What, none of them can do emergencies? None? I don’t think Alister Jack mentioned that. They can’t do emergencies. Their newest ambulance is 30 years old. Can I tell a general to stop wasting my time? I’ve got 160 000 staff and Alister says the Army will save us with another 82? You’ll just need to pretend they’ve been a big help or we’ll never hear the end of it. Thanks lads! Safe journey back to Catterick but remember to think twice before calling out an NHS England ambulance. No, really? Continue reading Humza reacts to British Army rescue plan

By Alasadair Galloway: Earlier here: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2021/10/16/our-nhs-is-not-in-trouble-because-of-snp-decisions/ points to the partiality of this letter to the Herald (also) on Saturday. DAVID Crawford (Letters, October 15) writes regarding NHS performance, simplistically blaming Westminster, asserting a worse NHS situation south of the Border, and stating insufficient taxes are returned to Scotland. Public Health Scotland data reveals a 21 per cent pre-pandemic reduction in inpatient treatments delivered between 2013 and 2019, from 345,000 to 274,000, and consequential spiralling record waiting lists. Much of this is driven by reductions in hospital beds. Despite a growing population, outpatient treatments completed show a slight reduction over the … Continue reading Our NHS is NOT in trouble because of SNP decisions Part 2

In the Herald today: THE annual cost of ministerial offices has almost doubled under the SNP, Scottish Labour has said. Excluding the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister, the yearly cost of ministerial salaries, office staff and advisers has risen from around £2.4 million in the SNP’s first government in 2007 to more than £4.5m in 2021, the party said. https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/19653527.annual-cost-ministerial-offices-has-almost-doubled-snp/ So, first that ‘doubling’ is not 100% correct. It should be 87.5% Second, UK inflation from 2007 to 2020, has been around 42% and averaged 2.7% so by 2021, 44%. So, we have a ‘real’ increase in spending … Continue reading A bargain

Straight off, let me be clear, I don’t give a, whether Cameron Norrie, winner of Indian Wells (bottom right), is a Brit or any other ethnicity. This is not to be taken seriously. I mean that, seriously. He is a left-hander like me. That’s important. We’re a disadvantaged minority. Cameron Norrie has a very Scottish-sounding name with so many r’s a non-rhotic southerner will end up calling him Camwhon Nohwy. Indeed, Wimbledon was originally Rimbledon until the local mayor, a descendent of the Wohman governor spoofed in Life of Bwian, had it changed. Norrie has a Scots dad and a … Continue reading Will it be Norrie Knowe now?

In the Times today: Up to 1,700 soldiers could be axed in Scotland as the Ministry of Defence seeks to cut costs and create a leaner army to meet the demands of the cyber era. Three of Scotland’s seven garrisons face closure in cuts to be announced by the end of the year. Fort George near Inverness, home to the Black Watch, and the Glencorse and Redford barracks in Edinburgh were scheduled to close by 2032 but army chiefs want to speed up the plans. A regiment of Royal Engineers at Kinloss may relocate to England. The moves could see … Continue reading Scotland’s ‘Fort Apache’ to close?

It’s been a while since the Herald offered a platform for attacks on SNP administrations by the teacher union, the EIS. Today ‘the Herald understands’ something bad is happening in schools based only on an EIS source. The Herald/EIS/Labour opposition links go back a long way. In December 2020, I pointed them out: Don’t call me a conspiracy theorist! Nobody is saying this is a conspiracy. Chomsky applies here too. These are members of the professional, political and media elites acting in what they feel are their own interests (attacking the SNP administration) and in so doing acting in the … Continue reading Readers robbed of facts?

In quite a long interview with Glen Campbell, we see: Prof Skea, who was born in Dundee and went to Edinburgh University, is a member of the bureau of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the UK government’s Committee on Climate Change. He was also chair of the Scottish government’s Just Transition Commission, which looked at how to fairly manage the move to greener ways of living. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58928933 Strangely, we hear/read nothing of the latter activity. You’d think Glen would have asked him how well that is going? Maybe he did but the answer wasn’t for us to … Continue reading Will Scotland’s ‘exemplary’ climate change progress get a mention?

The Observer reports: Doctors are warning that accident and emergency departments are on the “edge of a precipice”, with patients forced to wait in ambulances for up to 11 hours outside hospitals. Paramedics across Britain have reported up to 20 ambulances queuing outside hospitals to transfer patients into emergency departments operating at full capacity.  https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/oct/16/ae-crisis-leaves-patients-waiting-in-ambulances-outside-hospitals-for-11-hours They do say ‘across Britain’ but the 7 examples they give are all in England. And yet, Scotland’s media talk confidently of a crisis in A&E, ambulance delays and the British Army coming to save us. I thought I’d try to help BBC Scotland find … Continue reading BBC Scotland cannot find images of patients waiting outside A&E departments

Robert Kilgour, above, clearly knows what is coming, as investigators pore over the evidence of malpractice in the private care homes – overcrowding, understaffing, failed infection control and reliance on agency staff. Kilgour’s campaigning began as far back April 2020 when he criticised a pay rise for staff and we discovered his Tory donations and role in the No campaign. Continue reading Private care home owner group sense the danger

So, our NHS is in trouble? The evidence? 50% more nurses and midwives than England, significantly more GPs and consultants. Nearly twice as many beds and admissions falling way below the February peak. Far lower total infection and death rates. Higher vaccination rates and far higher for teenagers. No surge in cancer deaths. Less than 2% of surgery postponed due to resources reasons. A&E performance far better that England and far far better than Wales. The buck for all the above stops with the SNP? Letter writer Richard Richardson seems to be a professional freedom of information request writer with … Continue reading Our NHS is NOT in trouble because of SNP decisions