From the Scottish Government today but not making it onto BBC Scotland or any front pages: More than 38,000 payments have been paid to families to help with the costs of early learning and starting school. Families who qualify for Scottish Child Payment are now automatically awarded Best Start Grant Early Learning Payment and School Age Payment when their child becomes eligible, without them having to apply separately. Figures showed that since Social Security Scotland introduced automation of the payments in November last year, 14,825 Early Learning Payments and 23,810 School Age Payments have been made, up to the end … Continue reading More news you might never hear – More than 38,000 automatic payments help families with the costs of early learning and starting school

Completely absent from ‘our’ media, today: Organisations that support victims of crime will be able to bid for support from a fund financed by  penalties imposed on all offenders who receive a court fine. Successful applicants will be able to use their share of the £350,000 Victim Surcharge Fund, which is now in its fourth year, to provide direct, practical help to victims. This includes repairing or replacing damaged items, providing replacement clothes for people escaping domestic abuse, or equipment that helps people impacted by crime feel safe. Since its introduction in 2019, over £916,000 has been paid out to … Continue reading News you might not hear – Minister announces more help for victims as criminals pay towards costs

The so-called ‘Scottish’ Daily Express with its frankly sickening wee lion in the header, headlines the above disgraceful distortion of reality. Apologies to regular readers for this repeat: In the quarter ending 30 June 2023, NHS Scotland started treatment for 73.7% of the 4 299 patients referred, within the 62-day standard for urgent suspicion of cancer. In the same period in NHS England, the comparable figure was only 59.6%. On this target, NHS Scotland started treatment for 23.6% more on time than NHS England did. This means that 1 014 more urgent cases were treated on time than would have … Continue reading Journalism at its worst as 10 000 cancer patients wait too long in England and longer than they would under SNP Government

Well, they politicise baby deaths, drug deaths and police call-out failures so it’s perhaps no surprise that we see this on BBC Scotland: Fire cuts delayed Ayr hotel blaze response, says union Note, it’s not, as it should be: Fire cuts ‘delayed Ayr hotel blaze response’, claims union or: The deployment of the high-reach appliance did not impact the outcome of this incident, which took place in a derelict building with no life risk. which you have to read on a bit for. Missing, of course, this to give viewers and readers some meaningful context and to let them put … Continue reading 13% more firefighters than England shouting ‘theatre’ in an empty building in Ayr

From Public Health Scotland today: The Scottish Government set a Standard that 90% of people referred for help with problematic drug or alcohol use will wait no longer than three weeks for specialist treatment that supports their recovery. Nationally, the Standard was met for referrals to community-based services across all substances: co-dependency (95%), problematic use of drugs (94%), and alcohol (92%). https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/national-drug-and-alcohol-treatment-waiting-times/national-drug-and-alcohol-treatment-waiting-times-1-april-2023-to-30-june-2023/ The target has been surpassed since records began in June 2021. Would you know that from ‘our’ media reports? Continue reading Drug treatment in Scotland – target smashed for 8th time in a row as 94% of drug abusers wait three weeks or less for treatment

Today in the Guardian: Overlooked lung conditions could create ‘deluge of hospital admissions this winter’ in England, with GPs unable to offer basic lung function testing, report finds https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/sep/26/thousands-with-breathing-problems-going-undiagnosed-due-to-lack-of-tests When I read this, I was reminded of this in September 2019: In Nursing Standard yesterday this horrific news: Asthma patients are putting their lives at risk by skipping medication due to the cost, nurses have reported. The trend, revealed in an Asthma UK survey of 636 nurses in England, has prompted the RCN to call for prescription costs for asthma medication to be scrapped, as they have been for diabetes medication. In the survey, 58% … Continue reading England’s breathing problems persist long after Covid pandemic

In the above, endorsed by Con MSPs Annie Wells and Sandesh Gulhane, there is the claim that: Many hundreds are having to travel hundreds of miles for life-saving procedures in England as sit on lengthy waiting lists North of the Border. Here are some facts about cancer care in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK: The differences are greater now. The BBC have been careful to include NHS England’s improvement in March 2023, to 64% starting treatment within the target 64 days, from only 54.4% in December 2022, but have then compared that with the NHS Scotland figure … Continue reading Wells and Gulhane’s ‘shocking’ hypocritical lies about 30% faster cancer treatment in Scotland

In the last days of Labour, in 2009, Gordon Brown promised Scotland a connection to HS2. By 2023, the Guardian seems to think: It was originally envisaged as a Y-shaped network which would go from London Euston to Birmingham, with two spurs to Manchester and Leeds. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/sep/24/how-much-has-been-spent-on-hs2-so-far-and-what-is-at-stake Three days ago: Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he is not guilty of the “great rail betrayal” that Labour has accused the Government of by not committing to building HS2 in full. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said the costs of the high-speed rail project to the North are “getting totally out of control” as Rishi Sunak refuses to guarantee it will reach Manchester. … Continue reading Once upon a time Labour promised Rutherglen and Hamilton folk a train trip to London in just over 2 hours but Starmer has shoved that right up the junction