A shortage eh? The BBC Scotland Health Correspondent will have the facts, the numbers, eh? Nope, no numbers just this: On Thursday, Nicola Sturgeon was challenged to publish Scotland-wide figures on the extent of staffing shortages. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58755256 So a full time health correspondent with a team of researchers can’t find this out themselves? They want the FM to get the data from a mainly private sector service for them? Surely they could have phoned up some care homes? You know the ones where a cousin of Anas Sarwar is the owner or where the manager lives next door to John … Continue reading No facts, no analysis, not really a ‘correspondent’

Though 44 502 Covid-19 cases were admitted to Scotland’s hospitals in the week ending 5th September 2021, 99.4% of those infections were picked up in the community and only 0.1% (31) were picked up in a hospital. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/hospital-onset-covid-19-cases-in-scotland/hospital-onset-covid-19-cases-in-scotland-week-ending-1-march-2020-to-week-ending-5-september-2021/ This is an astounding achievement and testimony to the incredible level of hygiene maintained in our hospitals. Remember Scotland has 279 hospitals and around 20 000 patients in them in a typical week. Is this, however, no different from hospitals elsewhere in the UK? NHS England is careful not to publish the data on hospital-onset infections weekly. In January 2021, the Daily … Continue reading Incredible achievement of Scotland’s hospitals

From BBC Scotland today: In the early days of the pandemic more than half of elderly hospital patients discharged to nearly 200 Scottish care homes had not been tested for Covid. Data obtained by the BBC from Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides the clearest picture yet on which homes took in untested and positive patients. A lawyer acting for bereaved families at an upcoming inquiry called the data “explosive evidence”. Aamer Anwar claimed it was proof that people’s lives had been put at risk. The figures, which were released 11 months after BBC Scotland had asked for them, focus on … Continue reading Wasting licence-payers money to dig up rumour long discharged by science

The judgement of Chris Stark, Chief Exec of the Climate Change Committee, on BBC Scotland climate change special tonight. Why was there no representation at all from the SNP/Greens Scottish Government at all throughout this hour long show? There was plenty time for tangential reports from Germany and South Africa unrelated to the above stated intention for the programme. We did get evidence from Orkney and a trip to Montrose Bay to hear that there was no plan to save the golf course – I won’t sleep. Stark mentions in passing renewable energy production but only in passing. It’s not … Continue reading ‘You’re not on track Scotland’

In the last 24 hours, the 7 day rolling average for new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Scotland and in England have become statistically indistinguishable. TuS staff are now predicting that Scotland will have clearly the lowest infection level in the next day or two, throwing the SNPbad strategy into crisis mode. There have been talks of appointing a new health correspondent, preferably with stronger connections to the Scottish Conservatives. A dire lack of talent in the MSP group has led to suggestions that Michelle Mone might be appointed from the Lords. Continue reading Tension unbearable in Reporting Scotland office

The last time there were less than 1 000 in hospitals was September 11th. ICU’s have been consistently at below 100 cases since September 19th. New admissions at 78, on the 25th September (the latest) were the lowest since August 23rd when the figure was 75. It is also 9 days since BBC Scotland headlined: Covid in Scotland: NHS needs 1,000 more hospital beds say A&E doctors Continue reading Hospital cases fall below 1 000 for first time in nearly three weeks

A shambles, a bourach and a farce or BBC bias at it’s most venal? Right from the off, it’s clear that Reporting Scotland staff are going to turn a judicial judgement in favour of the Scottish Government and against club owners into something to subvert another pandemic measure designed to save lives. We hear little of the Judge, Lord Burns, his name not mentioned, and his conclusion ignored: [It is] an attempt to address the legitimate issues identified in a balanced way. https://www.holyrood.com/news/view,douglas-ross-critcises-vaccine-passport-plans-as-judge-refuses-to-delay-scheme Surely that was the starting point if you want to tell viewers what has happened? But no, … Continue reading Reporting Scotland taking sides with club owners and the Tories against a judge, the government, and us

We need read no further, the headline tells all and is all wrong, very wrong, again. I’ve been drawn into rebutting Mackay’s scare stories more times than I care to remember. Should you have a perverse notion to read them try this: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/?s=Mackay Perhaps one of his most deranged was this in January 2020: Echoing the mad language of Lord NATO Robertson, he ignored the facts from Scotland’s top historian and researcher: So, probably wasting more time than I should, is there any evidence for, in particular, the second part of his claim. He is correct to say we have … Continue reading Neil Mackay paid to be oh so wrong again?

Regular visitors here will know that, according to research by the charity Crisis, the homeless rate in Scotland is about half that in England and the lowest in the UK. Full details here: https://www.crisis.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/worst-forms-of-homelessness-less-common-in-scotland-than-england-research-finds/ In the media reporting, limited of course, the other main homeless charity, Shelter, have not commented, yet once more they appear (above) to criticise the SNP Government. A cursory read tells you that the Times headline is inaccurate nonsense but, equally, Shelter’s communication’s guy seems to deliberately misinterpret the phrase in Scottish Government funding contracts: No part of the grant shall be used to fund any … Continue reading Reasons to doubt Shelter Scotland’s agenda