Tag: health

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Canadian local authority issues free potassium iodide (KI) tablets to all living within 6 miles of nuclear plants but Labour extend life of aging 46-crack Torness in Scotland

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By Professor John Robertson OBA A map of the nuclear power plants in Eastern Canada. The city of Toronto (2.79 million) is contiguous with Pickering. Yesterday, from the local Durham Region Health Department: “Ensuring that our community is prepared for any emergency is our top priority,” says Anthony DiPietro, Director, Health Protection with Durham Region Health Department. “Having a supply of KI tablets on hand is a simple yet effective measure to protect your health in the highly unlikely event of a nuclear accident. We encourage all residents within the designated area to take advantage of this free resource.” https://www.durham.ca/en/news/ki-tablets-jan-21-2025.aspx Meanwhile in … Continue reading Canadian local authority issues free potassium iodide (KI) tablets to all living within 6 miles of nuclear plants but Labour extend life of aging 46-crack Torness in Scotland

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News you won’t hear – treatment orders for drug-dependent offenders imposed since 2019 plummet by half and success rates soar

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By Professor John Robertson OBA The emphasis of a DTTO is on drugs treatment as the primary means of reducing offending behaviour rather than the specific offence focused approach of a probation order. Specifically the objectives of a DTTO are to: • Reduce or eliminate an offender’s dependency or propensity to misuse drugs; • Achieve positive changes in the scale and frequency of drug related offending The Order introduces unique aspects e.g. drug testing and regular court reviews as features of a community disposal. The DTTO is a high tariff, highly invasive community disposal involving social work supervision. The order requires regular … Continue reading News you won’t hear – treatment orders for drug-dependent offenders imposed since 2019 plummet by half and success rates soar

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Sandesh Gulhane in the Herald today to mislead you on the state of cancer care in Scotland based on less than 1% of the cases and another infantile counting up to get a big number

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Based on a Scottish Conservatives Freedom of Information request, the Herald today has: 2 000 young scots faced delay to cancer treatments The figure, 2 418 is based on that primary school method of counting up for as many years as you need to, in order to get a big number for a headline. In this case it’s from 2014, so presumably 10 years, giving an average of around 240 per year. There are 35 400 cancer cases per year in Scotland1 so we’re looking at only 0.68% of the total. The Herald report does not … Continue reading Sandesh Gulhane in the Herald today to mislead you on the state of cancer care in Scotland based on less than 1% of the cases and another infantile counting up to get a big number

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12 hour A&E waits TWICE as long in England and nearly THREE TIMES as long in Wales

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By stewartb Re long periods of time spent in A&E: Performance statistics for A&E waits, NHS England, November and December 2024: Source: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/ae-attendances-and-emergency-admissions-2024-25/ Over 12 hour delays = 54,207 patients – from decision to admit to admission. This equates to 1,749 decision to admit delays over 12 hours per day, an increase of 23.6% (334 patients daily) from December 2023. Question: how long had these c.54k patients already spent in an A&E department up to the time the decision to admit them was made? In other words what was the TOTAL time they spent in A&E – how much longer than 12 … Continue reading 12 hour A&E waits TWICE as long in England and nearly THREE TIMES as long in Wales

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SNP Government programme to protect the health of children and mothers leads to significant increases in all groups

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From Infant Feeding Statistics Scotland Financial Year 2023/24 An Accredited official statistics release for Scotland published on 12 November 2024, we can see that breastfeeding has almost doubled since 2007/2008 for the least deprived group but has increased significantly for all groups. The rationale for this scheme is clear: Breastfeeding provides the best nutrition for babies and young children and supports children’s health both in the short and longer term(1,2). There is strong evidence that breastfeeding reduces children’s risk of gut, chest, and ear infections and leads to a small but significant improvement in brain development and IQ(3,4). Growing evidence … Continue reading SNP Government programme to protect the health of children and mothers leads to significant increases in all groups

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BBC Scotland’s subtle attempt to mislead on cancer deaths

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This morning BBC Scotland, at 6:30am, report: Currently three out of five people with a group of cancers characterised as ‘less survivable die within a year of diagnosis. New analysis shows the average one-year for survival rate for this group of cancers, which includes lung, liver and brain cancer, is just 39% in Scotland. The overall cancer survival rates across the country show 71% are still alive after 12 months. I don’t know about you but I took that contrasting 39% in Scotland and 71% across the country to mean that the UK survival rate was 71% and the Scottish … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s subtle attempt to mislead on cancer deaths

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As UK Labour extend life of cracked Torness reactor near Edinburgh, ‘Where is the ‘mature debate’ about the health impacts of nuclear power?’

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From Dr Margaret Beavis, Australian academic and former GP, today: When it comes to nuclear radiation, there is a clear disconnect between the medical evidence and the views of the Coalition. Since the 1950s we have known there is a link between X-rays in pregnant women and leukemia and other cancers in their children. It is not for nothing there are signs in every radiology department asking if you are pregnant. The current shrill denunciations of potential health risks associated with nuclear power plants as a “scare campaign” may yet prove to be an own goal, as it has drawn … Continue reading As UK Labour extend life of cracked Torness reactor near Edinburgh, ‘Where is the ‘mature debate’ about the health impacts of nuclear power?’

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As NHS England under Labour and with increasing referrals, freezes radiologist hiring, NHS Scotland cuts diagnostic waiting times for third quarter in a row

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland on 24 November 2024, the above graph showing a reducing number waiting for diagnostic tests for the last three quarters, a steady fall since the peak in early 2022, and this for the quarter ending 30 September 2024 [most recent data]: When compared to the previous quarter-end, six of the eight key diagnostic tests saw a decrease in the number of ongoing waits reported. Waits for a CT scan showed a reduction of 11% (-3,104), colonoscopy waits reduced by 11% (-1,433), non-obstetric ultrasound reduced by 9% (-5,122), and MRI waits reduced by … Continue reading As NHS England under Labour and with increasing referrals, freezes radiologist hiring, NHS Scotland cuts diagnostic waiting times for third quarter in a row

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NHS Scotland coping with THREE TIMES as many flu cases as Scotland shivers under Labour UK fuel allowance cuts and price increases

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From BBC Health, this morning: There is deep concern at a senior level in the NHS about rising rates of flu. The number of patients in hospital with flu continues to climb, according to latest NHS figures in England. Last week, the numbers averaged 5,407 a day – up from just under 4,500 the week before. As we mentioned a moment ago, the numbers in hospital have risen again over the past week, with nearly 5,000 beds occupied on average last week by patients struggling with the virus. NHS England’s emergency care director Prof Julian Redhead says there are no … Continue reading NHS Scotland coping with THREE TIMES as many flu cases as Scotland shivers under Labour UK fuel allowance cuts and price increases

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Lib Dumbs have another go at making up the numbers to reveal police Scotland staff have well below UK level of absences for ‘psychological disorders, including anxiety, depression, and stress’

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Today, on BBC Reporting Scotland, faithfully repeating what’s in 1919, an online mag with no peer-review and no standards of referencing, dedicated to representing uncritically the views of the police officers’ trade union and any opposition politician who will help them claim they’re hard done by, in Scotland: The number of working days lost to mental ill health in Police Scotland has surged by more than 50 per cent over the past five years. Since 2019, officers and staff have taken a total of 440,630 days off due to psychological disorders, including anxiety, depression, and stress. The findings come amid … Continue reading Lib Dumbs have another go at making up the numbers to reveal police Scotland staff have well below UK level of absences for ‘psychological disorders, including anxiety, depression, and stress’