Fed by some Scottish Tory and regurgitated undigested by the Times, the facts are ignored. e were able to report on real progress in narrowing the gap in Scotland’s schools, in February 2019: ‘94.4% of pupils had a ’positive destination’ including work, training or further study within three months of leaving school last year, official statistics show. The figures also reveal that the gap between those from the most and least deprived communities achieving a positive destination has halved since 2009/10, with an increase in positive destinations for school leavers, from both backgrounds. Over the same period there have been increases at … Continue reading ‘Fresh analysis by the Scottish Conservatives’ of the attainment gap data is predictably WRONG

Sourced for us by Brian McGowan As I watch Gordon Brewer join in the ill-informed agenda-driven attack on the Health Secretary and the Board, this statement from Jane Grant, Chief Executive, NHSGGC, really does need to be heard: “Since the move to Ward 6A and 4B in September 2018, infection rates have been similar to other Scottish paediatric units. “We have fully tested the water supply and ward surfaces in Ward 6A and also reviewed individual infections and found no links between individual infections and no source of infections in the ward. “Families should be reassured that infection rates at … Continue reading Key points about QEU Hospital infection NOT being reported by BBC Scotland – please share

From RESPUBLICA on 25th November: On the 24th of November 1999, the United Kingdom banned the use of asbestos. Twenty years later and this toxic mineral still plagues public health, being linked to multiple diseases including mesothelioma. But why has asbestos remained such a threat to public health, despite laws which prevent its use? The answer is two-fold. First, vast quantities remain inside public and private buildings throughout the UK. This is because we used asbestos heavily in construction up until the 1980’s and have been unable, or perhaps unwilling, to remove it from the schools, hospitals, and domestic premises’ where … Continue reading Asbestos campaign launch blind to Scottish differences

Above, the uniquely Scottish media politicising of a mother’s grief. Below, the death certificate containing the evidence regarding the possible, contributory infection: ‘Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an aerobic, nonfermentative, Gram-negative bacterium. It is an uncommon bacterium and human infection is difficult to treat. S. maltophilia is ubiquitously present in the environment and impossible to eradicate, which makes prevention also extremely difficult.’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stenotrophomonas_maltophilia As for the repeated suggestions that the hospital water supply system was the source of the infection, it seems that this bacterium can pass through filter units: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3255966/ Again, I stress, I’m not a medic, so I welcome clarification and/or correction from readers better qualified but does this … Continue reading Was the Queen Elisabeth University Hospital infection from a bacterium ‘impossible to eradicate?’ Has a grief-stricken mother been heartlessly conned by politicians and reporters?

We’ve all been aware of the incessant bombardment of negative, often downright dishonest, reporting on NHS Scotland and the regular politicising of the reports to associate them with the Health Secretary, since at least February of this year. That’s when the infested hospital saga began with tales of pigeon droppings and deaths ‘after’ though never ‘because of’ infections. As I write, we’re in the midst of a period of at least 12 days of headlining child deaths in hospitals, linked to infections, and calls from BBC Scotland’s feeder politicians for ‘heads to roll.’ In between, we saw attacks, later repulsed, … Continue reading Does analysis of polls reveal that BBC Scotland’s health scare stories ARE reducing support for the SNP

It’s now more than 3 weeks since my complaint about the above graph. Since then and despite emails directly to the creator of it, it continues to be used to mislead and to suggest that A%E performance in NHS England is only slightly worse than that in NHS Scotland when in fact it is 15% worse. My complaint on 7th November: Coverage of NHS A&E departments  The bar graph ‘A&E performance across UK % of patients dealt with inside four hours’ uses the wrong data for the NHS England column, suggesting performance significantly better than it is. The error is simple. … Continue reading BBC complaints clearly struggling with this one!

In a strangely upbeat manner, we heard today: ‘The mother of a girl who died FROM an infection at Glasgow’s ‘Super Hospital’ has told Reporting Scotland she believes her daughter would still be alive if action had been taken when contamination risks were discovered.’ Here is the death certificate: I’m not a medic but it seems quite clear that the infection was a possible third contributory factor in four in, a tragic death, caused by multiple factors and that the assertion that the child died ‘from’ an infection is patently inaccurate. That the infection was even ‘linked to’ contaminated water … Continue reading Reporting Scotland lies again to fool a mother and to keep her torment on our screens

At least there’s no picture of Jeanne Freeman here, this time. On May 9th BBC Scotland felt she should appear to be to blame ‘in the public interest’, of course: Note: Nothing here denies that some NHS Highland staff may have been bullied. Their experience is regretted. Nothing has changed in terms of the reality of the bullying headline claims. Of NHS Highland’s 10 500 staff, 340 came forward, with personal reports of bullying or of the absence of bullying. Of these, for no reason given, 282 were met and of those, again for no reported reason, 186 formed the basis for ‘Report … Continue reading Herald’s bitter struggle with BBC Scotland for worst health correspondent of the century continues on NHS Highland ‘bullying’

The poll for STV of 1 032 adults (18+) with fieldwork on 19th to 25th November reports: Con      25% Lab      17% Lib       10% SNP      43% Brexit  1% Green  3% This suggests, contrary to the Panelbase poll on Sunday, support for the SNP at a level leading to reclaiming more of the Tory seats as well as largely wiping out Labour. Click to access ipsos-mori-scotland-election-2019-pm-tables.pdf From STV: According to Electoral Calculus, if these results were replicated on election day, the SNP could pick up an additional 13 seats, reaching the party’s second highest ever total of 48. However, the Conservatives would … Continue reading Full Ipsos MORI poll puts SNP 18 points ahead at 43% to cause real damage and suggests support for independence at 50%

Thanks to a parliamentary question yesterday by Iain Grey (Scottish Unionist) we heard: The Scottish Government provided additional investment of over £5 million in 2018-19 to increase the care-experienced bursary across Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) to £8,100 per year. This additional investment funded an increase from the previous level of £7,625 in HE and £4,185 in FE, providing a significant increase in the financial support available to care-experienced students. In addition, we recently announced that we will improve access to the care-experienced bursary by removing the age 26 cap from academic year 2020-2021. At present, the Scottish … Continue reading Only Scotland gives care-experienced students a bursary