Tag: covid-19

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Nearly six years ago 5 research studies found scale of Covid deaths was largely due to private care home owners over-reliant on travelling agency staff, denying sick pay to staff and failing to test them in-house

johnrobertson834

Again, I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve countered that myth about hospital discharges causing care home outbreaks but, one more time quickly: There is no evidence at all that any of the discharges of hospital cases into care homes caused any of the outbreaks in those homes. There are repeated research reports showing that agency staff working in more than one of the, especially, larger corporate-owned homes did, unwittingly, cause the outbreaks. Here’s the evidence again: The charitable MHA with a presence in Scotland did research into its own homes and discovered this: Large numbers of staff could … Continue reading Nearly six years ago 5 research studies found scale of Covid deaths was largely due to private care home owners over-reliant on travelling agency staff, denying sick pay to staff and failing to test them in-house

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Not a word on hospital discharges in first of deadly care home inspections in 2020 as care home owners are revealed to be guilty for Covid deaths

johnrobertson834

In December 2020, as deaths began to rise again in care homes and opposition parties returned to the smell of blood they detected from their ‘common sense’ unqualified notion that hospital discharges must be responsible, the Care Inspectorate applied to cancel the registration of Thornlea Nursing Home in Loanhead Midlothian. There was no mention of hospital discharges as a suspected cause of infections and deaths, by the Care Inspectorate in December 2020 and there is none in the final report released yesterday but there is, ten times, mention of failures of infection control by the staff, often untrained and under-staffed, … Continue reading Not a word on hospital discharges in first of deadly care home inspections in 2020 as care home owners are revealed to be guilty for Covid deaths

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Preparing for today’s lies about Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 2 – In the murderous first phase of the pandemic, they were 21% lower than in England & Wales

johnrobertson834

In the Guardian 19th July 2020, six months after Boris Johnson’s incompetence and callousness allowed the virus free access t the UK and just over three months since the SNP Government got devolved authority for the pandemic tactics, here is what happened to care home residents. In a piece broadly sympathetic to the First Minister and Scotland’s Covid strategy, the Guardian writers seemed to feel the need for ‘balance’ and to use anything they can find even if it’s wrong. Truth, fairness and accuracy are what readers need. You wouldn’t expect to have balance on a piece about the health … Continue reading Preparing for today’s lies about Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 2 – In the murderous first phase of the pandemic, they were 21% lower than in England & Wales

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Preparing for today’s lies about Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 1 – How Jeanne Freeman saved thousands of lives

johnrobertson834

In BBC Scotland’s retrospective comment on Jeanne Freeman’s time as Health Secretary, they write: Freeman stood beside Sturgeon in press conferences throughout the next year. There would be praise for their calm stewardship and she was there at the start of the vaccine roll-out. But the decision to discharge elderly hospital patients to care homes during the first few weeks of the pandemic without a requirement for a negative test was one which hung over Freeman for the rest of her time in politics and beyond. The worst mortality rates were later seen within care homes as the virus spread … Continue reading Preparing for today’s lies about Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 1 – How Jeanne Freeman saved thousands of lives

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Little evidence for a looming A&E ‘winter crisis’ in Scotland

johnrobertson834

The above graphs show a steep rise in the number waiting longer than the 4, 8 and 12 hour targets, in full emergency departments in Scotland, after the pandemic and then stabilising around the same seasonal peaks and dips since then. 1 While there are, always multiple explanations of the same phenomenon, globally, independent academic researchers (links below) have identified the ‘differences that make a difference:’ Pandemic after-effects locked the system into a worse equilibrium. Staff sickness, burnout and vacancies remained high even where headcount later rose. Infection-control steps, testing and cohorting slowed flow and some of that friction persisted. … Continue reading Little evidence for a looming A&E ‘winter crisis’ in Scotland

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Boris Johnson’s government failed to anticipate and to react to pandemic threat but Nicola Sturgeon’s government made up for his incompetence

johnrobertson834

This from last year has popped up across social media, where it’s being seen in greater numbers than the Herald does, these days. So, it needs rebutting. First, How Boris Johnson’s top civil servant credited Nicola Sturgeon for showing them how to do it One more reason to be utterly disgusted by the current witch-hunt: From the National in May 2024: NICOLA Sturgeon was showing the Tory government “how to do it” during the Covid pandemic, according to WhatsApp messages sent by the UK’s most senior civil servant. Simon Case, who as cabinet secretary oversees the work of the UK’s entire civil … Continue reading Boris Johnson’s government failed to anticipate and to react to pandemic threat but Nicola Sturgeon’s government made up for his incompetence

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Where it counts, NHS Grampian is not ‘troubled’

johnrobertson834

BBC Scotland, in their BBC Breakfast insert today, making much of NHS Grampian as ‘troubled‘, misses these key statistics below. The Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio is a reliable measure of the extent to which a hospital is operating normally and safely. The large Aberdeen Royal is only 0.04% above the Scottish average of 1. Smaller hospitals can have less predictable figures but, again Dr Gray’s is within the normal, safe, range shown below: From Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios January 2025 to December 2025 published today, the above chart and: No hospitals [including those of NHS Grampian] had a significantly higher standardised mortality ratio … Continue reading Where it counts, NHS Grampian is not ‘troubled’

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Understanding Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 2 – How Jeanne Freeman’s, unique in the UK, quick action on vaccines saved thousands of lives

johnrobertson834

In BBC Scotland’s retrospective comment on Jeanne Freeman’s time as Health Secretary, they write: Freeman stood beside Sturgeon in press conferences throughout the next year. There would be praise for their calm stewardship and she was there at the start of the vaccine roll-out. But the decision to discharge elderly hospital patients to care homes during the first few weeks of the pandemic without a requirement for a negative test was one which hung over Freeman for the rest of her time in politics and beyond. The worst mortality rates were later seen within care homes as the virus spread among … Continue reading Understanding Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 2 – How Jeanne Freeman’s, unique in the UK, quick action on vaccines saved thousands of lives

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Understanding Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 1 – In the murderous first phase of the pandemic, they were 21% lower than in England & Wales

johnrobertson834

In the Guardian 19th July 2020, six months after Boris Johnson’s incompetence and callousness allowed the virus free access t the UK and just over three months since the SNP Government got devolved authority for the pandemic tactics, here is what happened to care home residents. In a piece broadly sympathetic to the First Minister and Scotland’s Covid strategy, the Guardian writers seemed to feel the need for ‘balance’ and to use anything they can find even if it’s wrong. Truth, fairness and accuracy are what readers need. You wouldn’t expect to have balance on a piece about the health … Continue reading Understanding Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 1 – In the murderous first phase of the pandemic, they were 21% lower than in England & Wales

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Why did cancer mortality drop in the pandemic years of 2021 and 2022 if the Daily Record’s contrary claims are true?

johnrobertson834

The Daily Record today, has: Cancelled cancer appointments during Covid led to ‘loss of life in Scotland’ – Pausing bowel cancer screening appointments in Scotland during Covid-19 led to missed and late diagnoses, longer waits for colorectal cancer treatment and ultimately loss of life, an inquiry heard. The UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry’ has heard how millions of people had non-urgent operations cancelled during the pandemic. The claim comes from, as far as I can see, no actual figures, but just the views of the Chair, Baroness Heather Hallett when she said: The lack of screening for colorectal cancer, for example, led to missed and … Continue reading Why did cancer mortality drop in the pandemic years of 2021 and 2022 if the Daily Record’s contrary claims are true?