Tag: health

1 Comment

Scotland does TWICE the UK rate of heart transplants per capita, thanks to additional financial support from the SNP government but the UK does lag far behind rest of Europe

johnrobertson834

From BBC Health two days ago, the above and: The UK used to be a world leader in the field – but has fallen behind major Western nations. The number of heart and lung transplants the NHS carries out each year has not increased in three decades. BBC File on 4 Investigates has found that technology is outdated, there is a lack of investment and senior surgeons are leaving – while patients point to issues with ongoing care. and: While the number of organs donated in the UK is equal to, or better than, much of other parts of Europe … Continue reading Scotland does TWICE the UK rate of heart transplants per capita, thanks to additional financial support from the SNP government but the UK does lag far behind rest of Europe

1 Comment

The Health Secretary in England says the NHS is ‘on the road to recovery’ but two think tanks reveal it’s nowhere near catching NHS Scotland

johnrobertson834

By stewartb The health think tank, the Kings Fund in collaboration the Nuffield Trust has just published a report on public satisfaction in 2025 with the NHS and social care across the UK. It is based on British Social Attitudes Survey research. The report notes: ‘The British Social Attitudes Survey (BSA) is a ‘gold standard’, nationally representative survey that uses a robust methodology to explore public views on what it is like to live in Britain and how respondents think the country is run.’ (See https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/2026-03/public-satisfaction-with-the-nhs-and-social-care-in-2025.pdf ) The research provides views on the NHS overall and on selected NHS services viz. general practice, … Continue reading The Health Secretary in England says the NHS is ‘on the road to recovery’ but two think tanks reveal it’s nowhere near catching NHS Scotland

4 Comments

Major survey today reveals Scots TWICE as satisfied with A&E and dentistry and 25% more satisfied with NHS overall than in other parts of UK- ‘Scottish’ media is all over this – kidding!

johnrobertson834

Many thanks to NHS FOR YES! for alerting me to this. Today in the Guardian: Public satisfaction with the NHS has risen for the first time since 2019, but people remain deeply frustrated with stubbornly long waits to receive GP, A&E or hospital care. The proportion of voters in Britain satisfied with the way the NHS runs has increased from the record low of 21% seen last year to 26%. At the same time dissatisfaction with the health service fell 8% – the biggest drop since 1998 – although it remains high at 51%. Wes Streeting hailed the findings as proof that … Continue reading Major survey today reveals Scots TWICE as satisfied with A&E and dentistry and 25% more satisfied with NHS overall than in other parts of UK- ‘Scottish’ media is all over this – kidding!

1 Comment

As even BBC Scotland report that cancer deaths ‘fall to lowest rate on record’, only 4 out of 26 types were worsened by pandemic factors but Daily Express and opposition try to politicise and to mislead you

johnrobertson834

BBC Scotland on 27th January 2026, telling a different story from that in the Express, two months later The Daily Express today platforming the opposition parties to blame the Scottish Government for falling cancer survival rates, in some cancers, conceals the over-arching truth in the Public Health Scotland report1 that there were clear improvements in other (often more common) cancers. These results should be seen within the context of a longer falling trend to record-low overall cancer mortality risk in Scotland. The risk of dying from cancer fell by 12.1% over the past decade (compared with 2015), reaching 288.9 per … Continue reading As even BBC Scotland report that cancer deaths ‘fall to lowest rate on record’, only 4 out of 26 types were worsened by pandemic factors but Daily Express and opposition try to politicise and to mislead you

2 Comments

Why does an English hospital ‘indefensibly’ delaying news of a deadly Meningitis outbreak causing loss of limbs, blindness and brain injury NOT lead to calls for a health secretary or anyone to resign when in Scotland keeping details of one patient’s possible non-deadly infection confidential, did?

johnrobertson834

Today with a photo of a nurse, BBC Health reports, the above and: The NHS waited two days before raising the alarm about the meningitis outbreak, the BBC has learnt. The UK Health Security Agency was first alerted to a case by the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital, in Margate, on the afternoon of Friday 13 March. That patient arrived in hospital two days earlier but there was a delay in reporting to health officials – despite there being a legal requirement for cases to be reported immediately. It meant there was a delay in tracing close contacts of … Continue reading Why does an English hospital ‘indefensibly’ delaying news of a deadly Meningitis outbreak causing loss of limbs, blindness and brain injury NOT lead to calls for a health secretary or anyone to resign when in Scotland keeping details of one patient’s possible non-deadly infection confidential, did?

