A record 2.7 million people were referred for cancer checks in the last year according to NHS England. It comes after a dramatic fall during the pandemic. BBC 1 News at 13:00 today 2nd May 2022 England has 10 times the population so all things being equal you’d expect around 270 000 referrals in Scotland but there were only around 50 000 in 2021. Even the USA with more than five times the population of England had only 1.8 million in 2020. We’ve seen dodgy stats from NHS England before on, for example, A&E waiting times. I await the correction … Continue reading Really?

A freedom of information request was required for the Guardian to be able to reveal that there were only 21 554 dentists providing NHS care in England at the end of 2021. In the same year, the Press and Journal could reveal, yet misunderstand, without needing an FoI: In 2021, there were 3,703 dentists working for the NHS in Scotland, an increase of 29 from 2019. https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/lifestyle/health-and-wellbeing/3859095/nhs-dentists-increase-across-scotland-despite-perilous-situation-faced-by-practices/#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20there%20were%203%2C703,increase%20of%2029%20from%202019. Regular readers will remember that England has 10 times the population and so, all things being equal, should have 37 000 dentists but has only 21 000. So, Scotland has a dentist for … Continue reading NHS Scotland has 77% more dentists, not counting Anas Sarwar

Discharges from hospitals to care homes, in Scotland, were made by professionals in both locations with a view to saving lives. The Scottish Government did not interfere other than to remind care homes of their longstanding responsibilities to protect residents by implementing the isolation procedures they should have had ready after decades of flu outbreaks. The Scottish health secretary, contrary to her English equivalent, ensured earlier vaccination in care homes, in line with the JCVI guidance, to do so before all other groups and, consequently achieve a far lower death rate: The above graph revealing starkly the cost in lives … Continue reading Jeanne Freeman’s quick action saved many lives in care homes

..has done little to cut drink-related harm. The free-market think tank, the Institute of Economic Affairs, said alcohol consumption had fallen slightly since minimum pricing was introduced in Scotland in 2018 but claimed there was no evidence that people’s health was improving. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001732t/reporting-scotland-evening-news-01052022 The IEA is at least identified as ‘free-market’ but, typically, Reporting Scotland forget to offer the readily available evidence to counter the claims of a group funded by the tobacco industry and in favour of abolishing the NHS. Here’s what the Lancet had to say in May 2021: The evidence base supporting the positive, targeted impact of … Continue reading Minimum pricing cannot be judged by pandemic experience

parents about the results of an independent inquiry. The inquiry was into how the authority handled attacks on children. The council in question, Borders, is Conservative-led with 14 Conservatives and 8 independents out of a total of 34. Reporting Scotland does not mention that detail. Imagine it was an SNP council? Continue reading A Scottish Conservative Council is facing questions?

Just as it seemed Team GB would be coming back from Beijing with no medals at all, the two curling teams have made the finals and are guaranteed a medal. All eight are Scots but BBC Scotland have just reported on the women’s success without mentioning that once: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-olympics/60430107 Continue reading Scots to win all Team GB’s Winter Olympic medals?

By stewartb As a regular reader of the BBC News website (no mocking please!) I have developed the habit of  considering the ‘style’ and ‘structure’ of the writing and not only its substantive content. The former can influence how the latter is framed and therefore affect how a news story comes to be understood by us, the consumers of the output. There is a little illustration today from BBC Scotland’s journalism – an indicative example you might say! It’s from a lengthy article on the BBC News website’s Scotland page about a housing association and a tenancy dispute. I offer … Continue reading Indicative of BBC Scotland’s quality?

Much is made of Scotland having the highest prison population. The European media is 103.2 per 100 000. Scotland’s was 146.6 in 2020, having fallen from 150.4 in 2010. As with violent crime, reputations change slowly, such that despite a 50% fall in violent crime in Scotland in the last 10-15 years, comedians still characterise it as stereotypically violent. In 2020, there were 167 prisoners per 100 000 population in England and Wales, already significantly higher than in Scotland. Today, we read in the Guardian, that after 12 years of Conservative rule and soaring crime rates, Dominic Raab has announced … Continue reading Scotland’s prison population to fall well below pro rata that in England and Wales

Unsafe and past their best, Scotland’s nuclear power stations are not wanted by the people. We have massive gas production, four times our needs, even greater renewable wind generation with prospects of powering the entire UK. The bills are going up because we are not independent and able to exploit our own natural resources and because we are, despite them, subject to the lack of modelling or even cigarette pack scribbling, of the Tories in Westminster. Somehow, we must share the costs of Russian gas just as we shared the cost of Saudi oil – because we’re in the UK. Continue reading SNP modelling has nothing to do with bills