The crisis in UK dentistry which Reporting Scotland would dearly love us to be part of prompted reader, Annie, to remind us of this from 2018: Since the introduction of lifetime NHS dental registration in Scotland in 2010 the amount of Scottish people registered with a dentist now stands at 95 per cent, but the amount of people visiting a dentist has decreased in recent years, something which this new policy looks to address. Dubbed the ‘Oral Health Improvement Plan’ and launched by the chief dental officer for Scotland, Margie Taylor, it comprises a series of recommendations to help reduce … Continue reading For years now Scotland has been leading the way in the UK when it comes to oral health prevention

A BBC UK investigation finds: Nine in 10 NHS dental practices across the UK are not accepting new adult patients for treatment under the health service, a BBC investigation has found. Our research shows no dentists taking on adult NHS patients could be found in a third of the UK’s top-tier councils. Scotland had significantly better access to NHS dentistry for adults than the other UK nations, with 18% of practices taking on new health-service patients. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62253893 Reporting Scotland, of course, focus on the negative with only, at the end a grudging: The Scottish Government said NHS dentistry here was in … Continue reading BBC UK: ‘Scotland had significantly better [40%] access to NHS dentistry’

By stewartb The policy think tank IPPR North has recently published (26 July) an analysis of outcomes to date from the Tory’s ‘levelling-up’ policy. It’s now three years since it was launched after the 2019 General Election. The IPPR concludes that despite Tory rhetoric, public spending in the north of England is lower, and has grown less since 2019 than in other parts of England. Source https://www.ippr.org/news-and-media/press-releases/leading-think-tank-levelling-up-was-business-as-usual-but-that-has-to-change The analysis is based on ONS data published 27 May 2022: ‘Country and regional public sector finances, UK: financial year ending 2021 – Public sector revenue, expenditure and net fiscal balance on a … Continue reading Tory levelling-up – messages for the gullible!

By Alasdair Galloway On Rishi, Liz and the Dark Nights And here we have Rishi Sunak exposed as the Tory he is, shamelessly boasting that he had changed funding formulas to take money away from deprived areas to the more affluent – something that “needed to be undone”. https://twitter.com/NewStatesman/status/1555476253045673987 But perhaps the most shocking thing is, I think, that he refers to the privileged area he is obviously in, is when he says he is giving them the funding they “deserve”. What criteria does he use for making this assertion? Do they deserve it because they already have more than … Continue reading On Rishi, Liz and the Dark Nights

Readers will remember that the nearest A&E departments to the First Minister’s Glasgow constituency saw 72.4% of patients in 4 hours, in June 2022. This was lightly better than the Scottish average of 71.3% despite the particular challenges they face in one of the most deprived parts of the country. The nearest A&E department’s to the Norfolk constituency of Lizz Truss, only did a shocking 43.1% The nearest A&E to Sunak’s affluent Richmond constituency is in Darlington, 11 miles away. County Durham And Darlington NHS Foundation Trust’s A&E departments only saw 48.7% in 4 hours. Imagine either of these results … Continue reading Good constituency MPs like Sturgeon would do something about ‘third world’ local hospitals. Sunak and Truss have not

A post from stewartb pricked my memory on BBC Scotland Editor James Cook: Anyone listen to – have a view on the content of – today’s Radio 4 Feedback programme? Is it worth a listen? It featured this: ‘The BBC Scotland Editor James Cook explains how he manages to remain impartial, as the independence issue heats up again north of the border.’ Note the wording here: seems the assumption is that there just is ‘impartiality’ – that’s a given, it is the BBC after all! James Cook and impartiality is a theme I’ve often commented on. See these (link at … Continue reading James Cook says he is impartial! Ho ho….

From cuckooshoe Have I got this right? The Bank of England has just put interest rates up from 1.25% to 1.75% this week, inflation is set to reach to 13% by the end of the year, there is a real possibility of the energy price cap reaching £4000 in January, the UK expected to entering a recession in the next quarter and staying in a recession until the end of 2023 and Scotland’s business leaders are calling on the Scottish Government for more support not the Chancellor of the Exchequer? I looked at the other parts of the massive BBC … Continue reading Scotland’s business leaders are calling on the Scottish Government for more support not the Chancellor of the Exchequer?

Despite actually referring to the desire to eradicate rough sleeping in Scotland, there’s not a word in this Herald report of this important contextual fact: Worst forms of homelessness less common in Scotland than England, research finds Rates of the worst forms of homelessness are significantly lower in Scotland than in England, new research from Heriot-Watt University has found. The 2021 Homelessness Monitor Scotland – commissioned by homelessness charity Crisis and led by Heriot-Watt University – provides the most in-depth study of homelessness in GB.  The research found that the rate of ‘core homelessness’, which includes people rough sleeping, using … Continue reading Bias by omission: ‘Rough sleeping’ in Scotland is around half the level of England ‘as a result’ of Scottish Government actions

It’s the kind of news BBC Scotland excel at – tabloid sob stories with a health board absurdly apologising for protecting us from Covid. Wouldn’t a real journalist think: ‘Hey, I wonder what the stats are like?’ If they sniffed failure to hit targets would even a Reporting Scotland reporter have told us all about that? You be they would. What are the stats like? So, to repeat myself for the umpteenth time. From May 2022: 99.8% of IVF patients seen on time by NHS Scotland despite large increase in demand From Public Health Scotland today: During the quarter ending … Continue reading Bias by omission: More than a thousand words on IVF but not one on how NHS Scotland beats the target year after year

Quietly inserted in the fourth paragraph of the above report: Scotland’s business leaders have called for more support in the face of the bleak economic outlook. The Bank of England has increased interest rates to 1.75% and warned inflation is now set to hit more than 13%. Retail and licence trade associations said more UK and Scottish government support is needed ahead of an expected recession. The Scottish government has said its focus is on supporting the lowest paid. Latest data from the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) showed footfall in July was 16.5% down on pre-pandemic levels and 0.7% worse than … Continue reading SNP Government confirms it is the party of the democratic left in Scotland