Hospital admissions are falling from more than 1 000 in September to 900 yesterday and way below the more than 2 000 in February. Staff absences have fallen for several weeks and are also far below the peaks. Infection levels have been plummeting for weeks to the lowest level in the UK by some way and vaccination levels are the highest in the UK. So far, we’ve had soldiers doing, at best, 1% of vaccinations in June, driving 1.8% of non-emergency only ambulances in September, and now we hear that 86 personnel will boost NHS Scotland’s staffing of 160 000 … Continue reading 0.05% more staff? It’s just not convincing

I hesitate to comment on just what is happening in Wales, but Scotland remains the only part of the UK where new Covid cases continue to fall despite events such as the recent Scotland match watched in thousands of pubs and currently putting one of my progeny in strict isolation. Scotland’s leading vaccination programme will have been at least a part of this. Continue reading Covid cases falling only in Scotland

Wolverhampton South East MP Pat McFadden has not called for the UK Health Secretary to resign despite ‘About 43,000 people in England and Wales may have been wrongly told their Covid-19 test was negative because of errors at a private laboratory.‘ How many Covid deaths are now due to unsuspecting folk going home convinced it was safe to hug their granny? Wolverhampton’s other two, Tory, MPs are silent and no politician is blamed in the report. Regulars know what is coming next. From BBC Scotland in November 2020: So, with an error of a less serious nature, in Scotland, it’s … Continue reading Wolverhampton MP does not call for heads to roll

On BBC News at 10 last night, we heard that the Conservative pledge in 2015 to boost the GP workforce by 5 000 by 2021 ‘wasn’t met.’ Surely, Reporting Scotland could do a smooth segue into GP shortages here. Nope, three minutes on cops and COP26, sex abuse, Tory cronyism and curling. Why no GP shortages? Continue reading Why doesn’t Reporting Scotland want to talk of GP shortages?

By Alasdair Galloway Over the last three days I have had an exchange with well-known Unionists and SIU member, Alan Fitzpatrick. This was prompted initially by his letter on Tuesday INDY QUESTION IS SIMPLE IS Robert Frazer (Letters, October 11) kidding, or does he really believe that “tens of thousands of ordinary people” are so disinterested in understanding what they would be voting for, or so lacking in intelligence to care, that they would be confused by having to answer such a simple question in an Indyref2 as “Should Scotland remain in the UK? Yes or No”? I doubt such … Continue reading What a bunch of liars

From stewartb: The BBC News website today (14 October) publishes an article headlined ‘GPs told to see more patients in person as A&E waits worsen’. It’s written by its specialist Health Correspondent. (Source https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-58904557 ) On A&E performance, we learn here that: ‘In September (2021) a quarter of patients who came to A&E in England waited longer than four hours for treatment.’ And we are told: ‘That is the worst performance since 2004, when the four-hour target was brought in.’ Notwithstanding the sloppy reference to ‘longer than four hours for treatment’ – the formal performance standard is NOT defined in … Continue reading What’s going on at the BBC – deliberate massaging of statistics or careless error?

A staggering 22% ahead of England and 9% of Wales, Scotland has vaccinated 51% of 12-17 year-olds, leads on almost all age groups and is one of only two nations to have done 100% of the over 60s. This has contributed to Scotland having the lowest infection rate and the only part of the UK not currently surging toward winter: Continue reading Scotland far ahead on teen jags

Scotland has now given 150 doses per 100 residents, globally in 15th place and well ahead of the UK on 140, in 24th place, out 150 countries recorded. https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations BBC Scotland reports that these figures have been challenged and do not reflect those held in the Scottish Office ‘database.’ Continue reading Scotland’s vaccination programme one of most successful in the World

While differences in reporting may explain some of this in reddit today, diverging crime rates in the UK are all-too real: Continue reading Hard border anyone?

Following on from his Dad and his Gran calling for all of us to save the planet, Will casts doubt on the prioritising of space travel. Wow, radical or what, but will he go where no royal has ever gone and point out his Gran’s hypocrisy on this? What a great question that might have been! Continue reading Should saving Earth come before his Gran’s Braemar estate profits?