Tag: health

8 Comments

Scotland’s measles risk does not come from its own tiny ethnic minority groups but from ‘imported cases’

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland, only, has an investigation today into the lower vaccine uptake among ethnic minority groups. The report has percentage and vulgar fraction descriptions of the shortfall but no actual figures so we cannot see just how many children are unvaccinated so we cannot really see the scale of the problem. The BBC Scotland report opens with: Last year data on childhood vaccines was broken down by ethnicity for the first time. It showed a wide variation in uptake across ethnic minority groups and Public Health Scotland called for more work to understand what is going … Continue reading Scotland’s measles risk does not come from its own tiny ethnic minority groups but from ‘imported cases’

Leave a comment

So in England, Alexander Dennis does NOT have to ‘adhere to (such) advanced Fair Work standards’?

johnrobertson834

By stewartb Some further background on Labour and ‘buses’: From Hansard volume 760: Commons debate on Economic Growth, 21 January 2025 Rachel Reeves (Labour, Chancellor of the Exchequer): “A number of local authorities and, indeed, Labour mayors have raised with me bus procurement and the importance of buses for the local economy. I look forward to working with them, particularly David Skaith in York and North Yorkshire and Steve Rotheram in Liverpool, to boost bus services in communities, and particularly rural communities, to support jobs in the UK. At the Budget, I allocated more than £1 billion for local bus services, and that … Continue reading So in England, Alexander Dennis does NOT have to ‘adhere to (such) advanced Fair Work standards’?

2 Comments

Leading health think tank praises new framework for population health co-created by Scottish Government and COSLA

johnrobertson834

– ‘this is a major step forward’ –  ‘Despite the now released Fit for the future: 10 Year Health Plan, England has nothing equivalent’ – ‘England would do well to draw inspiration from its neighbour’. By stewartb A respected think tank focusing on health and care in England, the King’s Fund published (July 14) a blog post with the headline: ‘What can English health policy learn from Scotland? A coherent policy approach to population health.’ Source: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/blogs/scotland-coherent-policy-approach-population-health It describes the King’s Fund’s longstanding advocacy of a stronger focus in England on population health through promoting the ‘integration for health, as … Continue reading Leading health think tank praises new framework for population health co-created by Scottish Government and COSLA

1 Comment

A free offer of a story for the mainstream media ‘serving’ Scotland: the Labour government’s new ambition for NHS England – no more than 10% of patients spending 12 hours in A&E – sets a threshold that NHS Scotland has NEVER EVER failed to better- NEVER worse than 8% and almost always very much lower! Why?

johnrobertson834

stewartb The Royal College of Emergency Medicine issued a press statement (July 2) entitled: ‘RCEM Response to NHS England’s Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025’. This is part of the much heralded reforms to improve NHS services in England from the British Labour Party government in Westminster. I have little doubt that the same party in the run up to the 2026 Holyrood election, with the help of its mainstream media allies, will be telling us to vote Labour in order to get similar super-duper ‘change’ implemented for NHS Scotland. So what does the RCEM say about Labour’s plan for … Continue reading A free offer of a story for the mainstream media ‘serving’ Scotland: the Labour government’s new ambition for NHS England – no more than 10% of patients spending 12 hours in A&E – sets a threshold that NHS Scotland has NEVER EVER failed to better- NEVER worse than 8% and almost always very much lower! Why?

