STV and the Herald covered this story in September, but I seem to have missed it. BBC Scotland too, missed it. There were 285 suspected drug deaths recorded between January and March 2022, 27% (108) lower than the same calendar quarter of 2021 (January to March 2021: 393). The rolling 12-month suspected drugdeath total has declined for four consecutive quarters. https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/statistics/2022/06/suspected-drug-deaths-scotland-january-march-2022/documents/suspected-drug-deaths-scotland/suspected-drug-deaths-scotland/govscot%3Adocument/suspected-drug-deaths-scotland.pdf Ironically, I’d been waiting for the Police Scotland figures after reporting on a fall in suspected drugs deaths in the previous quarter from January to March 2022 There were 277 suspected drug deaths during the period April to June … Continue reading Scottish drug deaths plummet again as Thatcher’s Children depart the scene

You want us to oversee hygiene in NHS England? A very powerful indicator of the effectiveness of a hospital, of a health board and, of course, of a health secretary, is the extent to which patients are protected from becoming more ill after admission due to a hospital-acquired infection (HAI). HAI Covid data is published weekly by Public Health Scotland but has been tricky to find for other parts of the UK In October 2022, however, the above graph popped up in Twitter, with this commentary: Hospital-Acquired Covid in England – 20th October update In the last 28 days, 11,234 … Continue reading Scottish Health Secretary and NHS Scotland praised for far lower level of hospital-acquired Covid infections

Several in social media have question my headline SNP Government cleared of any wrong-doing on ferry contract by Police Scotland yesterday morning. The headline attracted many more reads than I’m used to. Critics argued that dropping the case does not ‘clear’ the suspect. Well it clearly has done for other cases where an initial investigation found no or insufficient evidence upon which to proceed: A Tory police boss who was investigated by cops over an alleged historic sex offence has been cleared. Cleveland’s Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner has said he feels “vindicated” after the Independent Office for Police … Continue reading Yes, the police can ‘clear’ the Scottish Government and any other politicians of ‘wrong-doing’

Covid infection levels over the last 3 months tend be roughly the same in the 4 nations but the number of the more serious cases developing and requiring intensive care has been constantly and significantly lower in Scotland. In the most recent figures and on the majority of days in the last 3 months, Conservative-run England which, based on its larger population, should have around 10 times as many ICU cases (90) tends to have around 17 times as many (150). Labour-run Wales, which, based on its smaller population, should have around 60% has 130%. What might be causing these … Continue reading Scotland’s hospitals preventing large numbers of Covid cases requiring intensive care

The cumulative Covid death rate in Scotland remains the same as 7 days ago at 226 per 100 000 but the rate in England continues to climb from 302 per 100 000 (34% higher) to 305 per 100 000. The gap, which has been widening since April 2022, has now grown to 35%. The explanations will be complex but given Scotland’s lower life expectancy level and problems with alcohol and drugs, must be attributed, at least in part, to more effective health care, government. The BMJ offered this explanation in March 2022: Researchers believe one of the main factors behind … Continue reading Conservative Government fails to stem tide of Covid deaths

From BBC Scotland in the last hour or so: The ONS Covid infection survey estimates an average of 107,300 people were infected on any given day in the week up to 24 October – that’s about one in 50 people. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-53511877 In a long piece there’s no mention of the other nations. The ONS has it: 2.43% in England (1 in 40 people) 2.38% in Wales (1 in 40 people) 2.17% in Northern Ireland (1 in 45 people) 2.04% in Scotland (1 in 50 people) https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19/latestinsights Scotland has the lowest Covid infection rate in the UK but it’s clearly not in the public interest to … Continue reading Scotland has lowest Covid infection rate in UK by some way

A lesson in how to misrepresent – a BBC exemplar? By stewartb Sometimes the BBC seems to surpass itself for misrepresentation. But maybe it’s just me – see what YOU think! I think the ‘method’ in play here is as follows: a journalist reports statistical evidence for a small number of standard performance metrics for three distinct organisations; in most of the report the statistics for each of the three organisations are aggregated – summed; the negative story this creates is given prominence throughout the report; negatively framed observations are made in ways that imply a similarity – a similarly … Continue reading Cancer treatment: Barely half as many wait longer than 62 days in Scotland’s hospitals

From BBC Scotland today: The number of falls and bed sores recorded in Scotland’s hospitals has increased since the Covid pandemic, new data shows. NHS staffing pressures and the deconditioning effect of the Covid lockdown creating more frail patients are being blamed for the rise. The Scottish government paused work on a national prevention strategy for falls when the pandemic started. The strategy has now been shelved and experts argue this is a mistake. Figures released by NHS Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) show that in 2018-19 – the last full year before the Covid pandemic – a total of 26,489 … Continue reading Hospital falls return to pre-pandemic level

There is one mention of NHS Scotland in the above but, of course, no comparison. From BBC Health today: Spending in this area rose by 20% last year to hit £3bn in England. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-63588959 From STV in August 2022: Expenditure on locum agency nursing staff amounted to £92,295,816 in 2021-22. https://news.stv.tv/scotland/nhs-scotlands-eye-watering-bill-for-agency-nurses-topped-92m-last-year#:~:text=NHS%20Scotland%20has%20spent%20more,%C2%A347%2C627%2C338%20the%20previous%20year. Regulars know where I’m going. England has 10 times the population so, all things being equal, should have been spending around £920 million. NHS England spent £3 billion, more than three times as much pro rata. As for the agency charging £2 500 a shift: While the majority of … Continue reading NHS England requiring THREE TIMES as many agency staff than NHS Scotland