Tag: health

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99.96% of Scottish drinking water meets standards to be ‘amongst the finest in the world’ but the regulator will not rest till it’s 100% or better

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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 From Drinking Water in Scotland 2024, published10 September 2025 Issued on behalf of the Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland Water Quality Regulator says “Scotland’s tap water quality is impressive, but more needs to be done to reduce risk”.  The Drinking Water Quality Regulator (DWQR) for Scotland’s latest annual report shows that Scottish Water’s compliance with the stringent standards for drinking water remains very high, however there are too many … Continue reading 99.96% of Scottish drinking water meets standards to be ‘amongst the finest in the world’ but the regulator will not rest till it’s 100% or better

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As cancer doctors in England warn of postcode lottery NHS Scotland’s “person-centred access without geographical disparities” launched in 2022 has worked but Scottish media ‘play’ us

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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 From BBC Health today and broadcast on BBC Breakfast on repeat: Senior cancer doctors are warning that excessive red tape means some patients in England are struggling to access the latest cancer treatments. The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) says bureaucracy is “stifling innovation” and that applying for funding to pay for new treatments can be “cumbersome” for some cancer centres. It says the situation is leading to an unacceptable … Continue reading As cancer doctors in England warn of postcode lottery NHS Scotland’s “person-centred access without geographical disparities” launched in 2022 has worked but Scottish media ‘play’ us

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Leading research group casts doubt on NHS England’s waiting list figures

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stewartb As has been highlighted before on TuS, one needs to look closely and critically at performance statistics for NHS England. They are not always what they seem – cf. 12 hour A&E waits. The Nuffield Trust is now exposing yet more dodgy data. Source: Nuffield Trust (August 13 2025) Why is the planned care waiting list coming down and what does the data really tell us? Context: ‘When Wes Streeting celebrated the improvement in the waiting list – saying “thanks to our interventions and the hard work of NHS staff, the overall waiting list has now fallen in April for the … Continue reading Leading research group casts doubt on NHS England’s waiting list figures

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As BBC UK today reports charges of corporate manslaughter in Lancashire stroke unit news of the Scottish Government’s stroke improvement plan that has already saved 2 000 is kept from you

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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 From BBC Lancashire, today the above and: Police are investigating potential corporate failings contributing to the death, ill-treatment or neglect of patients at Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s stroke unit, BBC North West has learned. Offences under consideration by Lancashire Police include corporate manslaughter, corporate ill-treatment and wilful neglect, and offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act. The investigation was launched in October 2023 after the prosecution of five health … Continue reading As BBC UK today reports charges of corporate manslaughter in Lancashire stroke unit news of the Scottish Government’s stroke improvement plan that has already saved 2 000 is kept from you

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How I rebutted Reform UK’s vaccine denier doctor over and over three years ago

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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 In the Guardian yesterday: A controversial doctor given top billing at the Reform party conference has used his main-stage speech to air a claim the Covid vaccine caused cancer in the royal family. The speech by Aseem Malhotra, a British cardiologist who was appointed as a senior adviser to the US health secretary and vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy, drew sharp intakes of breath in the Birmingham auditorium where he … Continue reading How I rebutted Reform UK’s vaccine denier doctor over and over three years ago

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When all drug deaths are counted Scotland’s rate is falling fast toward the increasing rate in England and Wales and is already lower for males than in the north-east of England

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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 I know we’ve covered this before, including by reader JB, but I think we need something more short, direct and easy to grasp. If we accept the published data, there remains a significant gap with drug misuse deaths in Scotland still around twice the level in England and Wales, on average, but the rates are converging fast as they fall in Scotland but climb in England and Wales. We may … Continue reading When all drug deaths are counted Scotland’s rate is falling fast toward the increasing rate in England and Wales and is already lower for males than in the north-east of England

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Watch out for Jackie Baillie telling us we need Martha’s Rule too but failing to tell you that hospital acquired infections under the SNP are between a fifth and a half of the level in 2006, under Labour, an eighth of the level in England and a third of the level in Europe?

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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 Being broadcast widely by BBC UK and in BBC Health, the above and: Martha’s rule, a way for families to seek an urgent second opinion if they are concerned about the care their loved ones receive, will be rolled out across all English hospitals delivering acute or short-term treatment. The telephone helpline, the result of a campaign by the parents of 13-year-old Martha Mills who died after serious failings in … Continue reading Watch out for Jackie Baillie telling us we need Martha’s Rule too but failing to tell you that hospital acquired infections under the SNP are between a fifth and a half of the level in 2006, under Labour, an eighth of the level in England and a third of the level in Europe?

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In Scotland, twice as many midwives and 33% more nurses

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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 There’s a lot happening today, a lot to rebut, so we’ll do this rubbish from the Scotsman quickly. Too many vacancies is disturbing but more important is how many midwives and nurses do we have per head of population? First, England and midwives: Midwives: Using the NHS England figure of 23,396 midwives in November 2023 (most specific and recent for England). https://www.england.nhs.uk/2024/01/record-number-of-nurses-and-midwives-working-in-nhs/ Population: Approximately 57.1 million (mid-2023 estimate). https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/annualmidyearpopulationestimates/mid2023 Ratio: … Continue reading In Scotland, twice as many midwives and 33% more nurses

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There might be one elsewhere in the UK but there is no healthcare postcode lottery of any kind in Scotland

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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 The above 100 000 refers of course to the whole of the UK and not just Scotland. I don’t have time to fully investigate another scare story like this, but quickly: First, overall, there is no postcode lottery in Scotland’s hospitals and Glasgow’s super hospital is actually safer than average From Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios April 2024 to March 2025 published today, the above graph reveals that all of Scotland’s hospitals … Continue reading There might be one elsewhere in the UK but there is no healthcare postcode lottery of any kind in Scotland

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European Union Drugs Agency – drug deaths ‘must be understood as underestimations’ (as in England) proving that Scotland is only the ‘Drug Death Accurate Reporting’ capital of Europe

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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 By JB We all saw the MSM headlines yesterday: “ although Scotland’s drug deaths fell they still ‘remain’ the highest in Europe”. Based on what comparable statistics? From AI…”Comparable statistics allow for systematic evaluation, hypothesis testing, and data-driven decision-making by identifying similarities and differences between groups or phenomena. To be comparable, data must either be collected with  standardised methods and definitions  or have undergone a thorough assessment of differences in methodology to … Continue reading European Union Drugs Agency – drug deaths ‘must be understood as underestimations’ (as in England) proving that Scotland is only the ‘Drug Death Accurate Reporting’ capital of Europe