Tag: health

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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’

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Researchers predict more than TWICE as many BBC Scotland staff than prisoners took drugs on Christmas Day

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From BBC Scotland today: Prisoners hospitalised after Christmas drug misuse – Five prisoners were taken to hospital on Christmas Day following widespread drug misuse at a Scottish prison. A total of 35 inmates at HMP Glenochil in Clackmannanshire were identified as being under the influence of drugs on 25 December, with five taken to hospital for treatment. Not in the BBC report: There are 670 prisoners in Glenochil, so less than 1% were hospitalised and 5% had taken ‘drugs’. In the quarter ending September 2024, 94.7% of the 357 prisoners referred for drug abuse problems were treated by NHS Scotland … Continue reading Researchers predict more than TWICE as many BBC Scotland staff than prisoners took drugs on Christmas Day

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Recent Oxford University research PROVES Labour’s privatised health strategy WILL lead to ‘worse patient care’

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By Professor John Robertson OBA An expansion of private healthcare is now a central strategy to cut waiting lists in England, from a party where many of its leaders, have received large donations from private healthcare firms, yet less than a year earlier Oxford University’s PROVED research UK Labour’s privatised health strategy WILL lead to ‘worse patient care.’ From Oxford University researchers reported in The Lancet, on 29 February 2024: A new review has concluded that hospitals that are privatised typically deliver worse quality care after converting from public ownership. The study, led by University of Oxford researchers, has been published in The Lancet Public … Continue reading Recent Oxford University research PROVES Labour’s privatised health strategy WILL lead to ‘worse patient care’

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NHS Scotland had 27% fewer delayed hospital discharges than NHS Wales after decades of Labour control there but Scottish Labour conveniently ignore that

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By stewartb More numbers designed to shock from the British Labour Party’s spokesperson on talking down Scotland’s health and social care services! Any context offered? The numbers on delayed discharge are to be deplored but are they really big by comparison to those incurred by Scotland’s peers? From the BBC News website, Wales section (November 11, 2024): ‘Staff burnout warning over plan to free NHS beds’ (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5lqn19275o ) ‘At any one time, there are about 1,600 patients, mostly elderly, in hospital beds in Wales who are otherwise fit to be discharged. In some hospitals, this is 20% of all beds. ‘But delays around … Continue reading NHS Scotland had 27% fewer delayed hospital discharges than NHS Wales after decades of Labour control there but Scottish Labour conveniently ignore that

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Are Scottish doctors still likely to be less stressed than others in the UK? This survey will not tell us

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By Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian yesterday: Seven in 10 GPs suffer from compassion fatigue and struggle to empathise with patients because they are worn out from caring for them, a survey has found. Family doctors say they are so emotionally and physically exhausted from hearing about patients’ problems and circumstances that it is compromising the quality of care they provide. A poll of 1,855 doctors across the UK found that 71% of GPs and 62% of medics overall have experienced compassion fatigue, which undermines the doctor-patient relationship. “Compassion fatigue is effectively a hidden, secondary trauma with symptoms that can ultimately make it … Continue reading Are Scottish doctors still likely to be less stressed than others in the UK? This survey will not tell us

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Despite far more patients assessed and cared for at home, NHS Scotland still maintains more hospital beds than NHS England

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks once again to AR for alerting to me to this. The Sunday Times today has a report on the state of an imaginary NHS UK and the declining provision of hospital beds is presented as a major problem, which it is, if you have not done so in response to a major shift toward properly assessed and supported care at home. From People requiring a social care assessment and care at home services, published on December 17th 2024, by the Scottish Government: The number of people estimated to be waiting on a social care assessment to enable them … Continue reading Despite far more patients assessed and cared for at home, NHS Scotland still maintains more hospital beds than NHS England

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The Herald asks ‘Was NHS Scotland right not to prioritise longest waiters?’ What, instead of those who are on the 18-week list because they might die? Is that a tough one?

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By Professor John Robertson OBA The Herald’s Helen McCardle asks that first question above then proceeds to circle around it with a mass of information and comment, ending up by claiming: The above needs the addition – ‘but at what cost in lives?’ So, after the pandemic, NHS England’s two-year waiting list for those with life-diminishing but not life-threatening conditions, such as arthritis, was cleared but Scotland’s was not. How did they do that? The NHS has spent a record £12.3billion outsourcing patients to private hospitals to try to clear waiting lists, figures show. Official data reveals a 12 per cent increase over the past … Continue reading The Herald asks ‘Was NHS Scotland right not to prioritise longest waiters?’ What, instead of those who are on the 18-week list because they might die? Is that a tough one?

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Lib Dems find Scottish Nurses lose 3 days a year to mental health problems, fewer than UK average of 8

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In another of their many, waste-of-public-funds-to-dig-dirt-on-SNP, freedom of information requests, the Lib Dems in the Daily Record on Boxing Day: More than 700,000 days of nursing and midwifery staff time have been lost due to mental ill health since 2020, according to figures obtained by the Scottish Lib Dems. Freedom of information data showed 762,975 days were lost across the 14 territorial health boards. NHS Lanarkshire had the highest total in 2023/24, at 24,342 days lost. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/more-700000-nursing-days-lost-34374193 There are 65 270 nurses and midwives employed by NHS Scotland. https://www.nursingtimes.net/workforce/scottish-nursing-vacancies-falling-but-still-stubbornly-high-06-12-2023/#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20nurses%20and,in%20response%20to%20the%20figures.&text=The%20numbers%2C%20published%20in%20a,working%20in%20the%20health%20service. Most UK full-time employees work around 260 days per year. https://zelt.app/blog/how-many-working-days-are-in-one-year/ So Scotland’s nurses … Continue reading Lib Dems find Scottish Nurses lose 3 days a year to mental health problems, fewer than UK average of 8

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Only BBC Scotland attempts a scare on a supposed ‘flu surge’ despite admitting ‘relatively little pressure’ in the country with the most GPs, nurses and beds and the cleanest hospitals

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By Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland today, above and with this contradictory evidence further down:: The data found, external that among care homes in the country a “substantial number” had found influenza circulating, but residents were confirmed as having taken the flu vaccine to combat it. PHS noted only “a small number of deaths” had been reported among care homes. For intensive care units, the flu had caused “relatively little pressure” but PHS noted there was one case of a pregnant woman admitted to ICU due to influenza in the most recent reporting. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2l96730lyo BBC England? No flu surge in England? Well: Flu … Continue reading Only BBC Scotland attempts a scare on a supposed ‘flu surge’ despite admitting ‘relatively little pressure’ in the country with the most GPs, nurses and beds and the cleanest hospitals

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The use of imagined cancer deaths to attack SNP health secretaries

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Two days ago, I noticed this research report from the USA casting doubt on the effectiveness of cancer treatment to avert a spike in deaths: At the peak of the shortage, about 15% of patients probably had trouble accessing a platinum chemotherapy drug, the study found. But there was good news, too: Despite the shortages, the study team could find no difference in death rates for patients with solid tumor cancers in 2023 versus the year before. https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2024-12-24/last-years-platinum-based-drugs-shortage-didnt-raise-cancer-deaths-study-found#:~:text=At%20the%20peak%20of%20the,2023%20versus%20the%20year%20before. I was then reminded of two previous times when opposition parties and their pals in the ‘Scottish’ media had used … Continue reading The use of imagined cancer deaths to attack SNP health secretaries