UK Government ‘austerity’ measures the key driver of Scotland’s falling life expectancy in good health and Labour will do nothing to reverse it

The Herald today has: The graph above from the BMJ in 2022 puts the trend in an historical perspective, revealing that expected life expectancy in ‘good health’ remains significantly higher than it was 30 years ago. The Herald report surprisingly, or not, dies not seem to have looked at the work of Glasgow University researchers led by David Walsh in 2022, which found Concerning changes in mortality and life expectancy trends have been observed across the UK since the early 2010: a ‘stalling’ of previous improvements alongside worsening trends among more deprived populations. Although the causes are still debated in … Continue reading UK Government ‘austerity’ measures the key driver of Scotland’s falling life expectancy in good health and Labour will do nothing to reverse it

John Swinney helping those struggling with the cost of eating is not ‘communist’ but BBC Scotland’s Peter Smith is either thick or just another right-wing extremist – here’s why

The essential MSM Monitor captured the above astonishing claim yesterday. This claim is nonsense. Communism requires the abolition of private property, elimination of the profit motive, central planning of the whole economy including actual ownership of the supermarkets. Swinney is merely telling the massively profitable supermarket chains to absorb some of the costs. In Imperial Rome, a slave based market economy, it often capped food prices.1 Medieval England, a feudal system identified by Karl Marx as utterly different from his ideas, often regulated bread and grain prices.2 During World War II, all of the allies, including the US and the … Continue reading John Swinney helping those struggling with the cost of eating is not ‘communist’ but BBC Scotland’s Peter Smith is either thick or just another right-wing extremist – here’s why

‘115,000 cancer deaths [especially among older adults] in 8 years: What a new [US] study suggests about nuclear power plants’

I’ve reported on this major US study, several times before but it remains at the centre of US debate as it’s findings spread across the vastness of the US when plans for new or recommissioned nuclear plants enter local media. UK media have, to my knowledge, never acknowledged this gold standard research, fearful of its potential impact on the current Labour government’s plans. From the New Hampshire Union Leader, yesterday: Older adults who live in U.S. counties that are closer to operating nuclear power plants may have a greater risk of dying from cancer, according to a new study led … Continue reading ‘115,000 cancer deaths [especially among older adults] in 8 years: What a new [US] study suggests about nuclear power plants’

‘An unannounced inspection by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) has praised maternity services at Victoria Hospital, NHS Fife, for delivering compassionate, person-centred care’

By stewartb ‘Maternity Services in Kirkcaldy not being ‘up to standard.’ – surely such BBC Scotland negativity CANNOT be about maternity services at the Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy? From the NHS Fife website today, 19 March: ‘An unannounced inspection by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) has praised maternity services at Victoria Hospital, NHS Fife, for delivering compassionate, person-centred care. The inspection, carried out in December 2025, highlighted strong multidisciplinary teamwork, visible senior leadership, and highly positive feedback from women and families using the service.’ From the actual report: Healthcare Improvement Scotland (March 19, 2026) Unannounced Inspection Report Maternity Services Safe Delivery of Care Inspection … Continue reading ‘An unannounced inspection by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) has praised maternity services at Victoria Hospital, NHS Fife, for delivering compassionate, person-centred care’

Major reduction in hospital delayed discharge times

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON From Delayed discharges in NHS Scotland monthly Figures for January 2026 published yesterday: The average (median) length of delay for people delayed at the January 2026 census was 23 days. This is less than as at the census point in December 2025 (28 days), November 2025 (27 days) and October 2025 (29 days). https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/delayed-discharges-in-nhsscotland-monthly/delayed-discharges-in-nhs-scotland-monthly-figures-for-january-2026/main-points/ How important is this kind of information, 20% reduction in median, for NHS Scotland? Short-term trend improvement — A drop from 28–29 days median … Continue reading Major reduction in hospital delayed discharge times

Bitter thegither? Another plague courtesy of brutal gangs from England into small-town Scotland

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON From BBC Tayside and Central today, the above and: Police Scotland has targeted a number of suspected brothels across Stirling and Falkirk as part of a national strategy to address prostitution and sexual exploitation. The BBC was given exclusive access to a raid and witnessed officers simultaneously entering a business and a flat where they carried out searches and seized items. Officers have also undertaken welfare visits to speak to people they believe are involved in prostitution, and … Continue reading Bitter thegither? Another plague courtesy of brutal gangs from England into small-town Scotland

NHS Scotland maintains lower bed occupancy than NHS England as called for by Royal college of Emergency Medicine and linked in research to lower excess mortality in extreme events

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON From Public Health Scotland, Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information (quarterly) Quarter ending 30 September 2025 published today: There were on average 13,446 available staffed beds per day for all acute specialties in the quarter ending 30 September 2025 – a 0.6% decrease compared to the same quarter in the previous year. An available staffed bed is a bed which is resourced for inpatient or day case care. Of these, 9,499 (71%) were for medical specialties and … Continue reading NHS Scotland maintains lower bed occupancy than NHS England as called for by Royal college of Emergency Medicine and linked in research to lower excess mortality in extreme events

A message for Scotland’s voters as Labour double down on nuclear – Researchers revisit study of Essex nuclear power station and breast cancer incidence among mature women nearby to find an even greater risk, only a short distance from new Sizewell C, and an ‘establishment bias and cover-up’

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON The Blackwater, Crouch, Roach and Colne Estuaries Marine Conservation Zone in Essex (see map below) was designated a MCZ in December 2013 on account, primarily, of its native oyster beds. The MCZ incorporates the Colne Estuary SPA (Colchester), the Blackwater SPA (Maldon) and the Crouch and Roach SPA (Burnham-on-Crouch/Rochford), as well as the Essex Estuaries Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and other SPA designations (Dengie and Foulness). At the head of the Blackwater Estuary lies the Bradwell Nuclear Power Station (its Magnox … Continue reading A message for Scotland’s voters as Labour double down on nuclear – Researchers revisit study of Essex nuclear power station and breast cancer incidence among mature women nearby to find an even greater risk, only a short distance from new Sizewell C, and an ‘establishment bias and cover-up’

Second tragic Sepsis case in only three months in NHS England draws attention NHS Scotland’s success

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON From BBC England today, the above and: After 32 weeks in hospital, several cardiac arrests and a quadruple amputation, sepsis survivor Manjit Sangha has finally returned home. Despite medics thinking the 56-year-old would almost certainly die, she left Ward 9 at Moseley Hall in Birmingham on Wednesday, receiving a hero’s welcome from her family in Penn, on the Wolverhampton/Staffordshire border. Doctors believe her sepsis might have been caused by something as innocent as a lick from her … Continue reading Second tragic Sepsis case in only three months in NHS England draws attention NHS Scotland’s success

Scottish GP’s rep lies about research based on only 222 out of nearly 5 thousand GPs claiming to be ‘burned out’ and to aid BBC Scotland’s fake news campaign to save their Anas

Support Talking-up Scotland to keep rebutting the lies almost every day of the year, at https://t.co/xFcIcegHTy Being reported repeatedly by BBC Scotland today in broadcasts and more fully on their website: According to the Royal College of GPs (RCGP), about a quarter of working time for general practice doctors in Scotland is spent supporting patients who are waiting for specialist appointments, placing a “significant and unsustainable pressure” on staff. RCGP Scotland vice chair Dr Chris Williams said: “When patients face long periods on secondary care waiting lists, they often return to general practice for ongoing care or as their condition deteriorates … Continue reading Scottish GP’s rep lies about research based on only 222 out of nearly 5 thousand GPs claiming to be ‘burned out’ and to aid BBC Scotland’s fake news campaign to save their Anas