According to the Daily Telegraph today: New British tanks costing £3.5bn cannot be driven safely over 20mph, reveals leaked report Trials of the vehicle had to be suspended from November 2020 to March of this year, after troops suffered swollen joints and tinnitus https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/06/02/new-british-tanks-costing-35bn-cannot-driven-safely-20mph-reveals/?s=09 Roughly £300 million of the above cost will be met by Scottish taxpayers and added to our deficit in the next set of GERS figures. The tank in question, six years late already: A project to provide next-generation armoured vehicles to the military has been “a complete and utter disaster”, a former top brass said. Delivery … Continue reading £300 million of Scottish taxpayers’ money wasted on tanks that cannot go too fast

Dominating my Google alerts today, a reluctance to credit improvement and complete neglect of what the SNP Government has done: The Scottish Government has two achievements which must be given at least some of the credit for this positive trend. First it has maintained target-busting targets in treatment: From Public Health Scotland in June 2023: 7,716 referrals to community-based services started treatment during the quarter. Overall, 92% involved a wait of three weeks or less. Nationally, the Standard was met for referrals to community-based services across all substances: problematic use of drugs (95%), co-dependency (93%) and alcohol (90%). https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/national-drug-and-alcohol-treatment-waiting-times/national-drug-and-alcohol-treatment-waiting-times-1-january-2023-to-31-march-2023/ The … Continue reading Ach! Ye’ll never be any good!

Straight from the ferry bilges, the Herald’s ferryman, Martin Williams, reports: Island food shortage fears over CalMac freight changes Sounds like a wee thing that could be handled locally without a fuss? Especially when you see that the funds are there to resolve issues bigger than this: Most striking is the level of subsidy per passenger. In Scotland, it averages £29.80 per passenger journey. In Canada (BC), it is only just over half at £16.36 and in Australia, only just over one-tenth at £3.86.  https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/strategic-framework-of-options-for-the-chfs-network-project-neptune/benchmarking/ And when you see this: A freeze on ferry fares for some of the country’s … Continue reading Ferries – twice the subsidies in Canada, a freeze on fares, SNP Government spending doubled, 99% on time and no lives lost

BBC Scotland is headlining today with: NHS whistleblowers warn of ‘unsafe’ A&E staff shortages. A group of senior doctors has accused NHS Grampian of ignoring their safety concerns about emergency departments. They told BBC Scotland News they were speaking out because they feel they cannot deliver a safe level of care. The medics said staff shortages meant Grampian’s two A&Es have no senior registrars on shift to make key decisions about patients for the majority of weekend night shifts. and claiming: There have been avoidable deaths and at other times there are too long delays getting to patients who may … Continue reading BBC Scotland scare story debunked as Grampian hospitals well within Scottish average mortality range and with better A&E times

The above news from ITV six days ago, including evidence that drug deaths in Northern Ireland are approaching the level reported for Scotland, has prompted Dorothy to remind me of this research. I’m grateful to Jim Beattie and Anonymous for first drawing my attention to Comparability of drug-related death statistics across the United Kingdom by Paul Breen of the UK Civil Service on 4 August 2023, at: We’ve been here before with data relating to bad news in England. For example, we’ve seen NHS England restarting the clock in A&E to reduce apparent waiting times, the Royal College of Emergency … Continue reading Drug deaths in England & Wales significantly under-reported according to UK Civil Service

Baroness or Dame or Lady Muck, I don’t know or care, has the nerve to criticise a Scottish A&E department. In July 2023 (the latest data) NHS England’s full Type 1 A&E departments only managed 60.9% in 4 hours making the Ayrshire & Arran ones 14.9% better. Remember that 14.9% means hundreds more treated on time in Scotland and thousands more waiting too long in England. If someone accuses you of whitabootery on this, direct them to the drug deaths reports. Continue reading Labour Baroness unhappy local Scottish A&E is only 15% better than in England

He’s at it again, snuffling around the weekly A&E data which no school pupil of Modern Studies, even one neglected by a Labour candidate, would trust, to find a big increase in the number waiting more than 8 and 12 hours if, only if, you compare the weekly figures for the latest data, for week-ending 13 August, with his week of choice, week-ending 23 July. As you know well by now, the weekly stats are not reliable indicators of a trend but the monthly ones over an extended period can be. Here they are: So, undeniably soaring until the end … Continue reading Tom Gordon, Scotland’s least truthy health correspondent by some fracking way desperately plucks at the A&E waiting times

According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2021, child poverty in the SNP constituency in North Lanarkshire was 23%. Unacceptable, I know, but lower than in most of the UK thanks to the Scottish Government’s efforts including the child payment, bedroom tax compensation, lower rent, more affordable housing and free school dinners. In Sir Keir Starmer’s constituency in Camden, London, it was 32%, 40% higher despite Labour control of the local authority since 2010. Source: https://www.jrf.org.uk/data/uk-child-poverty-rates-local-authority Continue reading Rutherglen and Hamilton West alert – child poverty was 40% more common in Labour leader’s constituency

From BBC Scotland today: Network Rail is to face court action after an Aberdeenshire train crash which claimed three lives. Driver Brett McCullough, 45, conductor Donald Dinnie, 58, and passenger Christopher Stuchbury, 62, died when the train derailed at Carmont on 12 August 2020. The train hit a landslide after heavy rain. Network Rail is due to face criminal action at the High Court in Aberdeen on 7 September. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-65017289?at_medium=social&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_format=link&at_ptr_name=twitter&at_link_id=236C4100-40CC-11EE-AEFF-BF41FE754D29&at_link_origin=BBCScotlandNews&at_campaign_type=owned&at_link_type=web_link&at_bbc_team=editorial That Network Rail responsible for track maintenance across the UK is responsible to the UK Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps at the time is not made clear. Hours after the incident … Continue reading Why is UK Transport Secretary not ultimately responsible for Stonehaven train crash deaths?

In some quick damage control on their website but, no doubt, less sickening than the TV News broadcasts will be today, BBC Scotland is quick to remind us: However, Scotland continues to have the worst drug death rate in the UK and the rest of Europe. Despite the fall in drug misuse deaths, they are still more than three times as common as they were two decades ago. The rate of drug poisoning deaths in Scotland was 2.7 times as high as the UK average in 2021, the most recent year that data is available for the UK as a … Continue reading BBC Scotland cannot conceal dismay as Scottish Government policies begin to turn drug deaths around