Tag: depression

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NHS England plans further cuts to mental health care for children to further widen the gap with ‘substantially’ better NHS Scotland but no media report it

johnrobertson834

From the Guardian today, the above, and: Millions of adults and children in England face being forced to wait longer for mental health care, with more than two-thirds of NHS providers planning to cut services and half expected to axe jobs, the Guardian can reveal. With mental health services already under extraordinary pressure amid soaring demand for support, experts warned the proposed cuts – drawn up by trusts to plug holes in their finances – would also have “significant” consequences for the wider NHS, the economy and public services. Key services such as child and adolescent mental health care, talking therapies, addiction support, … Continue reading NHS England plans further cuts to mental health care for children to further widen the gap with ‘substantially’ better NHS Scotland but no media report it

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Research reveals increasing mental health referrals among children may be more due to a greater readiness to come forward and to coding changes than to an actual increase in depression and anxiety and casts Daily Record reporting as ill-informed and exploitative

johnrobertson834

The dominant narrative across the media operating in Scotland, the opposition parties and a few parents groomed by them, is, as in the Daily Record headline above, on 20 April 2026. Often ignored are these facts: From Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting times Quarter ending March 2026 published today, the above graph showing the 90% target beaten for 6 quarters (3 months) in a row, and: 91.2% of people started treatment within 18 weeks of referral, which is an increase from 90.0% for the previous quarter. 3,858 people started treatment in CAMHS. This is an increase of 2.4% (91) from the 3,767 starting … Continue reading Research reveals increasing mental health referrals among children may be more due to a greater readiness to come forward and to coding changes than to an actual increase in depression and anxiety and casts Daily Record reporting as ill-informed and exploitative

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Dare to be different on smart phones, Scotland – since they were first introduced – teenage sex, pregnancy rates, crime, violence, alcohol and drugs all down!

johnrobertson834

21 years ago I read the above book by Steven Johnson so it was with delight that I received an email today from ‘scunhur’ making the case for smart phones making you smart, By ‘scunhur’: Imagine these Scottish news headlines: It’s all true (well…see 6.): The main point about each of 1-5 above is that the reduction in harmful behaviour started just as teenagers adopted smartphones from 2005 onwards, culminating in the introduction of the first iPhone in mid (USA) to late (Europe) 2007. There are numerous online references to this phenomenon, all being ignored by those who wish to … Continue reading Dare to be different on smart phones, Scotland – since they were first introduced – teenage sex, pregnancy rates, crime, violence, alcohol and drugs all down!

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Rt Hon Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale’s thinktank tries to hide entirely English culture of County Lines drug gang ‘cuckooing’ plague in Scotland

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Regulars here will recognise the rarely enlightening thinktank headed up by Lord McConnell, Chris Deerin and their totally non-academic, guide-leader, BBC average housewife interviewee, Research Director, Alison Payne. Today, they have the above and: The recent passage of a new criminal offence of cuckooing within the Crime and Policing Act marks a significant milestone after years of sustained advocacy by the Centre for Social Justice and Justice and Care. It is a reform grounded not in theory, but in the lived experience of some of the most vulnerable individuals across the UK. Cuckooing, sometimes described as “forced home invasion”, occurs … Continue reading Rt Hon Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale’s thinktank tries to hide entirely English culture of County Lines drug gang ‘cuckooing’ plague in Scotland

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As NHS Scotland hits treatment targets for a year, what is the cause of a ‘child mental health emergency?’

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA I am, of course, not competent to evaluate the claims of the charity making them in the Herald above but I am, as are all of you, competent to ask why an apparent improvement in performance in the NHS services for them – CAMHS – now for a year, treating more than 90% of those children referred to it (7 500) in one quarter, within the 18 week target, 50% within only 3 weeks1, is now in a crisis mode when it was not in mid-2022 or in the years before? Where’s the expert, the ‘top … Continue reading As NHS Scotland hits treatment targets for a year, what is the cause of a ‘child mental health emergency?’

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NHS Scotland performance likely to be even further ahead as five examples of cover-up and distortion by NHS England managers is revealed

johnrobertson834

stewartb making this comment below, yesterday, reminded of how previously, he, I and others have revealed the trickery used by NHS England, operating in a Tory/competitive/managerialist culture, contrary to the public service model still operating in Scotland, have found ways to massage their published statistics. When comparing statistics on long periods spent in A&E in England with those in Scotland, it is always important to check the exact nature of the metric being used. For NHS Scotland, it is always likely to be time spent since arrival up to admission, discharge or transfer. For NHS England the metric in use could be … Continue reading NHS Scotland performance likely to be even further ahead as five examples of cover-up and distortion by NHS England managers is revealed

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BBC Scotland keeps a sickening media feeding frenzy going regarding a ‘cruelty claim children’s unit’ in Glasgow but sheds no light

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland today: No inspections were carried out at cruelty claim children’s unit – No official regulator had the power to inspect Scotland’s biggest children’s psychiatric hospital during a seven-year period in which staff were accused of cruelty to patients, it has emerged. Skye House in Glasgow was visited between 2017 and 2024 by advisory body the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland. However, it did not have any enforcement powers. … Continue reading BBC Scotland keeps a sickening media feeding frenzy going regarding a ‘cruelty claim children’s unit’ in Glasgow but sheds no light

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Why don’t BBC Scotland want to tell you about Scotland’s first walk-in mental health hubs?

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details Professor John Robertson OBA From STV, yesterday, the above and: Scotland’s largest mental health charity has unveiled plans for a £10m network of walk-in support centres. I searched for – ‘BBC Scotland first walk-in mental health hub‘ and got the same STV report, the Daily Record, the Herald, the Glasgow Times and even the Rangers Charity Foundation covering it. The reports are not actually that SNP-friendly but BBC Scotland? Just this: What’s going wrong with our mental health? Martin Geissler and Laura Miller ask why so … Continue reading Why don’t BBC Scotland want to tell you about Scotland’s first walk-in mental health hubs?

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Official figures reveal nearly 92% of children and adolescents treated within target and half of them within 5 weeks for mental health care but the Record trusts Alex Cole-Hamilton better

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details Professor John Robertson OBA Above, the truth the Daily Record did not publish today. Below, what they did publish On June 4th 2025 (my 74th birthday), I wrote: NHS Scotland beat a waiting times target for the second time in a row despite increased demand – how will the media spin this to get SNPBad? I’m ahead of BBC Scotland, as I write at 11.02am, but I can smell them scurrying around, phoning someone who can be trusted to say the statistics, the same stats they … Continue reading Official figures reveal nearly 92% of children and adolescents treated within target and half of them within 5 weeks for mental health care but the Record trusts Alex Cole-Hamilton better

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Tory-induced life expectancy declines worse in England due to no SNP policies or cheap ferry travel there

johnrobertson834

The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily, finishing in 14 days, to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS In the Guardian yesterday: Life expectancy improvement is stalling across Europe with England experiencing the biggest slowdown. Experts are blaming this on an alarming mix of poor diet, mass inactivity … Continue reading Tory-induced life expectancy declines worse in England due to no SNP policies or cheap ferry travel there