Tag: health

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Students in England ‘mis-sold’ loans as Nurse students there owe £77k and those in Scotland get a £10k bursary – what effect might that have on training numbers?

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BBC UK today has: Comparing student loan repayments to phone contracts or cinema tickets “amounted to mis-selling” by government, a group of MPs has said. In a new report, the Treasury Committee also said students were not told clearly enough loan terms could change retrospectively, and called for a U-turn on the decision to freeze the income threshold at which some graduates start repaying their loans. The student loan saga has run for years in England but rarely surfaces in Scotland. Here’s why: Let’s take the situation in nurse education. The Guardian in January 2026 had: Helen Lambert borrowed £57,000 … Continue reading Students in England ‘mis-sold’ loans as Nurse students there owe £77k and those in Scotland get a £10k bursary – what effect might that have on training numbers?

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NHS Scotland cancer treatment service now performing better than before pandemic and ahead of NHS England

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STV giving the 6th biggest, ie teeny, party, the Lib Dems, a platform for another of their attempts to mislead. No health service anywhere, meets waiting time targets like those the NHS across the UK imposes on itself – 95% on time. Anywhere I’ve read more on targets, in Europe and in North America or in Australia and New Zealand, I find the targets seen as aspirational and failure to hit them of little concern to media or opposition politicians. Here’s what the Lib Dems and STV are missing: NHS Scotland cancer treatment facing massive increase in referrals since pandemic … Continue reading NHS Scotland cancer treatment service now performing better than before pandemic and ahead of NHS England

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How have we known for at least a decade that Scotland’s maternity services were not troubled like those in NHS England? More than three times per head, the cost of settling negligence lawsuits in NHS England

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In the Guardian 19 February 2026, the above and: The NHS will have to spend more money settling lawsuits involving negligence during childbirth after a supreme court ruling that lawyers said puts right a “historic injustice”. The court ruled on Wednesday that children in England who suffer catastrophic injuries while they are being born can claim damages for future earnings they would otherwise have had. The ruling on “lost years damages” means that children whose life expectancy is shortened can recover compensation for being unable to work. It comes amid mounting concern at the rising cost of medical negligence to the NHS in England – its liabilities have … Continue reading How have we known for at least a decade that Scotland’s maternity services were not troubled like those in NHS England? More than three times per head, the cost of settling negligence lawsuits in NHS England

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Dare to be different on smart phones, Scotland – since they were first introduced – teenage sex, pregnancy rates, crime, violence, alcohol and drugs all down!

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21 years ago I read the above book by Steven Johnson so it was with delight that I received an email today from ‘scunhur’ making the case for smart phones making you smart, By ‘scunhur’: Imagine these Scottish news headlines: SEXUAL ACTIVITY DOWN IN TEENAGERS TEENAGE PREGNANCY RATES DOWN BY TWO THIRDS DECLINE IN TEENAGE CRIME DECLINE IN TEENAGE VIOLENCE STEEP REDUCTION IN TEENAGE ALCOHOL INTAKE REDUCTION IN TEENAGE DRUG USAGE It’s all true (well…see 6.): https://researchonline.gcu.ac.uk/en/publications/trends-in-the-sexual-behaviour-of-15-year-olds-in-scotland-2002-1/.  Since this report it has become harder to obtain useful information due to unethical Government and research behaviour https://www.cypcs.org.uk/news-and-stories/statement-commissioner-raises-concerns-with-scottish-government-about-rights-impact-of-health-and-wellbeing-survey/ and https://www.enlighten.scot/ethical-concerns-of-the-health-wellbeing-census/ https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/teenage-pregnancies/teenage-pregnancies-year-of-conception-ending-31-december-2023/  There is a small uptick during … Continue reading Dare to be different on smart phones, Scotland – since they were first introduced – teenage sex, pregnancy rates, crime, violence, alcohol and drugs all down!

