Tag: health

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As long waits triggering corridor care surge to twice the Scottish rate in England, One RCEM ‘leading emergency doctor’ in Scotland is ‘completely terrified’ but not for them

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From BBC Scotland today, based on the RCEM union convener in Scotland: A leading emergency doctor has said she is “completely terrified” about upcoming winter pressures on Scotland’s already-stretched NHS. Dr Fiona Hunter, vice chair of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland, said A&E departments were providing “unsafe” levels of care, with some patients spending 72 hours on trolleys in hospital corridors. and: She said she wanted to remedy a lack of statistics kept around corridor care and to move towards a system where preparing for winter was a “year round” activity. BBC Scotloand have been working on this … Continue reading As long waits triggering corridor care surge to twice the Scottish rate in England, One RCEM ‘leading emergency doctor’ in Scotland is ‘completely terrified’ but not for them

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No matter how they try Scotland is not having England’s maternity crisis – It’s just a review

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BBC Scotland’s Lisa Summers trying to keep up the exaggerated image of the significance of Scotland’s National Maternity Review interviewing the Chair, Professor Christine McCourt and claiming that the review came ‘after’ the BBC Disclosure series discovered a series of safety failings. As with the other Reporting Scotland story today on violent crime, their piece on the Maternity ‘Review‘ is a desparate attempt to give NHS Scotland one of these: A rapid national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services has been ordered by Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting. This is to provide truth and accountability for impacted … Continue reading No matter how they try Scotland is not having England’s maternity crisis – It’s just a review

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Scotland’s extra-funded national winter health plan package is likely to be more co-ordinated and more effective

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From New winter health plan to ease hospital pressures published today: Expanded Hospital at Home services, a public awareness campaign and targeted investment to reduce waiting lists are all part of a newly-unveiled health preparedness plan for winter. A collective effort is critical in the months ahead to ease pressures on the NHS, Health Secretary Angela Constance said as she launched the new national winter health plan. In a statement to the Scottish Parliament, the Health Secretary set out several actions to provide guidance to health and social care systems ahead of winter, including: an increased focus on community care, … Continue reading Scotland’s extra-funded national winter health plan package is likely to be more co-ordinated and more effective

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Comparisons only newsworthy when they can be framed as unfavourable to Scotland

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By stewartb Are comparisons between the constituent parts of the UK only deemed newsworthy by the editors of public service broadcasters when they can be framed as unfavourable to Scotland? Beyond the news of health service delivery in Scotland – as reported by BBC Scotland and on the front pages of the Unionist press that are aggregated and amplified daily on the Scotland page of the BBC News website – what do we find is the reality? An NHS Scotland that on many performance metrics operates more effectively and more efficiently to the benefit of patients than its peers in … Continue reading Comparisons only newsworthy when they can be framed as unfavourable to Scotland

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NHS Scotland treating 20% more in 12 weeks than NHS England in 12 weeks as think-tank predicts a crisis there by the next election

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Across the BBC this morning and in the Telegraph, the above and: NHS waiting times will be twice as long as Labour promised by the next election, new analysis shows. The health service will fail to meet the 18-week waiting target that had been a flagship pledge of Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership, a report by the Health Foundation think tank predicts. Instead, it says, based on the rate of progress in Labour’s first two years in power, patients will still be waiting an average 35 weeks in 2029 – almost twice as long as promised. The Government will have barely … Continue reading NHS Scotland treating 20% more in 12 weeks than NHS England in 12 weeks as think-tank predicts a crisis there by the next election

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As attendance soars at GP walk-in clinics, Jackie Baillie rides the Scotsman off a readership cliff

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In the Ailing Scotsman today, Jackie Baillie turns up to lie about walk-in clinics. The facts: From the Scottish Government 26 August 2026: First Minister John Swinney has announced 24 more areas will benefit from new GP-led walk-in services across Scotland, bringing the number of centres planned or operational to 40. Work is underway with health boards to establish new walk-in services for communities including Angus, Dumbarton, East Kilbride, East Renfrewshire, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Glasgow, Inverness, North Ayrshire, Paisley, Shotts, Tweeddale and West Lothian. Many will be able to open within a year. Proposals are also in development for walk-in services … Continue reading As attendance soars at GP walk-in clinics, Jackie Baillie rides the Scotsman off a readership cliff

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Scotland is not having England’s maternity-litigation crisis – AI dismisses Scotsman’s crisis invention

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In the Scotsman yesterday, the above and: A long-awaited review aimed at identifying “systemic changes” to Scotland’s crisis-hit maternity services has begun. The nine month-long nationwide review will examine how care can be improved for women, babies, and families across the country. Many believe AI will tell you what you want to hear but that is only true on subjective matters relating to your life experience and choices. I often ask about stories like the one above and too often AI will uncritically accept the MSM framing and at first agree with the Scotsman that there is a crisis in … Continue reading Scotland is not having England’s maternity-litigation crisis – AI dismisses Scotsman’s crisis invention

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97% of Scotland’s housing free of penetrating damp and new legislation here covers private landlords who escape deadlines for action to protect children and the vulnerable in England

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if a tenant reports damp or mould. New legislation aims to hold those in the private and social sector accountable for carrying out necessary repairs within strict timescales. Awaab’s Law is named in memory of two-year-old Awaab Ishak who died of a severe respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his home in England. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/live/bbcone This is the Scottish version of the law and crucially, unlike the English version covers most private tenants in addition to social tenants. Awaab’s Law itself does not bind private landlords in England, so they are outside fixed deadlines.  A private landlord does … Continue reading 97% of Scotland’s housing free of penetrating damp and new legislation here covers private landlords who escape deadlines for action to protect children and the vulnerable in England

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

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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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What can Burnham learn from Scotland’s social care system?Scotland is the obvious comparison says FT

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Here’s the gist of the above: The article’s argument is that Scotland’s free personal care model is the closest working version of what Andy Burnham is proposing. Burnham has said that if Labour wins the next election he will create a National Care Service: person-centred, starting in the home, where “everyone contributes and everyone is covered,” meant to give peace of mind, protect savings, and value care workers. Scotland already does part of this. Free personal care has existed since 2002 for over-65s and, since 2019, for all adults assessed as needing it. As under Burnham’s outline, people still pay … Continue reading What can Burnham learn from Scotland’s social care system?Scotland is the obvious comparison says FT