Professor John Robertson OBA In the often Anglocentric Policing Insight, two days ago, the above and: More needs to be done to bolster the use by frontline officers of potentially life-saving overdose reversal medication naloxone, with calls for a “top-down, bottom-up” approach of greater proactive support from representative bodies, and the implementation of ‘naloxone champions’ and lived experience helping to overcome fears around its use and ultimately build trust between police and communities. https://policinginsight.com/feature/wider-police-use-of-naloxone-could-save-lives-and-build-stronger-trust-with-drug-users-says-report/ From a Scottish perspective, this is not only shocking but, regrettably too familiar. From the Scottish Government in 2023: Police Scotland recently completed a force-wide rollout … Continue reading Three years later and the Home Office is still working on the adoption of the opioid overdose reversal medication by police officers in England that has been saving lives and reducing hospital admissions in Scotland since the SNP’s world-first initiative in 2018

Professor John Robertson OBA From Open Democracy on 25 June 2025, the above, and: An exclusive investigation by Open Democracy has found that 377,000 children in England and Wales have been identified by local authorities as being at risk of domestic abuse in the past five years. Perhaps even more shockingly, 396 of these children have died in the same period. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/child-victims-domestic-abuse-national-crisis-family-courts-england-wales/ From March 2025: The Scottish Government has today (26 March 2025) published the latest official annual Children’s Social Work Statistics for Scotland regarding child protection. This uses data collected from all 32 local authorities in Scotland on child … Continue reading Shock as 4 times as many children in England & Wales face domestic abuse compared to Scotland

Professor John Robertson OBA From Cancelled planned operations Month Ending 31 May 2025 published today, the above graph and: Of all planned operations during May 2025 in NHSScotland, 819 (3.3%) were cancelled by the hospital for clinical reasons, 692 (2.8%) were cancelled by the patient, 437 (1.7%) were cancelled by the hospital due to capacity or non-clinical reasons, and 71 (0.3%) were cancelled for other reasons. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancelled-planned-operations/cancelled-planned-operations-month-ending-31-may-2025/ Only those operations cancelled by the hospital due to capacity or non-clinical reasons (1.7%) can be considered in anyway a negative performance indicator. They are likely to be the unanticipated result of staff … Continue reading Deeply impressive – NHS Scotland fully ready to operate on more than 98% of more than 25 000 operations in May 2025 but you won’t hear that anywhere else

Image – https://www.homecare-scotland.co.uk/services Professor John Robertson OBA From Delayed discharges in NHS Scotland monthly Figures for May 2025 published today, we see that the number of delayed bed days occupied in a calendar month peaked at 46 150 in October 2024 and has been in a falling trend since, for six months, to 43 933 in March 2025. That’s a fall of 2 217 days, or 4.8%. How is this contributing to and benefiting from Scotland’s better integrated health and care system? This: Source: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/delayed-discharges-in-nhsscotland-monthly/delayed-discharges-in-nhsscotland-monthly-figures-for-may-2025/downloads/ Continue reading Significant fall in ‘bed-blocking’ in just six months as Scotland’s better integrated health and care system improves further

Professor John Robertson OBA Above, a hospital in England where the A&E roof really did collapse but when Kilbarchan-based playwright, Uma Nada-Rajah, wrote Black Hole Sign for the Traverse Theatre, to be shown this autumn, she set it in Glasgow. When a hole appears in the roof of a crumbling and understaffed A&E department, patients, porters and nurses do what they must to make it through the night. Senior charge nurse Crea strives to deliver sage and effective care while porter Billy angles after a date. Staff nurse Ani juggles her bursting caseload, knowing that no one has come to … Continue reading The cringe lives on – the deep irony of setting a play about a collapsing A&E service in Glasgow