Tag: healthcare

5 Comments

No health board puts accessibility ahead of safety even when you ‘get tae Larbert!’

johnrobertson834

When the new, massive, Forth Valley Royal Hospital was built around two miles out Falkirk town centre, there were endless complaints about access but in the end safety came first and the built it more than 3 miles and upwind of the nearest raw sewage treatment works near Grangemouth. If you were to put the hospital at the centre of the population for maximum access you’d put it on the empty land between Falkirk and Grangemouth, near where the Falkirk Stadium is and due-west, downwind of the Dalderse sewage works. They didn’t. There’s no report of the planning groups deliberately … Continue reading No health board puts accessibility ahead of safety even when you ‘get tae Larbert!’

Leave a comment

Corridor care is much less common in Scotland but the Glasgow Times exploits one case to mislead and to scare you

johnrobertson834

In March 2026, ITV News made it very clear, above, just how rare corridor care in Scotland was, in comparison with other parts of the UK – 4 times as common in Wales, nearly 4 times in Northern Ireland, and nearly 3 times as common across England. Today, the Glasgow Times tries to exploit a single case in an effort to mislead its readers as to the true situation and to damage trust in local hospitals: They are careful not to refer to the ITV report, nor these facts: From ITV News 16 March 2026, based on their own survey: A special … Continue reading Corridor care is much less common in Scotland but the Glasgow Times exploits one case to mislead and to scare you

Leave a comment

Corridor Care – Another Scottish Labour MP toadies to Westminster with discredited methods and hides far higher level in England and Wales

johnrobertson834

In the Ayr Advertiser today: Ayrshire MP Irene Campbell has highlighted concerns about Crosshouse Hospital during a Parliamentary debate on corridor care. The North Ayrshire & Arran Labour MP told the Commons: “I would just like to highlight that the Scottish Government do not record or publish any statistics on the number of patients being treated in corridors. However, we know that it happens. . “Crosshouse Hospital, which serves my constituency, was recorded in January as having one of Scotland’s most under-pressure emergency departments. It exceeded capacity by 50 per cent in December, revealing corridor care conditions in the hospital. Does … Continue reading Corridor Care – Another Scottish Labour MP toadies to Westminster with discredited methods and hides far higher level in England and Wales

1 Comment

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?

johnrobertson834

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?

3 Comments

Scotland’s pharmacy scheme ‘the model for England’ may reduce shortages problems

johnrobertson834

In the Guardian today: Britons [sic] are facing some of the “most severe” shortages of NHS medicines on record including common painkillers, epilepsy drugs and HRT, health leaders have warned, even forcing some patients with impaired digestive systems to skip meals. The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has warned that medicine shortages pose a “serious risk to patient safety”. The Royal College of GPs has also raised concerns about the impact medicine shortages have on patients, GPs and pharmacists. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/18/nhs-patients-face-worst-drug-shortages-on-record-say-pharmacists-and-gps BBC Breakfast 29 May 2026 told us the Scottish Government has long put in place a better model for pharmacies, repeatedly covered here but never in the … Continue reading Scotland’s pharmacy scheme ‘the model for England’ may reduce shortages problems

4 Comments

On by-election day BBC Scotland ask Scottish Government to comment on a survey of Scottish radiology heads’ opinions despite hard evidence of diagnostic waits plummeting and to far below those in NHS England

johnrobertson834

for patients across Scotland, according to the Royal College of Radiologists. 60% of cancer centre and radiology department leaders who responded to their report said that staff shortages are causing patients’ conditions to worsen. The president of the Royal College said the findings should be causing alarm bells. The above story is another direct feed to Reporting Scotland, not being covered in greater detail elsewhere, not even on the BBC Scotland website. The Health Secretary is contacted and expected to respond to what is a partial, self-selecting, survey of opinion and not actual performance statistics. Here are some facts: 1. … Continue reading On by-election day BBC Scotland ask Scottish Government to comment on a survey of Scottish radiology heads’ opinions despite hard evidence of diagnostic waits plummeting and to far below those in NHS England

Leave a comment

Corridor care still shocking 3 times more common in NHS England than in NHS Scotland almost two years into this Labour government

johnrobertson834

BBC Breakfast had the above, this morning based on another RCEM survey, in NHS England. It seems to reinforce ITV’s own survey findings in March (below) and to remind us of the very different picture in NHS Scotland, a picture not being used by the media operating in Scotland. From ITV News at 6.30pm March 16th 2026, based on their own survey, the above graphic: A special report on the corridor care crisis in Wales where it appears to be more common than in anywhere else in the UK. 89 000 treated in corridors in one health trust. and on their website: … Continue reading Corridor care still shocking 3 times more common in NHS England than in NHS Scotland almost two years into this Labour government

Leave a comment

Scotland’s pharmacy scheme ‘the model for England’ – to hear about Scotland watch BBC UK

johnrobertson834

for England’s Pharmacy First BBC Breakfast this morning telling us the Scottish Government has long put in place a better model for pharmacies, repeatedly covered here but never in the MSM operating in Scotland. What’s it all about? In the Chemist and Druggist of April 10th 2024 Pharmacists in hospital, and in community pharmacies in Scotland, already routinely alter prescriptions for the benefit of patients. https://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/CD138095/One-slight-alteration-could-avert-a-crisis-as-medicine-shortages-deepen In the same journal in August that year: Scotland’s model for pharmacy offers lessons for England’s future As pharmacies in Scotland receive renewed government backing, Steve Anderson takes a look at the future of English pharmacy … Continue reading Scotland’s pharmacy scheme ‘the model for England’ – to hear about Scotland watch BBC UK

2 Comments

434 ‘UK’ nurses and midwives who should have been banned and have worked for last 12 years are almost certainly not in Scotland – here’s how I know

johnrobertson834

In the Guardian today: Nurses and midwives who should have been banned from treating patients have practised over the last 12 years because of “potentially dangerous” failings by a medical regulator. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has admitted that its “completely and utterly unacceptable” mistakes meant it failed to protect the public from about 15 professionals whom it should have banned from ever working in healthcare in the UK because they had broken the law. The nurses and midwives told the NMC about their criminal convictions when they applied to join or stay on the regulator’s register, which they need to … Continue reading 434 ‘UK’ nurses and midwives who should have been banned and have worked for last 12 years are almost certainly not in Scotland – here’s how I know

Leave a comment

NHS England has 23% fewer beds and too high occupancy and we know how that turns out in a pandemic

johnrobertson834

From Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information (quarterly) Quarter ending 31 December 2025 published today: There were on average 13,550 available staffed beds per day for all acute specialties in the quarter ending 31 December 2025 – a 0.1% decrease compared to the same quarter in the previous year. An available staffed bed is a bed which is resourced for inpatient or day case care. Of these, 9,604 (71%) were for medical specialties and 3,946 (29%) were for surgical specialties. These percentages are unchanged from the same quarter in 2024. For all acute specialties in the quarter ending 31 … Continue reading NHS England has 23% fewer beds and too high occupancy and we know how that turns out in a pandemic