Tag: health

3 Comments

Covid – top UK Civil Servant and Boris adviser – ‘Nicola Sturgeon showing them how to do it’

johnrobertson834

Dr Simon Case, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service under Boris Johnson PM at the Covid Inquiry today. By Professor John Robertson An extract from an exchange between Case and Helen Macnamara, his Depute, in 2020: Are we surprised? From May 2020 While Scotland’s 35% lower fatality rate will be explained by multiple factors, the decision in 2008, to axe outsourced cleaning and to increase the number of cleaners, by Nicola Sturgeon, then Health Secretary, seems likely to have been a major factor. What happened: (May 2011) In the 1980s, the Thatcher government in the UK introduced compulsory … Continue reading Covid – top UK Civil Servant and Boris adviser – ‘Nicola Sturgeon showing them how to do it’

3 Comments

Whooping cough medicine shortages – Pharmacists in Scotland, already routinely alter prescriptions for the benefit of patients

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson In the Guardian today with not a reference to Scotland or anywhere in Scotland: UK pharmacists demand powers to change whooping cough prescriptions. Exclusive: Some pharmacies have turned away families because they have run out of the drug clarithromycin. Pharmacists are calling for fresh powers to provide patients with alternative prescriptions as they warned that drugs shortages are hampering their ability to tackle whooping cough. More than 2,700 cases have been reported across England so far in 2024 – more than three times the number recorded in the whole of last year. But some pharmacies have … Continue reading Whooping cough medicine shortages – Pharmacists in Scotland, already routinely alter prescriptions for the benefit of patients

20 Comments

Exposure to carcinogens in Faslane

johnrobertson834

In May 2024: Silence is revealing? In May 2023: QUESTIONS are hanging over the safety of Britain’s nuclear arsenal after it was revealed there were 58 radiation leaks at Trident facilities in Scotland this year so far. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has revealed there were 15 recorded radiation leaks at Coulport and a further 43 at Faslane in 2023 as of April – but said none were considered “serious”. https://www.thenational.scot/news/23545590.trident-mod-confirms-50-radiation-leaks-year/ In March 2016: Twenty workers at the Faslane nuclear submarine base were exposed to radiation due to safety errors, newly-released documents have revealed. The engineers were repairing a leaking … Continue reading Exposure to carcinogens in Faslane

2 Comments

All of Scotland’s hospitals within normal mortality range

johnrobertson834

From Public Health Scotland, today: For the period January 2023 to December 2023 no hospitals had a significantly higher standardised mortality ratio than the national average [more deaths than predicted]. The standardised mortality ratio for Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France (1.12) is above the upper warning limit. For the period January 2023 to December 2023 no hospitals had a significantly lower standardised mortality ratio than the national average [fewer deaths than predicted]. The standardised mortality ratio for Western General Hospital (0.83) is below the lower warning limit. The graph reveals the cohesive nature of public health in a … Continue reading All of Scotland’s hospitals within normal mortality range

4 Comments

‘UK’ Birth trauma report has evidence of a crisis only in England

johnrobertson834

BY stewartb The report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) in the UK Parliament on birth trauma published today does of course address a really important topic. It merits and has received a lot of attention from the mainstream media: BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning gave it a lot of attention. My interest – as in the main blog post – is in the nature of the APPG’s process – its research scope, its evidence base and the nature of its recommendations. After listening to media reports and skimming through the final report, the following observation seem worth … Continue reading ‘UK’ Birth trauma report has evidence of a crisis only in England

2 Comments

Conservative minister apologises for birth trauma scandal in England

johnrobertson834

From the Guardian today: Minister apologises to women affected by birth trauma after UK inquiry. Inquiry hears ‘harrowing’ testimonies and finds postcode lottery for quality of maternity care. A health minister has apologised to women affected by birth trauma after a parliamentary inquiry that heard “harrowing” testimonies from more than 1,300 women about giving birth found a “postcode lottery” for maternity care. The women’s health minister, Maria Caulfield, on Monday acknowledged ministers had got the approach to maternity services wrong for a long time. A UK inquiry but only the minister covering NHS England is asked and no mention of … Continue reading Conservative minister apologises for birth trauma scandal in England

2 Comments

Why there have been no whooping cough deaths in Scotland – 96% vaccine update

johnrobertson834

By stewartb My suspicion – because I’ve never come across anything about whooping cough in the mainstream media that supposedly ‘serves’ Scotland – is that there may well be a favourable story on Scotland’s health services somewhere in the above from Sky News today and indeed there is! From Public Health Scotland on 26 March 2024 (‘Childhood immunisation statistics Scotland – Quarter and year ending 31 December 2023’) , we learn that the vaccination for pertussis, or whooping cough since October 2017, has been ‘part of the combined 6-in-1 vaccine, consisting of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib and Hepatitis B. A booster dose … Continue reading Why there have been no whooping cough deaths in Scotland – 96% vaccine update

14 Comments

Medicine shortages – a Scottish solution

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson From the Guardian today, not Anglocentric, for once: Drug shortages in England are now at such critical levels that patients are at risk of immediate harm and even death, pharmacists have warned. The situation is so serious that pharmacists increasingly have to issue “owings” to patients – telling someone that only part of their prescription can be dispensed and asking them to come back for the rest of it later, once the pharmacist has sourced the remainder. https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/may/09/medicine-shortages-in-england-beyond-critical-pharmacists-warn The above makes no mention of Scotland. Searching for reports of shortages in Scotland gets the same story of shortages … Continue reading Medicine shortages – a Scottish solution

Leave a comment

Infected blood scandal key files were shredded by panicked Labour Government – just another reason why Scots can never trust Labour again

johnrobertson834

In the Guardian today: Revealed: key files shredded as UK government panic grew over infected blood deaths lawsuit. Lost documents prevented victims from finding out the truth, official inquiry told. Several batches of files involving the work of a blood safety advisory committee were shredded as the government faced the threat of legal action, documents show. Patients who were given contaminated blood when they were children have also told the infected blood inquiry how their hospital medical files were destroyed or initially withheld. The scheme to import blood from US prisoners was approved in the UK in August 1976. The UK Government … Continue reading Infected blood scandal key files were shredded by panicked Labour Government – just another reason why Scots can never trust Labour again

5 Comments

Prescription charges up to nearly £10 per item in England and Scottish Labour will not protect Scots from that

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson Thanks again to Dottie for alerting me to this. in the Manchester Evening News tonight, the above table and: Millions of NHS patients in England will face higher medicinal costs from next week. The cost of a single NHS prescription will go up to almost £10, following an increase of 25p this year to £9.90. This is an increase of around 2.5 per cent, which is below the rate of inflation, but the increase could still make life more difficult for people on low fixed incomes. https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/cost-of-living/full-list-new-nhs-prescription-29064519 Never mind Labour will sort this out and protect the vulnerable … Continue reading Prescription charges up to nearly £10 per item in England and Scottish Labour will not protect Scots from that