Alex Cole-Hamilton is in the Guardian today to comment on Environmental Standards Scotland’s report on sewage overflows. ESS are ‘independent’ with no apparent funding declared. What will look bad at first sight for some, is a classic example of misleading reporting. Scotland has 18 743 km of coastline compared to England’s 8 982, only one-tenth of the population and, crucially far fewer areas requiring monitoring. Dr Simon Boxall of Southampton University, a leading expert on water quality, explained this in the National, in August 2022: An overview of the most obvious data on bathing water quality superficially appears to show … Continue reading As Scotland’s smallest political party gets in the Guardian to misrepresent Scotland’s water quality, facts from an English academic

There’s no mention in the Guardian’s report above of what that means per week – less than £8! What could you get for that from Morrisons? Birds Eye 4 Battered Cod Fish Fillets 440 £6.15 Great! you can have one but not every day, mum. Continue reading So-called Leftist Guardian celebrates Labour’s pension increase that wouldn’t pay for a cod fish fillet every day

By Professor John Robertson OBA Readers will know that comparing Scotland’s drug deaths to shame the SNP Government is considered fair game but this is, somehow, not talked about. As First Minister, John Swinney’s speech on eradicating child poverty is reported at length but minus this: It’s worth putting child poverty into the same European context, so loved by commentators on Scotland’s drug death rate, with the above data, graphed by Eurostat in 2024. Only Romania, Spain and Bulgaria have higher rates of child poverty than England or Wales. Scotland already despite limited fiscal powers, has lower child poverty than … Continue reading Humiliation as England is revealed to be Child Poverty ‘Capital’ of Northern Europe with ‘Labour Forever’ Wales in second place

Thanks to Linda Graham of Broadcasting Scotland for alerting me to this: From infoMARE, yesterday: On Saturday a hatch of the company’s Mljet ferry Croatian shipping Jadrolinija fell into the sea in the stages docking of the ship at the port of Sveti Petro della Brač, on the island of Brač, an incident that caused panic among the passengers but no damage to people and vehicles on board. A A similar incident occurred on 11 August in the port of Mali Lošinj on board the ferry Lastovo Jadrolinija had a much more dramatic outcome: the collapse of a hatch had overwhelmed four seamen of … Continue reading 55 year-old Croatian ferry failure kills 3 as cheap steel ruptures

The MV Scillonian III in Penzance From BBC Cornwall yesterday: A ferry from Cornwall to the Isles of Scilly has suffered a mechanical fault, extending transit time. The Isles of Scilly Travel said the Scillonian III, which runs from Penzance to St Mary’s, suffered the fault on Saturday. It said the ferry was running with reduced engine power meaning the journey, which usually takes about two hours and 45 minutes, will take about four hours. This is the only service to the Scilly Isles, population 2 153, 36 miles, normally 2 hours 45 minutes in the 47 year-old MV Scillonian … Continue reading Aging English lifeline ferry, 37 years older than CalMac equivalent, doubles journey time for half the distance

By Professor John Robertson OBA From the WHO, yesterday: In a new article, researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and partner institutions in France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the USA who are studying the effects of persistent exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation on workers in nuclear facilities report an increase in mortality due to haematological neoplasms. The findings were published in The Lancet Haematology. The scientists found a positive association between long-term low-dose exposure to ionizing radiation and mortality due to leukaemia (excluding chronic lymphocytic leukaemia [CLL]), chronic myeloid leukaemia, acute myeloid leukaemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, … Continue reading World Health Organisation reports ‘mortality rate due to leukaemia increased by more than 250%’ in nuclear workers despite ‘low’ radiation levels in plants – Scottish Labour’s Sarwar not interrogated on new plans for nuclear in Scotland

By Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland today: 84.1% of children and young people started treatment within 18 weeks of referral, which is an increase from the 73.8% for the same quarter ending June 2023. The Scottish Government standard states that 90% of children and young people should start treatment within 18 weeks of referral to CAMHS. 4,374 children and young people started treatment at CAMHS in Scotland. This is a 7.8% increase from the 4,056 starting treatment in the previous quarter. 4,942 children and young people were waiting to start treatment at quarter ending June 2024 which is a decrease … Continue reading Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting times approaching 90% target and waiting list slashed by massive 26%

By Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland today: 80.2% of people of all ages started their treatment within 18 weeks of referral, compared to 79.3% of people for the previous quarter, and 78.8% of people for the quarter ending June 2023. 50% of the people of all ages starting treatment started within 4 weeks of referral, which is the same as the previous quarter and for quarter ending June 2023. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/psychological-therapies-waiting-times/psychological-therapies-waiting-times-quarter-ending-june-2024/ 18 weeks? 90%? In NHS Wales, under less-ambitious Labour: Welsh Government aims for 80% of people to access specialist psychological therapies within six months [26 weeks] of a … Continue reading Psychological treatment – NHS Scotland regularly beats the NHS Wales target they cannot ever meet under Labour

By Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland today, we can see (bold black dotted line) a steady increase in the number of operations planned, in the month ending July 2024, to 23 813, an 8.8% increase on the previous year. Despite that, operations cancelled due to unavailability of staff of resources (eg unplanned disease outbreaks or surges in emergency treatment of serious injury after accidents), remains at around 2%. This is evidence of a stunningly efficient system worthy of far greater recognition than our media ever give it. Source: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancelled-planned-operations/cancelled-planned-operations-month-ending-31-july-2024/ The OBA – https://scotsindependent.scot/?page_id=116 Continue reading Despite steady increase in planned operations, NHS Scotland remains staffed and resourced to tackle 98% on time

Nearly 5 years ago BBC Scotland reported ‘County lines’: Aberdeenshire, Perthshire and Highlands targeted by drugs gangs. They haven’t mentioned them since. Today, in the Northern Times: Chief Superintendent Robert Shepherd reveals expansion of team targeting County Lines gangs in bid to create a ‘hostile’ environment. Highland’s top cop has revealed the force has expanded the team dedicated to tackling County Lines gangs from Birmingham, Derby, Liverpool and London to create as “hostile” an environment as possible for organised crime. Chief Superintendent Robert Shepherd’s Police Performance report is due to be delivered at Highland Council this week and highlighted the … Continue reading County Lines gangs from Birmingham, Derby, Liverpool and London targeted by Scottish police chief but BBC Scotland too busy with seabirds and walking three days for a pint