In week-ending 22 January 2023, NHS Scotland A&E departments had massively reduced the numbers waiting over 8 and over 12 hours. 1 031waited more than 12 hours, down 54.4% from 2 261 in week-ending January 8. 2 331 waited more than 8 hours, down 47% from 4 403 in week-ending January 8. The BBC report? There it is down at the bottom on the left, see it? It’s a bit grudging so don’t read it if you’re feeling a bit low. Does it have the percentage figures? Don’t be daft. The public doesn’t need that kind of detail. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/nhs-performs-weekly-update-of-emergency-department-activity-and-waiting-time-statistics/nhs-performs-weekly-update-of-emergency-department-activity-and-waiting-time-statistics-week-ending-22-january-2023/ Continue reading Massive improvements in longer A&E times in Scotland being reported, well kind-of..

In the week-ending 22 January 2023, NHS Scotland saw 70.1% of patients within 4 hours, up from 63.9% in the previous week and 57.2% in the week before that. This was not due to falling attendance but an increase from 20 685 to 21 517 in the last week. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/nhs-performs-weekly-update-of-emergency-department-activity-and-waiting-time-statistics/nhs-performs-weekly-update-of-emergency-department-activity-and-waiting-time-statistics-week-ending-22-january-2023/ Continue reading Major recovery of A&E waiting times in Scotland despite big increase in demand

Under a headline – Minimum alcohol pricing impact on drinks sector ‘minimal’ – careful to avoid praising the SNP Government, we read: Minimum unit pricing (MUP) has had little economic impact on Scotland’s drinks industry, a report has found. MUP, which placed a minimum charge of 50p on each unit of alcohol, has been in force since 2018 following a protracted legal battle. Concerns were raised ahead of its enforcement about its impact on the alcoholic drinks industry, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64457024 ‘Concerns?’ The Scotch whisky industry has attacked proposals to implement a 50p minimum price for alcohol in Scotland as a “blunt instrument” that … Continue reading SNP minimum alcohol pricing has not harmed businesses

There was no such thing as the Scottish Conservatives nor any Scottish leader until 2010. Ted Heath was the leader in 1974 when Robert Henderson QC stood twice in the Inverness constituency. Surely there were checks in place to prevent the selection of a man who, at the time was enthusiastically telling anyone who would listen, that a so-called “magic circle” of secretly gay judges and lawyers was making prosecutions against homosexual criminals disappear. Read more on Henderson here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64402274 For more on powerful paedophile rings that are protected by compromised authority representatives and professionals, see this Cambridge University Press, … Continue reading 120% paedophile Conservative leader in 1974 allowed Scottish paedophile candidate to stand in Inverness

Under a typically protective BBC Scotland header: Was Scottish legal scandal a smokescreen for child abuse? we can read: Henderson died in 2012 but his daughter Susie, who is now 56, waived her anonymity to accuse him and some of his legal colleagues of sexually abusing her when she was a child. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64402274 Continue reading ‘Daughter-abusing’ QC was Conservative candidate twice in 1974

From BBC Health today: Thousands of extra hospital beds and hundreds of ambulances will be rolled out in England this year in a bid to tackle the long emergency care delays. The 5,000 new beds will increase capacity by 5%, while there will be a 10% boost in the ambulance fleet with 800 new vehicles on the road. Details of the £1bn investment will be set out later in a joint government and NHS England two-year blueprint. But Labour said the plans were not enough to tackle the problems. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-64448354 A survey in 2020 found that NHS England had 135 … Continue reading 5 000 new beds, only 3.7% more, will still leave NHS England far behind NHS Scotland

In the Observer today: Ministers sparked a furious row over the safety of thousands of dilapidated school buildings in England on Saturday night by abandoning the imminent publication of data showing those judged to be most at risk of collapse. In its latest annual report, published in December, the DfE confirmed the crisis, saying “there is a risk of collapse of one or more blocks in some schools which are at, or approaching, the end of their designed life-expectancy, and structural integrity is impaired”. It added that “the risk predominantly exists in those buildings built in the years 1945 to … Continue reading The ties that do not bind? UK and Scottish Labour diverge on importance of collapsing schools

Today, BBC UK reports the words of Aberdeen-born Housing Secretary for England, Michael Gove: Flawed government guidance on building standards was partly to blame for the Grenfell Tower fire, Housing Secretary Michael Gove has said. He believes the system of regulation was “faulty and ambiguous” and not policed properly by the government. Mr Gove said there was also an “active willingness” on the part of developers to endanger lives for profit. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64443282 Despite desperate attempts to piggy-back this tragedy by Scottish opposition politicians and media, Grenfell could not, will not happen here. Regulars can stop reading here but for more … Continue reading Scotland’s building regulations would have saved Grenfell

Historians of medieval England are increasingly dissatisfied with the term ‘Hammer of the Scots‘ as Edward 1st of England’s genocidal antisemitism, ahead of its time, emerges as his more significant role in European history. While it is recognised that his aggressive, imperialist expansionism in Scotland did result in major loss of life and, in the case of Berwick, a full atrocity, there is no evidence of any genocidal or even ethnic cleansing crimes. In sharp contrast, before his attacks on Scotland which earned him the title ‘Hammer of the Scots’, after he had used their funds for his brutal conquest … Continue reading Scots told to ‘get over it’ as Edward 1st is renamed ‘Hammer of the Jews’

Former Labour minister now born-again astrologer predicts Scotland will meet a tall handsome but unctuous man? Even the Telegraph has come to terms with the fact that the Scottish Cons are mince and it’s time for them to switch racehorses for the conveniently familiar No Longer Red Rum, ridden by Anas Prince Sarwar. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story eh, as too many of our current crop of journalists seem to believe. Are there facts, rather than Uncle Tom’s reading of the stars? Well, yes. First on independence being off the table: Off the … Continue reading Scottish Labour prospects aligned with Big Dipper by Hitler apologist!