Tag: healthcare

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Free prescription costs NOT increasing in real terms, saving money for taxpayer and saved thousands in the pandemic

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By Professor John Robertson Parroting New Labour and revealing a complete ignorance of matters that the public should hear of – in the Sunday Post, surely not. I’ll deal with how the cost is not climbing, how universal benefits save money and how they saved lives in the pandemic. Scotland’s free prescription costs are static in line with inflation despite a 29% increase in those over 75, over 10 years From Public Health Scotland, yesterday: The total (net) cost for dispensing items and providing services in 2023/24 was £1.62 billion, increasing by 6.5% from £1.52 billion in 2022/23. This follows a period … Continue reading Free prescription costs NOT increasing in real terms, saving money for taxpayer and saved thousands in the pandemic

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Scottish NHS dentist access – 95% registered and shocking 21% better than UK but they don’t want you to know that

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By Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland today, all day: Six Scottish council areas are “dental deserts” with no practices able to take on new adult NHS patients within three months, BBC News research has found. Just one in every four dental practices in Scotland said they could offer NHS appointments to new patients within that timeframe. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gd9023018o This was another self-selecting shoddy research project with findings based on ‘those responding’ Not in the report: From Public Health Scotland in August 2024: 5,176,332 people were registered with an NHS dentist as at 30 June 2024 (94.5% of the Scottish population). 621,767 extensive clinical examinations … Continue reading Scottish NHS dentist access – 95% registered and shocking 21% better than UK but they don’t want you to know that

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THREE times as many wait more than 12 hours in English and Welsh A&E departments

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By Professor John Robertson: Today, the Express is headlining – Scots dying as A&E crisis worsens every day based on the weekly 4 hour waits for week ending 6 October. A simple look at the above graph is clear – post-pandemic with increasing numbers (122 000 in April 2022 to 143 000 in May 2024) attending, a dramatic increase in those waiting beyond target times but since January 2022, a clear stabilisation and even fall from that peak with significantly fewer waiting over 12 hours in December 2024 (42 000) than in December 2022 (49 000) Missing from the Express story … Continue reading THREE times as many wait more than 12 hours in English and Welsh A&E departments

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The whole agency locum question is a reflection of a real crisis in the Welsh NHS workforce!

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stewartb ‘BBC Scotland is, undoubtedly, using a Scottish psychiatrist as part of its continuous attritional narrative, ‘that Scots are incapable of running things for themselves’. I’m inclined to check out – for comparison and useful learning – how capable the British Labour Party, long in government in Cardiff, have proven itself to be in running NHS Wales. After all, we in Scotland need to know what might be ahead of us in 2026! For example, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) released its latest NHS Wales Workforce Trends Report (as at 31 March 2023) on July 25, 2024 – see https://heiw.nhs.wales/news/heiw-releases-latest-nhs-wales-workforce-trends-report/ . Here are some … Continue reading The whole agency locum question is a reflection of a real crisis in the Welsh NHS workforce!

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Pharmacists in England look to Scotland

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By Professor John Robertson OBA The Guardian today: Pharmacy closures in England threaten plan to use them instead of GPs for some care There’s no mention of Scotland, of course. The Herald and the Glasgow Times are just repeating the the same story with no mention of Scotland. From May 2023, here’s why: Scotland scheme ‘more patient-focused’ Pharmacists in England look to Scotland, where a scheme called Pharmacy First includes a contract between the sector and the Scottish government setting out what services are expected, with payment for every consultation. These cover minor ailments and illnesses, some of which might once have … Continue reading Pharmacists in England look to Scotland

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Oxford research proves Jackie Baillie’s support for UK Labour’s privatised health strategy will lead to ‘worse patient care’

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By Professor John Robertson In the National today: Jackie Baillie has suggested the Scottish Government should follow Wes Streeting’s plans for heavier involvement of the private sector in the NHS. It comes after Streeting promised to go further than Tony Blair in making use of the private sector to ease NHS pressures. https://x.com/ScotNational/status/1810259280970268917 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 Health. … Continue reading Oxford research proves Jackie Baillie’s support for UK Labour’s privatised health strategy will lead to ‘worse patient care’

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Deadly cancer treatment delays significantly less common in NHS Scotland

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By Professor John Robertson Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this: In the Guardian, today: The first report, by Cancer Research UK, found that 382,000 cancer patients in England were not treated on time since 2015. The charity investigated how many patients had begun treatment 62 days or longer after being urgently referred for suspected cancer. The national NHS target – under which at least 85% of people should start treatment within 62 days – was last met in December 2015. For some reason, the actual figure for those starting treatment on time is not quoted. For the period 1 October … Continue reading Deadly cancer treatment delays significantly less common in NHS Scotland

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Polly Toynbee tries to include Scotland in the UK’s climbing infant deaths as they fall here

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By Professor John Robertson In the Guardian on Friday, that supposedly leftist, denier of Scotland’s right to independence, Polly Toynbee, had: The long-term trend in infant deaths has been downwards, as you would expect. But not recently in the UK. The Nuffield Foundation reported in 2021 that Britain’s rate of infant deaths was 30% above the median across EU countries. According to OECD data, the UK ranks 30th out of 48 countries for infant deaths.  The facts for England: There were 3.9 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, and 10 child deaths per 100,000 population; higher than in 2021 (3.7 and 8, respectively). The … Continue reading Polly Toynbee tries to include Scotland in the UK’s climbing infant deaths as they fall here

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Scottish Government invests to reap benefits of Hospital at Home for older people

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From the Scottish Government, today: The Scottish Government is continuing to invest in Hospital at Home for Older People with £3.6 million allocated for 2024/25, bringing total funding allocation for the initiative to over £15 million since 2020. Recent statistics released by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) show that last year the Hospital at Home service for Older People, which provides a safe, alternative to being admitted to an acute hospital, exceeded targets in several key areas between April 2023 and March 2024, including: Why is this being done? From research by the British Geriatric Society in 2023: The research found … Continue reading Scottish Government invests to reap benefits of Hospital at Home for older people

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Has Labour in Scotland now shifted its stance on NHS use of private healthcare?

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As ‘Investors eye opportunities in Labour pledge to boost private health sector’ has Labour in Scotland now shifted its stance on NHS use of private healthcare? By stewartb We know that a key plank in the Labour Party’s plans for the NHS in England should it win the upcoming General Election is to increase the use of supposed spare capacity in the private healthcare sector as the solution to stubbornly long waiting lists for hospital treatment. It seems, at least from the tone of BBC and mainstream media reporting, that the ‘Overton Window’ – the window of discourse that frames the range … Continue reading Has Labour in Scotland now shifted its stance on NHS use of private healthcare?