From BBC Scotland: Travel agent staff who faced losing their jobs have been hired as contact tracers by the health service. Nicola Sturgeon said that NHS Scotland had taken on staff from Barrhead Travel after demand for travel dropped. It approached the Scottish government to offer help with national efforts to control the virus while also keeping staff employed. Many readers will have smiled wryly at this news and unfortunately remembered this man: Many of us have not forgotten Bill Munro, founder of Borrheid Travel, for his part in the NO campaign, in 2014. See this from BBC Scotland in … Continue reading Irony of Ironies?

From the BBC: Five residents of a care home in south-west Scotland have died following an outbreak of Covid-19. A total of 12 deaths of care home residents confirmed to have had Covid-19 were reported to the Care Inspectorate between 5 to 11 October – about 5% of all care home deaths in that period. See that 5%? Only 5%? Care homes for the elderly, sadly but predictably, see death often. A population almost entirely around the normal life expectancy must inevitably have a high death rate. That only 1 in 20 ‘had‘ Covid-19 does not suggest that things are out of … Continue reading Dying ‘with’ Covid ‘following’ an Outbreak in a care home

From the Herald’s Health Correspondent today, out-of-date statistics leading her to miss the evidence that the ‘second wave’ has slowed. Mysteriously limited by PHS statistics only going up to October 17, the clear flattening of the curve revealed here is missed: It’s not at all clear why Travelling Tabby has more up-to-date data but it does. The flattening of the curve is obvious. The 7 day average yesterday was 1 174 new cases. The 7 day average on the 15th was 1 178, virtually the same whereas on the 9th it had been only 906, 23% lower. A reduction in … Continue reading Behind the times and missing the obvious?

In a poll by Number Cruncher Politics for Peston on 16-18 October, the SNP are predicted to sweep all before them with only one not taken. I can’t see what the one is but I fear it’s Murray still insisting there is no support for Indyref2. Continue reading Peston Predicts Almost All Yellow for Nicola as voters ignore talk of SNP ‘splits’

A significant number of children are going to bed tonight not only hungry but feeling like they do not matter because of comments that have been made today. Above, the words of footballer, Marcus Rashford, as he hears of the rejection by MPs of the opposition motion to provide free school meals over the school holidays. All of the Scottish Tories voted against the motion to deny English schoolchildren the same provision as those in Scotland enjoy. The SNP voted with Labour for the motion other than Owen Thompson MP for Midlothian and Margaret Ferrier. Scottish pupils in need will … Continue reading Rashford for Raith Rovers?

It’s only Richard Leonard, of course. Combing spinning with his habitual nodding and that head will come off! Under a bit of temporary pressure, NHS Scotland has hired some staff from a travel agency and a call centre. They have not hired the companies in any way. It’s no more outsourcing of responsibility than a care home owner hiring agency staff. The care home owner is in charge, totally. We know that Leonard has no problem with that. He finishes his complaint with: We need to know how much public money is going into private hands. We do indeed but … Continue reading Scottish Labour Leader gets dizzy trying to spin ‘spin’ that isnt spin

When you’re trying to design a taxonomy or classification system for something as large and complex as a country, 5 categories is better than 3, always. Consider the differing outbreaks in Dumfries, Motherwell, Aberdeen, Coupar Angus and more recently Glasgow and surrounding regions. Consider the different levels of infection in Glasgow, Ayrshire & Arran, Dumfries & Galloway and the Western Isles. Here’s how the Herald outlined the 5 tiers: While only three tiers has the advantage of being easier to understand than five, you can see the dangers in a region being squeezed into one where the restrictions don’t quite … Continue reading It’ll end in tiers!

By stewartb This is an exceptionally long post on an exceptionally important subject – unless you’re a corporate media or BBC journalist in Scotland it seems! For some weeks now the corporate media and BBC’s coverage of the passage of the UK Single Market Bill through Westminster has made much of the admission that it will breach international law. It has also provided some insight into the implications for Northern Ireland and the Good Friday Agreement. However, the media across the UK, and notably here in Scotland, have given scant attention to its implications for devolved government beyond the withholding … Continue reading Long Read: Colonialism at its worst!

Last Thursday, Annie Wells (Glasgow) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party) asked the Scottish Government, further to the First Minister’s commitment to “providing resources for additional environmental health officers” in her statement on 22 September 2020 (Official Report, c.16), how many officers it considers require to be recruited; by what date additional officers should be recruited, and how much funding it will provide to enable this. The Health Secretary replied: A total of £2.9 million is being provided over two years, to enable the recruitment of up to 64 Compliance Officers in total across the 32 Local Authorities. The recruitment process … Continue reading Scottish Conservatives draw attention to Scotland’s superior environmental health inspection regime

In the Scottish Parliament on Monday, Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Scottish Labour), clearly not up-to-date on developments in Scotland, looking south as they do, asked the Scottish Government what plans it had to introduce a plan to support adult learning similar to the Lifetime Skills Guarantee that has been announced by the UK Government. The the Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health was able to inform Mr Gray: Prior to the UK Government announcement on the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, a commitment was made in the Programme for Government to progress a Lifelong Learning Strategy in the coming year. … Continue reading Scottish Labour reveal Scottish Government ahead on Adult Learning