Tag: health

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Could there be a simple positive reason for the reduction in the number of people accessing specialist alcohol and drugs treatment in Scotland – years of success in treatment programmes and Scot Gov success in initiatives on minimum pricing and opioid reversal kits?

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Professor John Robertson OBA, former opioid painkiller addict and ‘steady drinker‘ to this day From Public Health Scotland today: In Phase One of this investigation PHS conducted internal exploratory analysis to validate and describe changes in the numbers and characteristics of people accessing Tier 3 and 4 services between 2011/12 and 2021/22, using data from the Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISy) and its predecessor, the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Waiting Times (DATWT) database. In Phase Two of this investigation, Public Health Scotland presents a national-level examination of the same data sources. This quantitative analysis presents national data shared with … Continue reading Could there be a simple positive reason for the reduction in the number of people accessing specialist alcohol and drugs treatment in Scotland – years of success in treatment programmes and Scot Gov success in initiatives on minimum pricing and opioid reversal kits?

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Sarwar Jr has the same grasp of medical science as RFK Jr before his conversion on measles vaccines and supports a criminal justice approach to drug abuse which does not reduce it and which carries significant harms for individuals and for all of us

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Professor John Robertson OBA Robert F Kennedy Jnr has at least had the intelligence to change his mind on measles vaccination but Sarwar Jr shows little sign of learning on drug abuse and regulation as he pursues populist, street-corner, theories in a vain attempt to undermine the SNP Conference and to come second in the 2026 Scottish election. In the Daily Record yesterday as the SNP Conference begins: Anas Sarwar says he does not support drug decriminalisation for personal use: The Scottish Labour leader said communities do not back “making it easier for people to get drugs and take drugs” … Continue reading Sarwar Jr has the same grasp of medical science as RFK Jr before his conversion on measles vaccines and supports a criminal justice approach to drug abuse which does not reduce it and which carries significant harms for individuals and for all of us

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Why is Reporting Scotland still headlining the three-day-old news of ‘hundreds’ of operations cancelled in one NHS board when it never tells us of the month after month 98% of thousands completed across the country?

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with faulty sterilising equipment that’s led to the cancellation of hundreds of operations, is fixed. Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland‘s insert in BBC Breakfast this morning opens with the above story. The BBC Scotland website and STV last mentioned it three days ago. They’re desperately milking a rare NHS Scotland ‘failure’ that they hope you will connect with the SNP Government in some way. They never report this good news based on figures that appear month after month: NHS Scotland was ready to complete 98% of operations in August 2025 despite steadily increasing demand From Public Health Scotland 7 October 2025: … Continue reading Why is Reporting Scotland still headlining the three-day-old news of ‘hundreds’ of operations cancelled in one NHS board when it never tells us of the month after month 98% of thousands completed across the country?

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NHS England has to pay out more than twice as much as NHS Scotland for ‘maternity failings’

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Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to Brian McGowan for alerting us to this. How are things in Scotland you ask? £1.3 billion was paid out in 2024/205: https://www.cwj.co.uk/site/newsandevents/legalnews/costs_of_NHS_maternity_care_claims_revealed.html Per head, that £1.3 billion becomes £13 billion, less than half the NHS England pay-outs of £27 billion. Why might this difference exist? See this from Stirling University researchers in the BMJ in 2019: We found few differences in maternity care experience for women based on their physical or socioeconomic characteristics. Our findings indicate that maternity care in Scotland is generally equitable. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/2/e023282 Further measures in Scotland: In January 2024, the Daily Mail reporting a drop … Continue reading NHS England has to pay out more than twice as much as NHS Scotland for ‘maternity failings’

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As threat of resident (junior) doctor strikes in NHS England loom again, how the SNP settlement last year was praised by the BMA and means NHS Scotland is set to avoid thousands of excess deaths again

