Tag: healthcare

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How much will the current doctor strikes and imminent nurse strikes further widen the already massive gap between Scotland’s NHS waiting list and that in England

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian yesterday, the above and: NHS bosses and the British Medical Association are accusing each other of endangering patients during the ongoing resident doctors’ strike. Their war of words centres on “derogations”, local agreements under which doctors who have joined the strike can cross picket lines to provide clinical care in a hospital. The escalation of the resident doctors’ pay dispute comes as it emerged that nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have voted to reject their 3.6% pay award for this year. Scotland’s media are very quiet on this issue yet with the … Continue reading How much will the current doctor strikes and imminent nurse strikes further widen the already massive gap between Scotland’s NHS waiting list and that in England

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As resident (junior) doctor strikes loom in NHS England, SNP settlement praised by BMA means NHS Scotland set to avoid thousands of excess deaths again

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today, the above and: In a letter to the NHS chief executive, Sir Jim Mackey, the BMA council chair, Dr Tom Dolphin, and the deputy council chair, Dr Emma Runswick, said: “Your decision to instruct hospitals to run non-urgent planned care stretches safe staffing far too thinly, and risks not only patient safety in urgent and emergency situations, but in planned care, too. “Consultants cannot safely provide elective care and cover for residents at the same time. We therefore strongly urge you to reconsider your instructions to hospitals, which should be preparing now … Continue reading As resident (junior) doctor strikes loom in NHS England, SNP settlement praised by BMA means NHS Scotland set to avoid thousands of excess deaths again

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Leading health think tank praises new framework for population health co-created by Scottish Government and COSLA

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– ‘this is a major step forward’ –  ‘Despite the now released Fit for the future: 10 Year Health Plan, England has nothing equivalent’ – ‘England would do well to draw inspiration from its neighbour’. By stewartb A respected think tank focusing on health and care in England, the King’s Fund published (July 14) a blog post with the headline: ‘What can English health policy learn from Scotland? A coherent policy approach to population health.’ Source: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/blogs/scotland-coherent-policy-approach-population-health It describes the King’s Fund’s longstanding advocacy of a stronger focus in England on population health through promoting the ‘integration for health, as … Continue reading Leading health think tank praises new framework for population health co-created by Scottish Government and COSLA

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A free offer of a story for the mainstream media ‘serving’ Scotland: the Labour government’s new ambition for NHS England – no more than 10% of patients spending 12 hours in A&E – sets a threshold that NHS Scotland has NEVER EVER failed to better- NEVER worse than 8% and almost always very much lower! Why?

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stewartb The Royal College of Emergency Medicine issued a press statement (July 2) entitled: ‘RCEM Response to NHS England’s Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025’. This is part of the much heralded reforms to improve NHS services in England from the British Labour Party government in Westminster. I have little doubt that the same party in the run up to the 2026 Holyrood election, with the help of its mainstream media allies, will be telling us to vote Labour in order to get similar super-duper ‘change’ implemented for NHS Scotland. So what does the RCEM say about Labour’s plan for … Continue reading A free offer of a story for the mainstream media ‘serving’ Scotland: the Labour government’s new ambition for NHS England – no more than 10% of patients spending 12 hours in A&E – sets a threshold that NHS Scotland has NEVER EVER failed to better- NEVER worse than 8% and almost always very much lower! Why?

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NHS Scotland’s emergency stroke treatment saving thousands but the service remains in crisis in England after a year of Labour

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Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to Brenda Robb for both alerting me to this and for research assistance. In the Guardian today, the above, and: The NHS has repeatedly failed in its diagnosis and care of stroke patients, England’s health ombudsman has said. According to the World Stroke Association, more than 12 million people worldwide will have their first stroke this year and 6.5 million will die as a result. Strokes are one of the UK’s biggest killers, causing about 34,000 deaths a year, and the single biggest cause of severe disability. The NHS Fast campaign aims to raise awareness of the most common symptoms of … Continue reading NHS Scotland’s emergency stroke treatment saving thousands but the service remains in crisis in England after a year of Labour

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The BMA UK – a more serious, objective trade union than its lead in Scotland, Dr Kennedy?

