Professor John Robertson OBA Specially plucked out by the Reporting Scotland team and other MSM, not on their website, the above carefully selected statistic – an increase of jut ONE and not the trend they hope to imply. Looking at the other media reports we see they’re based on the 2023 data reported by the National Records of Scotland published in September 2024.1 We won’t have the 2024 data until September 2025. Here’s the trend: There were 1,277 alcohol-specific deaths registered in Scotland in 2023, an increase of one death from 2022. This is the highest number of alcohol-specific deaths … Continue reading Optimism as alcohol deaths level-off for third year in a row after minimum unit pricing enters fourth year but media try to scare us with out-of-date figures before a fall anticipated this year

Professor John Robertson OBA Tiny unelected groups feature regularly on MSM, especially Herald, reports, like the one above, telling us that ‘islanders’, tens of thousands of them, are angry about the ferry service they get. Only 0.33% of the population of Arran and Ardrossan turned out for their protest. No professional survey has ever been done to back up these claims. Tellingly, none of the groups complaining have ever done one. Our, admittedly limited survey, found more than 90% felt they are well or very well-served by CalMac. More at: In addition to a proper reliable survey, the reporting and … Continue reading Where’s the real evidence that ‘islanders’ are really angry over ferries?

Professor John Robertson OBA From Medianet today: CANBERRA WEDNESDAY 30 April, 2025 – Organisations representing over 350,000 emergency services workers have today called on Peter Dutton and the Coalition to drop their nuclear energy plan. The letter, signed by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, Emergency Leaders for Climate Action, Climate Action Nurses, Climate and Health Alliance, Doctors for the Environment Australia, and the United Firefighters Union of Australia  highlights the collective expertise of frontline responders in assessing the risks posed by nuclear energy, and declares that Australia’s current emergency services do not have the support or resources to respond to … Continue reading Unions representing 350 000+ health workers call on Australian government to drop nuclear plans casting further doubt on UK Labour’s plans for Scotland

Professor John Robertson OBA From People requiring a social care assessment and care at home services published today by Public Health Scotland: The number of people estimated to be waiting on a social care assessment for a package of care to enable them to live independently at home or in the community was 6,461 on 7 April 2025. The estimated number of people assessed and waiting for a care at home package was 2,852 on 7 April 2025. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/people-requiring-a-social-care-assessment-and-care-at-home-services/people-requiring-a-social-care-assessment-and-care-at-home-services-29-april-2025/ That’s a total of 9 313 ‘waiting for an assessment of their needs or for help to begin.‘ All things being … Continue reading Four times as many, per head, waiting for a social care assessment or package in England than in Scotland

Professor John Robertson OBA From Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) quarterly ​reportApril 2025 published today: Between December 2024 and February 2025, the number of drug-related attendances at emergency departments (888) was 9% lower than the previous quarter (977). This was 18% lower than the same period commencing in December 2022 (1,074) and 14% lower than in the same period commencing in December 2023 (1,035). Between October and December 2024, 1,795 drug-related hospital admissions were recorded. This was 19% lower than the previous quarter (2,204). Admissions were similar to the same period in 2022 (1,799) and 17% lower than … Continue reading Thanks to Scottish Government’s world-leading opioid overdose reversal programme, drug-related hospital admissions plummet for third year

Professor John Robertson OBA From Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) quarterly ​reportApril 2025: There were 251 suspected drug deaths, 17% higher than in the previous 12-week period (215). This was 12% lower than the same period commencing in December 2022 (285) and 17% lower than in the same period commencing in December 2023 (304). https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/rapid-action-drug-alerts-and-response-radar-quarterly-report/rapid-action-drug-alerts-and-response-radar-quarterly-report-april-2025/harm-indicators/suspected-drug-deaths/ The one-quarter variation is not significant but the trend is clearly down, with weekly lows hovering around 15 deaths per week since early 2024 as opposed to 20 before that. This positive trend is being limited by the recent flow of cheap, powerful, … Continue reading Suspected drug deaths – significant fall in early 2025 to confirming falling trend in early 2024 and 2023

Professor John Robertson OBA I was shocked to see the above chart in the Guardian today. The Guardian did not, of course, bother to consider the interests of its readers elsewhere in the UK. From Homelessness in Scotland: 2023-24 published in September 2024: 33,619 households assessed as homeless 38,075 adults 15,474 children https://www.gov.scot/publications/homelessness-in-scotland-2023-24/ 53 549 people or a ratio of 99.26 per 10 000 people in Scotland’s 5.44 million. Continue reading England has highest homelessness rate in OECD more than FOUR TIMES higher than in Scotland

Professor John Robertson OBA Only a few minutes long but packed with disturbing news for BBC Scotland’s Breakfast insert, this morning, the had drug deaths in prison and supposedly a lack of support for that, issues around domestic abuse and job losses at Dundee University. I’ve done research to prove that this is a constant agenda to emphasis the negative and anything that might be attributed to the Scottish Government. See these comparisons with STV and BBC Wales for detail: Today, on prison addiction treatment, they won’t tell you this On, domestic abuse, they certainly won’t tell you these stories: … Continue reading A morning of just prison addiction deaths, domestic abuse and job losses, chosen specially by the BBC Scotland editor, and the good news they won’t be telling you