike on the same days together for the first time in the history of the NHS, in a dramatic escalation of their bitter pay dispute with the government. The British Medical Association blamed ministers’ refusal to negotiate over doctors’ salaries for the union’s decision to organise stoppages involving both groups of medics. The joint action will reduce hospitals and other services in England to providing Christmas Day levels of care for four days … Continue reading As junior and senior doctors in England strike together for first time in NHS history, BBC Scotland looks for something, anything to avoid the obvious fact – SNP Government works!

When you click on the preview you get a story titled Do NHS staff feel safe to whistleblow? And when they do – what happens? which is entirely about an NHS England whistle-blower until McArdle claims: Mr Duffy’s case may have taken place in England, but it echoes experiences I have heard time and again from medics across NHS Scotland: colleagues closing ranks to accuse a whistleblower of wrongdoing; victimisation of a whistleblower through cuts in pay, changes to their job, and malicious grievances; retaliatory GMC referrals; bullying by senior management. https://www.heraldscotland.com/newsletters/bulletin/1698/ Evidence? One anonymous ‘medic’ and a BMA Scotland … Continue reading Is England performing better on waiting lists? How can a supposedly Scottish health correspondent even think this?

In the Telegraph yesterday: Asked by BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, “You would not accept the kind of deal that your Scottish members are thinking of accepting?”, Mr Laurenson said the union would not. He said: “No, because the governments are very different. So the Scottish Government, there’s a basis to work forwards and have a relationship and a working relationship to negotiate in the future. The Government that we have today are hell bent on using the rigged, independent pay review bodies.” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/11/bma-junior-doctors-dr-rob-laurenson-scottish-government/ As Health Secretary and then as First Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf has been prepared to … Continue reading Further evidence of the best health secretary and best leader getting on with the day job to protect the people

Thanks to Dorothy for alerting me to this. Today, the BMA estimate that 2 million operations have been lost to strikes. Using a method happily employed by BBC Scotland in the past, to attribute health concerns based just on dividing BMA or RCN survey results by 10, I think we can safely say that by averting this 3 day strike by all doctors in England and all the previous health strikes, that Humza Yousaf has saved 200 000 operations in Scotland but is, of course, getting no credit for it. On 16 August 2023: Junior doctors, only in Scotland, have … Continue reading Update – As he saves 200 000 operations from delay – Why are Humza Yousaf’s successful efforts to avert ALL NHS strikes not being reported?

Dr Lewis Morrison is media regular. He’s paid to be one. He may style himself ‘chair of the BMA’ as if he is a prof leading a research institute but, really he’s a trade union convenor looking after his members’ interests. NHS staff are not ‘very worried’. That’s just his pitch. You’d need a professionally administered survey of thousands in a random sample to say that kind of thing. He has no such evidence. On his claim of cancelled operations: Look at the solid grey line. That’s operations cancelled due to the unavailability of a surgeon or of a theatre. … Continue reading Trade union rumours masquerading as news