Tag: healthcare

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Scotland has 3 322 district nurses and England has shockingly only 4 000 for more than TEN TIMES the population

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UK Government plans to move more NHS England care into the community and out of hospitals won’t be achievable with far fewer district nurses than in Scotland By stewartb Another contrast in favour of Scotland’s healthcare system which will receive no MSM media attention and candidly, little or acknowledgement either from the relevant trade union, concerns District Nursing. Source: Nufffield Trust (May 31, 2025) 1 in 4 district nurses leave NHS – fix district nursing or risk jeopardising plans to shift care closer to home, warns think tank.‘ (Typical of England-based health think tanks, one has to read into their reports … Continue reading Scotland has 3 322 district nurses and England has shockingly only 4 000 for more than TEN TIMES the population

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How can midwives be at ‘breaking point’ with 15% more than NHS England and far fewer (zero) maternity units in crisis

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Professor John Robertson OBA Remember the days, less than 20 years ago, when corporate media like the Herald would only have trade unions on the front page to suggest they were selfish, overpaid, dishonest, a threat to the economy, the nation even. These days, they’re ‘useful idiots‘ to be exploited in the campaign for Labour in the next Holyrood election. I have 1 bairn (born in Falkirk) and three weans (born in Irvine). The midwives were all wonderful. One of the consultants less so. I’m not doubting they feel under pressure but: By 2024, NHS Scotland had 2 581 midwives, … Continue reading How can midwives be at ‘breaking point’ with 15% more than NHS England and far fewer (zero) maternity units in crisis

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There is no hospital in Scotland you need fear attending but in England, 31 you might be wary of and 5 you really need to stay away from

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Professor John Robertson OBA Once again Public Health Scotland publish figures showing that all of Scotland’s hospitals are operating with the same high safety levels as each other. In the above chart we can see that all bar one, from the smaller hospitals on the left, to the giant Queen Elisabeth University Hospital on the right, no hospitals had a significantly higher standardised mortality ratio than the national average. From Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios July 2024 to June 2025, published yesterday, the above graph and: For the period July 2024 to June 2025: HSMR is a risk-adjusted hospital mortality measure … Continue reading There is no hospital in Scotland you need fear attending but in England, 31 you might be wary of and 5 you really need to stay away from

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99% of drug and alcohol patients seen in 3 weeks, 99% of children and adolescents with mental health problems seen on time and 98% of cancer patients begin treatment within 31 days but local Labour MP prefers you don’t know that

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being missed. Professor John Robertson OBA UK Labour’s Elaine Stewart outside her local hospital to shout about supposed failures, demoralising passing staff again and being carefully selective about what locals should know. There are two cancer treatment targets. The 62-day standard states that 95% of eligible patients should wait no longer than 62 days from urgent suspicion of cancer referral to first cancer treatment.  Only one Scottish NHS board meets that target. This is the longer of the two targets presumably for good reason. The shorter target, the 31-day standard, states that 95% of eligible patients should wait no longer … Continue reading 99% of drug and alcohol patients seen in 3 weeks, 99% of children and adolescents with mental health problems seen on time and 98% of cancer patients begin treatment within 31 days but local Labour MP prefers you don’t know that

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Disgusting Daily Record politicises one baby death to malign Scotland’s maternity service, the best in Britain

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Professor John Robertson OBA The Record today with another single case of supposed NHS failure then generalised and politicised to mislead readers and viewers. This representation of Scotland’s maternity services, clearly politicising a tragic issue with disinformation for political purposes, ie weakening the SNP vote in 2026, is disgusting. It could not be more inaccurate. Stillbirth and Neonatal Mortality First, the stillbirth rate in Scotland, England and Wales is 3.5 per 1 000 total births, 3.8 and 4.4(!).1, 2 Germany is 3.7. This reflects Scotland’s lower child poverty, more social housing, free prescriptions, lower rents and cleaner hospitals after Nicola Sturgeon kept … Continue reading Disgusting Daily Record politicises one baby death to malign Scotland’s maternity service, the best in Britain