19 Comments

Dear England, we can help you see through the media spin distorting your reality

johnrobertson834

Brenda Robb Today the media are full of articles, opinion pieces and comments on UK Labour’s plan to transform the NHS. We in Scotland would like to check if you are happy with what is being said because we have considerable experience of political & media spin distorting the real issues. Wes Streeting is offering a 3 pronged approach. Let’s start with the digital app, the doctor in your pocket. This promises several things – unprecedented control over your care, instant access to health advice, organising appointments made easier. It all sounds good doesn’t it? But take the health advice, … Continue reading Dear England, we can help you see through the media spin distorting your reality

3 Comments

NHS Scotland’s emergency stroke treatment saving thousands but the service remains in crisis in England after a year of Labour

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to Brenda Robb for both alerting me to this and for research assistance. In the Guardian today, the above, and: The NHS has repeatedly failed in its diagnosis and care of stroke patients, England’s health ombudsman has said. According to the World Stroke Association, more than 12 million people worldwide will have their first stroke this year and 6.5 million will die as a result. Strokes are one of the UK’s biggest killers, causing about 34,000 deaths a year, and the single biggest cause of severe disability. The NHS Fast campaign aims to raise awareness of the most common symptoms of … Continue reading NHS Scotland’s emergency stroke treatment saving thousands but the service remains in crisis in England after a year of Labour

3 Comments

Scotland’s free prescriptions and cleaner air saving lives of thousands of asthma sufferers and reducing GP visits as they surge in rUK

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA Headlining in the Guardian today, the above and: The number of patients being treated by GPs for asthma attacks has increased by 45% in a year, prompting calls for urgent action to tackle toxic levels of air pollution. There were 45,458 presentations to family doctors in England between January and June this year, according to data from the Royal College of General Practitioners research and surveillance centre. Across the same period in 2024, there were 31,376 cases. The figures come a week after a damning report by the Royal College of Physicians revealed that 99% of the UK population was now breathing … Continue reading Scotland’s free prescriptions and cleaner air saving lives of thousands of asthma sufferers and reducing GP visits as they surge in rUK

3 Comments

The Herald’s Martin Williams campaigns both for and against nuclear energy on the same day as Scotland’s last nuclear plant is revealed to have 585 cracks in a reactor core

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA Only 3 hours ago, the Herald’s Martin Williams had the above damning, newsworthy, piece but it hadn’t been in time for the front page, where he had this campaigning on behalf of the nuclear industry: It’s by no means the first example of the Scottish corporate media acting on behalf of corporations. The facts get no hearing in this debate. Here they are again on Labour’s small modular reactors: On public opinion in Scotland: In the last few months, we’ve seen the MSM in Scotland support the Labour Party’s plans, across the UK and in Scotland, … Continue reading The Herald’s Martin Williams campaigns both for and against nuclear energy on the same day as Scotland’s last nuclear plant is revealed to have 585 cracks in a reactor core

3 Comments

The morning after Fiona Bruce’s barefaced lie about NHS Scotland, BBC Health offer you the awful truth of how bad NHS England is on the key life-or-death 18 week wait

johnrobertson834

performing so poorly? Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Question Time last night and Fiona Bruce was in fast with the above uninformed claim to bias proceedings. The following morning BBC Health has: How is your hospital doing as NHS battles to bring down waiting times? and the opportunity to just enter your postcode and get performance on the 18 week waiting list. This is the key waiting list, unlike the 2 year list, as it concerns treatment for ‘acute‘ life-threatening conditions such as heart disease, stroke and cancers, as opposed to ‘chronic‘ non-life-threatening’ (life-limiting I know), such as arthritis. A … Continue reading The morning after Fiona Bruce’s barefaced lie about NHS Scotland, BBC Health offer you the awful truth of how bad NHS England is on the key life-or-death 18 week wait

4 Comments

The BMA UK – a more serious, objective trade union than its lead in Scotland, Dr Kennedy?

johnrobertson834

By stewartb The BMA may be a more serious, objective trade union than its lead in Scotland – based on his highly politicised statements using language designed for use in headlines by mainstream media opposed to the present Scottish Government – makes it appear! Below are some of its analysis and insights on the state of NHS England. Not a positive picture but even. so I can’t find a BMA spokesperson claiming that NHS England is ‘dying’ – and for the avoidance of doubt, England has long had a substantial number of people using private healthcare, a number which is … Continue reading The BMA UK – a more serious, objective trade union than its lead in Scotland, Dr Kennedy?