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NHS Scotland’s greater spending, some independence, better staffing and care integration will offset some of the 20 000 avoidable deaths Starmer offers us in his US deal

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In the Guardian today: The NHS will have to divert £45bn from essential services to pay for new medicines under the terms of the UK-US trade deal agreed last December, leading to more than 200,000 avoidable deaths [229 000] of patients, analysis has found. Ministers have defended the deal as a way of helping British drug exports to the US avoid tariffs, and giving patients in England access to potentially life-extending drugs that would otherwise be denied. But they have been accused of caving in to US demands to spend billions of pounds a year extra on drugs supplied to the NHS … Continue reading NHS Scotland’s greater spending, some independence, better staffing and care integration will offset some of the 20 000 avoidable deaths Starmer offers us in his US deal

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NHS Scotland to be hammered for hundreds of millions in US drug deal Scotland had no say in

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In the Guardian today something we, well stewartb, warned was coming. The NHS across the UK will have to divert £45bn from essential services to pay for the trade ‘deal’ the UK Labour Government has just done with big pharma in the US. Scotland’s share, unavoidably as the deal is done by the UK Government alone, will cost NHS Scotland around 8% of that or £360 million. In April 2026, stewartb, warned this was coming and NHS Scotland would just have to meet the cost from its finite budget unless the UK Government did something. stewartb Seems like another example … Continue reading NHS Scotland to be hammered for hundreds of millions in US drug deal Scotland had no say in

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NHS Scotland cancer treatment facing massive increase in referrals since pandemic yet performing better than then and saving thousands who would have been delayed in NHS England

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From Cancer waiting times 1 January to 31 March 2026 published today: There were 4,668 eligible referrals where the 62-day standard applied, a decrease of 2.7% from the previous quarter, but an increase of 25.4% from the quarter ending 31 December 2019, the last full quarter pre‑pandemic. 72.2% of patients started treatment within 62 days, compared with 72.6% in the previous quarter. There were 7,225 eligible referrals where the 31-day standard applied, a decrease of 2.0% from the previous quarter, but an increase of 13.1% from the quarter ending 31 December 2019. 94.5% of patients started treatment within 31 days, … Continue reading NHS Scotland cancer treatment facing massive increase in referrals since pandemic yet performing better than then and saving thousands who would have been delayed in NHS England

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Will the Scottish Labour MPs protest the tax breaks for the ‘shameful’ Palantir NHS England contracts, meaning you and I pay at least three times the rate and which the SNP already rejected two years ago?

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From Open Democracy yesterday: Palantir is benefiting from millions of pounds of tax deductions that allow it to pay very little corporate tax in the United Kingdom despite soaring profits, an investigation by openDemocracy reveals. The controversial tech firm has won at least £670m in UK public contracts in recent years, which have helped to make the country its second-largest market by revenue after the United States, where it is headquartered. Yet despite accounting for 10% of the company’s global revenue last year, its tax payments in the UK amounted to less than 5% of its total global cash tax spend, according … Continue reading Will the Scottish Labour MPs protest the tax breaks for the ‘shameful’ Palantir NHS England contracts, meaning you and I pay at least three times the rate and which the SNP already rejected two years ago?

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Scotland’s football decline attributed by researchers to loss of balance, rhythm, coordination, agility, and partner awareness in years after Scottish country dancing faded from school curriculum

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It’s been suggested by leading Ayrshire academic dancer, Gavin Ochiltree, that: ‘Scotland’s football went backwards when Scottish country/highland dancing was done away with in schools. Balance and fleetness of foot were what gave us the edge when we had decent Scottish football teams.’ Is there evidence to support this? Scottish country dancing involves precise footwork, quick changes of direction, balance, rhythm, coordination, agility, and partner awareness in a group setting. These overlap with football demands (dribbling, turning, stability, spatial awareness). Highland dancing emphasizes explosive power, balance, and control. Dance training (including ballet or similar) is used by some modern athletes … Continue reading Scotland’s football decline attributed by researchers to loss of balance, rhythm, coordination, agility, and partner awareness in years after Scottish country dancing faded from school curriculum

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Scotland’s ambulances between 2 and 3 tines faster thousands of times but Daily Record finds one case to report

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There are some minor problems in comparing the data for England and Scotland but you can be sure that were they to favour the former, they’d be widely reported. Here’s why they’re not: In January 2024, BBC UK made direct comparison possible: Via the BBC’s How long do patients wait for an ambulance? app, we can confirm that the average waiting time for a Scottish ambulance was 8 min and 46 secs: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59549800 Also, from BBC UK on 14 December 2023: Average response times of more than 38 minutes for category two emergency calls such as heart attacks and strokes – above the target time … Continue reading Scotland’s ambulances between 2 and 3 tines faster thousands of times but Daily Record finds one case to report