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on strike over what they say is a lack of future training places. Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Breakfast is headlining the above report with the following detail on their website: Newly-qualified doctors in their first year of practice in England have voted in favour of strike action in a row over a shortage of jobs. The British Medical Association (BMA) union says thousands of resident doctors are ending up without speciality training places when they finish year two of training. This year there were 10,000 jobs available for 30,000 candidates, although some of those will be doctors from abroad. … Continue reading As threat of resident (junior) doctor strikes in NHS England loom again, how the SNP settlement last year was praised by the BMA and means NHS Scotland is set to avoid thousands of excess deaths again

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Latest data shows just 1.8% of the Scottish population used private healthcare for inpatient and day case admissions but STV find a private healthcare boom

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Professor John Robertson OBA The above from September 2023, shows private healthcare providers (red) and MPs taking money from them to push their interests (blue £), notably then only one in Scotland – Ian Murray, Edinburgh South (Labour). https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1_vYkm4Yb_3r1SCl76qvgdR6zwqqB4u4&femb=1&ll=54.52217059297223%2C-2.3420011625000114&z=6 STV today has the above and what is essentially advertising for the Elanic Hospital in Glasgow. Typically, only at the very end of long piece do we see: A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Latest data shows just 1.8% of the Scottish population used private healthcare for inpatient and day case admissions. telling the reader that they have been reading a pack … Continue reading Latest data shows just 1.8% of the Scottish population used private healthcare for inpatient and day case admissions but STV find a private healthcare boom

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Different NHS Scotland rejects England’s hostile healthcare environment for vulnerable migrant women

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Professor John Robertson OBA From the Guardian today, the above, and: The UK [sic] has been accused of a “stark injustice” for failing to provide health services and humanitarian support to citizens of British overseas territories after a woman from the Caribbean island of Montserrat was refused free NHS care and left homeless. Council officials found Cherry Brown, 69, sleeping rough in a park in Swanley, Kent, in April. Brown had been funded by the Montserratian government – whose budget is largely subsidised by the UK – to travel to England to receive treatment from the NHS that was not available at home. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/oct/01/uk-montserrat-british-overseas-territory-citizens-injustice-donaldson-romeo The situation … Continue reading Different NHS Scotland rejects England’s hostile healthcare environment for vulnerable migrant women

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Ferret journalists far more than ‘slightly’ wrong on Pete Wishart’s accurate claim that English drug deaths are ‘written out of figures’ when UK civil servants estimated 25% undercounting in 2023!

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With only 2 days left, 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 – John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Bob Lamont for alerting me to this: The Ferret on 24 September 2025, concluded: Pete Wishart is wrong to say that “thousands of deaths in England simply written out of the figures”. The statistics on the total number of drug-related deaths in England are not in question, but new research has found undercounting in the proportion of deaths that … Continue reading Ferret journalists far more than ‘slightly’ wrong on Pete Wishart’s accurate claim that English drug deaths are ‘written out of figures’ when UK civil servants estimated 25% undercounting in 2023!

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How Labour has betrayed the people of Wales with an NHS ‘brought to its knees’

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With only 2 days left, 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 – John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 By stewartb As Scotland’s shoppers (and voters) view the front pages of newspapers without having to buy them whilst in supermarket queues and elsewhere (perhaps via the BBC), the messaging that NHS Scotland is ‘really bad’ and it’s that SNP’s fault, is fed drip by drip by drip – constantly, repeatedly – into the nation’s and the electorate’s consciousness. After all, according to BMA Scotland … Continue reading How Labour has betrayed the people of Wales with an NHS ‘brought to its knees’

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Drug deaths falling sharply for 5 years and treatment beating 90% target for 4 years suggests that the ‘sorry state’ is of journalism in the Sunday Post

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With only 2 days left, 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 – John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 Professor John Robertson OBA The Sunday Post has the above in direct contradiction of the facts of drug addiction in Scotland in recent years, ignoring what is ‘the’ news, the trends. First, drug deaths are falling in Scotland while surging elsewhere in the UK Even ignoring the above doubts, drug deaths are surging in England & Wales as they plummet in Scotland England and Wales: Scotland: Drug … Continue reading Drug deaths falling sharply for 5 years and treatment beating 90% target for 4 years suggests that the ‘sorry state’ is of journalism in the Sunday Post