3 Comments

Fife Labour-led unionist coalition council agree storage of highly dangerous nuclear waste from rotting subs only one mile away and upwind of houses

johnrobertson834

From Dunfermline Press yesterday: Fife Council have given the green light to Babcock for a new warehouse between docks two and three for “decommissioning operations”. The large industrial building – an ‘intermediate waste storage facility’ – will be 27 metres long and up to 20 metres in height with roller doors and security fencing. Work is currently taking place at the dockyard to cut up and dismantle HMS Swiftsure, one of seven old nuclear subs that have been laid up in Rosyth for decades. https://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/25961651.fife-council-approve-babcock-plan-waste-storage-building/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawQvmyZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEedr4Y86dZqbFLN8ZPRPAHMXVauAhy790Wo8bql86UYN4N6WhsXUMuDezHP-4_aem_cd9jEIv8K7pQaP0WcFlCCQ Who runs Fife Council? 18 Labour, 13 Lib Dems and 7 Cons have colluded to outnumber the SNP, … Continue reading Fife Labour-led unionist coalition council agree storage of highly dangerous nuclear waste from rotting subs only one mile away and upwind of houses

7 Comments

How can there be ‘home care facing catastrophic breakdown’ in a system which actually increased the number of places available last year? 

johnrobertson834

Today, the Herald has: Home caring services are heading towards a “catastrophic breakdown”, Scottish ministers have been told as industry leaders warn the funding deficit is becoming uncontrollable. Concerns over the sustainability of social care in Scotland have been growing in recent years, with local government body Cosla warning £750 million is needed just to stabilise the vital industry. Is there hard evidence for this claim? From Care home statistics for Scotland Support and services funded by local authorities in Scotland 2024/2025 published yesterday: During 2024/25 there were an estimated 49,605 people who resided in a care home and were fully or partially … Continue reading How can there be ‘home care facing catastrophic breakdown’ in a system which actually increased the number of places available last year? 

1 Comment

Understanding Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 2 – How Jeanne Freeman’s, unique in the UK, quick action on vaccines saved thousands of lives

johnrobertson834

In BBC Scotland’s retrospective comment on Jeanne Freeman’s time as Health Secretary, they write: Freeman stood beside Sturgeon in press conferences throughout the next year. There would be praise for their calm stewardship and she was there at the start of the vaccine roll-out. But the decision to discharge elderly hospital patients to care homes during the first few weeks of the pandemic without a requirement for a negative test was one which hung over Freeman for the rest of her time in politics and beyond. The worst mortality rates were later seen within care homes as the virus spread among … Continue reading Understanding Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 2 – How Jeanne Freeman’s, unique in the UK, quick action on vaccines saved thousands of lives

Leave a comment

Understanding Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 1 – In the murderous first phase of the pandemic, they were 21% lower than in England & Wales

johnrobertson834

In the Guardian 19th July 2020, six months after Boris Johnson’s incompetence and callousness allowed the virus free access t the UK and just over three months since the SNP Government got devolved authority for the pandemic tactics, here is what happened to care home residents. In a piece broadly sympathetic to the First Minister and Scotland’s Covid strategy, the Guardian writers seemed to feel the need for ‘balance’ and to use anything they can find even if it’s wrong. Truth, fairness and accuracy are what readers need. You wouldn’t expect to have balance on a piece about the health … Continue reading Understanding Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 1 – In the murderous first phase of the pandemic, they were 21% lower than in England & Wales

5 Comments

Why did cancer mortality drop in the pandemic years of 2021 and 2022 if the Daily Record’s contrary claims are true?

johnrobertson834

The Daily Record today, has: Cancelled cancer appointments during Covid led to ‘loss of life in Scotland’ – Pausing bowel cancer screening appointments in Scotland during Covid-19 led to missed and late diagnoses, longer waits for colorectal cancer treatment and ultimately loss of life, an inquiry heard. The UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry’ has heard how millions of people had non-urgent operations cancelled during the pandemic. The claim comes from, as far as I can see, no actual figures, but just the views of the Chair, Baroness Heather Hallett when she said: The lack of screening for colorectal cancer, for example, led to missed and … Continue reading Why did cancer mortality drop in the pandemic years of 2021 and 2022 if the Daily Record’s contrary claims are true?