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NHS Scotland performance likely to be even further ahead as five examples of cover-up and distortion by NHS England managers is revealed

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stewartb making this comment below, yesterday, reminded of how previously, he, I and others have revealed the trickery used by NHS England, operating in a Tory/competitive/managerialist culture, contrary to the public service model still operating in Scotland, have found ways to massage their published statistics. When comparing statistics on long periods spent in A&E in England with those in Scotland, it is always important to check the exact nature of the metric being used. For NHS Scotland, it is always likely to be time spent since arrival up to admission, discharge or transfer. For NHS England the metric in use could be … Continue reading NHS Scotland performance likely to be even further ahead as five examples of cover-up and distortion by NHS England managers is revealed

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How NHS Scotland will not be ‘decimated’ by private equity because the SNP oversight ‘of devolved, generous funding enables a “collectivist” approach with less private penetration.’

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks once more to Dottie for alerting us to this. From The Lowdown, 2 September 2025, the above and: In late August the release of a report by US senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn) on the destruction of hospitals in his home state of Connecticut, and across the US by private equity companies highlights once again the negative effect of this form of investment.  The report documented what happened when three Connecticut hospitals—Waterbury Hospital, Rockville General, and Manchester Memorial—were bought by Prospect Medical Holdings, a company that since 2010 had been owned by private equity firm Leonard Green & … Continue reading How NHS Scotland will not be ‘decimated’ by private equity because the SNP oversight ‘of devolved, generous funding enables a “collectivist” approach with less private penetration.’

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NHS England more than 100 times, 10 times per head, more privatised than NHS Scotland

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in England were delivered by private hospitals and clinics in the last 12 months – that’s almost 500 000 higher than the previous year. The Health Secretary….[was not criticised for the obvious evidence of failures in NHS England.] Professor John Robertson OBA The figure, 6.15 million comes from the private sector – David Hare, Independent Healthcare Providers Network. Scotland, you ask? From Grok AI: NHS Scotland’s policy prioritizes public sector delivery for elective care, with limited reliance on the independent (private) sector compared to other UK nations. Use of private hospitals and clinics is targeted at specific backlogs (e.g., orthopaedics, ophthalmology, endoscopy) … Continue reading NHS England more than 100 times, 10 times per head, more privatised than NHS Scotland

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Four times as many, per head, waiting for a social care assessment or package in England than in Scotland yet the latter is ‘struggling?’

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the amount of funding for struggling social care services. Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland in their BBC Breakfast insert this morning has the above, essentially just councils doing what they do, ask for more money from central government. Context? Nope and certainly not this: From People requiring a social care assessment and care at home services published today by Public Health Scotland: The number of people estimated to be waiting on a social care assessment for a package of care to enable them to live independently at home or in the community was 6,461 on 7 April 2025. The estimated number of people assessed … Continue reading Four times as many, per head, waiting for a social care assessment or package in England than in Scotland yet the latter is ‘struggling?’

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Scottish doctors’ branch union organiser lies about there being fewer GPs and ignores Scotland having 25% more of them to staff new SNP drop-in services

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Professor John Robertson OBA From the Scottish Government today: A network of walk-in GP clinics will open as part of work to improve access to primary care. The clinics, which would be staffed by GPs, nurses and support staff, will be open seven days a week, 12:00-20:00, in addition to existing primary care services. They will provide a range of same-day assessments, diagnostics and treatment. Fifteen clinics in sites across Scotland will proceed initially to test the benefits for patients. https://www.gov.scot/news/improving-access-to-primary-care/ Typically for BBC Scotland but contrary to practice in BBC England or Wales, their reaction was: A leading doctor has … Continue reading Scottish doctors’ branch union organiser lies about there being fewer GPs and ignores Scotland having 25% more of them to staff new SNP drop-in services