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By stewartb The BMA may be a more serious, objective trade union than its lead in Scotland – based on his highly politicised statements using language designed for use in headlines by mainstream media opposed to the present Scottish Government – makes it appear! Below are some of its analysis and insights on the state of NHS England. Not a positive picture but even. so I can’t find a BMA spokesperson claiming that NHS England is ‘dying’ – and for the avoidance of doubt, England has long had a substantial number of people using private healthcare, a number which is … Continue reading The BMA UK – a more serious, objective trade union than its lead in Scotland, Dr Kennedy?

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Why is there a ‘cancer ticking time bomb’ only in Scotland where radiologist staffing is highest in UK?

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stewartb What of the ‘cancer time bomb’ that is headline news in several newspapers in Scotland and above the BBC News website’s ‘Scotland’s papers’ feature and also in a separate BBC Scotland article on the the same website? This has all been catalysed by the following Royal College of Radiology (RCR) reports: (i) ‘Clinical Radiology – Workforce Census 2024’ and (ii) Clinical Oncology – Workforce Census 2024. Both reports cover all four nations of the UK although one would be hard pressed to realise this from the newspapers front pages. One would not know of the UK-wide scope EVEN after careful reading the BBC Scotland … Continue reading Why is there a ‘cancer ticking time bomb’ only in Scotland where radiologist staffing is highest in UK?

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Month-after-month, year-after-year, Scotland’s hospitals are ready to operate on more than 98%, or quarter of a million patients, on time, but get no media recognition, only the parroting of opposition party lies

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Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland today, the above graph and: Of all planned operations during April 2025 in NHSScotland, 733 (3.1%) were cancelled by the hospital for clinical reasons, 638 (2.7%) were cancelled by the patient, 415 (1.8%) were cancelled by the hospital due to capacity or non-clinical reasons, and 85 (0.4%) were cancelled for other reasons. Source: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancelled-planned-operations/cancelled-planned-operations-month-ending-30-april-2025/ Only that 1.8% figure can be meaningfully used to assess the performance of Scotland’s hospitals. Decisions to cancel by patient or doctor are to be expected in some cases as opinion and emotions shift. NHS Scotland was ready … Continue reading Month-after-month, year-after-year, Scotland’s hospitals are ready to operate on more than 98%, or quarter of a million patients, on time, but get no media recognition, only the parroting of opposition party lies

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US doctor sees a trend in young St. Louis cancer patients living near nuclear waste sites to remind of Scotland’s highest cancer death rate in Europe just downwind and downstream of Sellafield

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Professor John Robertson OBA From Fox News yesterday: ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis doctor is looking into cancer rates across the region, trying to figure out why he’s seeing more younger patients.  One of his younger patients was Dre Bergeson, a loving wife to her husband, Darryl, and mother to their 8-year-old son, Finn.  “She was kind, compassionate, and loving, always thinking about everyone else but herself, even through the diagnosis,” Darryl Bergeson said. He said Dre began having heartburn and pain in August of last year. She had a CT scan in September. “There was a large mass … Continue reading US doctor sees a trend in young St. Louis cancer patients living near nuclear waste sites to remind of Scotland’s highest cancer death rate in Europe just downwind and downstream of Sellafield

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Royal College recommends NHS England’s A&E departments should adopt Scotland’s ‘front door frailty screening’

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By stewartb The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has a press release (issued May 6) which makes a positive reference to NHS Scotland – yes really! The statement has this title: ‘An alarming threat to patient safety’ – over a million older patients endured 12-hour waits in England’s A&Es last year.’ It goes on: ‘Figures obtained by RCEM via Freedom of Information Act requests, reveal in England’s major EDs last year, a staggering 1,148,666 people aged 60 and over waited more than 12 hours to be transferred, admitted or discharged. That’s over 3.5 times more people when compared to … Continue reading Royal College recommends NHS England’s A&E departments should adopt Scotland’s ‘front door frailty screening’