From the NHS Scotland Information Services Division yesterday: The incidence rate for cerebrovascular disease decreased over the last decade by 12.1%. In the last decade, the mortality rate for cerebrovascular disease decreased by 38.7%. Click to access 2019-01-29-Stroke-Summary.pdf Could this achievement be mainly down to better staffing in Scotland? So, as always here, find below a list of a few bits of evidence not mentioned much in our MSM: First on GP staffing: Scottish patients have far better access to GPs than those in England BBC Scotland’s fake news on GPs ‘overwhelmed’ by workloads Reporting Scotland all quiet on surgery closures and GP shortages … Continue reading NHS Scotland achieves fall in mortality from ‘strokes’ by nearly 40% in last decade

From the NHS Scotland Information Services Division yesterday: There has been a steady downward trend in deaths from coronary heart disease in Scotland and the rest of the UK over the last ten years. In Scotland, the mortality rate fell by 35.5% between 2008 and 2017. However, the rate of decline has slowed in the last five years with increases in 2015 for both sexes and in the males rate only for 2017. Click to access 2019-01-29-Heart-Disease-Summary.pdf Could this achievement be mainly down to better staffing in Scotland? So, as always here, find below a list of a few bits … Continue reading NHS Scotland achieves fall in mortality from heart disease by 35% in last decade

Thanks to a parliamentary question on Monday, from Monica Lennon: ‘What minimum number of radiologists will be required to meet patient need in the next (a) five and (b) 10 years?’ we can see that radiology trainees have been increased by 30 per year to take the training establishment up by 75% to 179 in 2022. Click to access WA20191111.pdf Earlier reports on radiology staffing showing lack of crisis in Scotland contrary to some media reports: Radiography staffing vacancies running at ‘healthy’ 5% in Scotland Contrary to this morning’s Reporting Scareland, Scotland has more than its share of Radiology Consultants 45% more … Continue reading Trainee radiologist numbers in Scotland up 75% in only 5 years to meet demand

From Alasdair Macdonald There are a couple of things going on in these reports about ‘health scares’. Firstly, there are the various professional bodies – psychiatrists, radiographers, nurses, etc – who are seeking increased pay and improved conditions for members. This group also includes particular medical specialisms who are jostling for positions with regard to the allocation of funding grants. Secondly, there is BBC Scotland News and Current Affairs which is, as we have seen since before 2014, hostile to Scottish independence (since it is an arm of the UK state) and also hostile to public services and redistribution of … Continue reading Behind Reporting Scotland Down’s endless health scares

First thing this morning we heard: Efforts to tackle GP shortages face significant challenges according to Scotland’s public spending watchdog. Audit Scotland says the Government will struggle to meet its commitment to recruit 800 new family doctors and also faces a shortfall in other health care workers including nurses and physiotherapists. The report, as before with Audit Scotland, is based heavily on pessimistic estimated projections and pessimistic arbitrary judgements and, as always, sees no need for contextual comparisons with other areas to put things into perspective. Of course, that might reduce the anxiety viewers feel. So, as always here, find … Continue reading As Shetlanders go to vote Audit and Reporting Scotland combine to give you a selectively cloudy and inaccurate view of NHS Scotland staffing