Tag: healthcare

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Jewellery entrepreneur lies about NHS Scotland to make case for increased private care though Oxford University has proved it will lead to worse patient care

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA Thanks again to AR for alerting me to this. Gillian Bowditch is a columnist for The Sunday Times. She is founder of the personalised jewellery company Lily Blanche (lilyblanche.com)  and chair of the British Association of Women Entrepreneurs (Scotland).  Today in the Times, she has this: Toxic Work Culture in the NHS is a matter of life and death Her argument is that toxic work environments in NHS Scotland are leading to worse care and thus unnecessary deaths, and that competition in healthcare will push standards up and, presumably, remove these. That she imagines the private … Continue reading Jewellery entrepreneur lies about NHS Scotland to make case for increased private care though Oxford University has proved it will lead to worse patient care

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News you won’t hear – treatment orders for drug-dependent offenders imposed since 2019 plummet by half and success rates soar

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By Professor John Robertson OBA The emphasis of a DTTO is on drugs treatment as the primary means of reducing offending behaviour rather than the specific offence focused approach of a probation order. Specifically the objectives of a DTTO are to: • Reduce or eliminate an offender’s dependency or propensity to misuse drugs; • Achieve positive changes in the scale and frequency of drug related offending The Order introduces unique aspects e.g. drug testing and regular court reviews as features of a community disposal. The DTTO is a high tariff, highly invasive community disposal involving social work supervision. The order requires regular … Continue reading News you won’t hear – treatment orders for drug-dependent offenders imposed since 2019 plummet by half and success rates soar

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Sandesh Gulhane in the Herald today to mislead you on the state of cancer care in Scotland based on less than 1% of the cases and another infantile counting up to get a big number

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Based on a Scottish Conservatives Freedom of Information request, the Herald today has: 2 000 young scots faced delay to cancer treatments The figure, 2 418 is based on that primary school method of counting up for as many years as you need to, in order to get a big number for a headline. In this case it’s from 2014, so presumably 10 years, giving an average of around 240 per year. There are 35 400 cancer cases per year in Scotland1 so we’re looking at only 0.68% of the total. The Herald report does not … Continue reading Sandesh Gulhane in the Herald today to mislead you on the state of cancer care in Scotland based on less than 1% of the cases and another infantile counting up to get a big number

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12 hour A&E waits TWICE as long in England and nearly THREE TIMES as long in Wales

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By stewartb Re long periods of time spent in A&E: Performance statistics for A&E waits, NHS England, November and December 2024: Source: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/ae-attendances-and-emergency-admissions-2024-25/ Over 12 hour delays = 54,207 patients – from decision to admit to admission. This equates to 1,749 decision to admit delays over 12 hours per day, an increase of 23.6% (334 patients daily) from December 2023. Question: how long had these c.54k patients already spent in an A&E department up to the time the decision to admit them was made? In other words what was the TOTAL time they spent in A&E – how much longer than 12 … Continue reading 12 hour A&E waits TWICE as long in England and nearly THREE TIMES as long in Wales

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As NHS England under Labour and with increasing referrals, freezes radiologist hiring, NHS Scotland cuts diagnostic waiting times for third quarter in a row

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland on 24 November 2024, the above graph showing a reducing number waiting for diagnostic tests for the last three quarters, a steady fall since the peak in early 2022, and this for the quarter ending 30 September 2024 [most recent data]: When compared to the previous quarter-end, six of the eight key diagnostic tests saw a decrease in the number of ongoing waits reported. Waits for a CT scan showed a reduction of 11% (-3,104), colonoscopy waits reduced by 11% (-1,433), non-obstetric ultrasound reduced by 9% (-5,122), and MRI waits reduced by … Continue reading As NHS England under Labour and with increasing referrals, freezes radiologist hiring, NHS Scotland cuts diagnostic waiting times for third quarter in a row

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Recent Oxford University research PROVES Labour’s privatised health strategy WILL lead to ‘worse patient care’

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By Professor John Robertson OBA An expansion of private healthcare is now a central strategy to cut waiting lists in England, from a party where many of its leaders, have received large donations from private healthcare firms, yet less than a year earlier Oxford University’s PROVED research UK Labour’s privatised health strategy WILL lead to ‘worse patient care.’ 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 … Continue reading Recent Oxford University research PROVES Labour’s privatised health strategy WILL lead to ‘worse patient care’

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NHS Scotland had 27% fewer delayed hospital discharges than NHS Wales after decades of Labour control there but Scottish Labour conveniently ignore that

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By stewartb More numbers designed to shock from the British Labour Party’s spokesperson on talking down Scotland’s health and social care services! Any context offered? The numbers on delayed discharge are to be deplored but are they really big by comparison to those incurred by Scotland’s peers? From the BBC News website, Wales section (November 11, 2024): ‘Staff burnout warning over plan to free NHS beds’ (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5lqn19275o ) ‘At any one time, there are about 1,600 patients, mostly elderly, in hospital beds in Wales who are otherwise fit to be discharged. In some hospitals, this is 20% of all beds. ‘But delays around … Continue reading NHS Scotland had 27% fewer delayed hospital discharges than NHS Wales after decades of Labour control there but Scottish Labour conveniently ignore that

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Are Scottish doctors still likely to be less stressed than others in the UK? This survey will not tell us

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By Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian yesterday: Seven in 10 GPs suffer from compassion fatigue and struggle to empathise with patients because they are worn out from caring for them, a survey has found. Family doctors say they are so emotionally and physically exhausted from hearing about patients’ problems and circumstances that it is compromising the quality of care they provide. A poll of 1,855 doctors across the UK found that 71% of GPs and 62% of medics overall have experienced compassion fatigue, which undermines the doctor-patient relationship. “Compassion fatigue is effectively a hidden, secondary trauma with symptoms that can ultimately make it … Continue reading Are Scottish doctors still likely to be less stressed than others in the UK? This survey will not tell us

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Lib Dems find Scottish Nurses lose 3 days a year to mental health problems, fewer than UK average of 8

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In another of their many, waste-of-public-funds-to-dig-dirt-on-SNP, freedom of information requests, the Lib Dems in the Daily Record on Boxing Day: More than 700,000 days of nursing and midwifery staff time have been lost due to mental ill health since 2020, according to figures obtained by the Scottish Lib Dems. Freedom of information data showed 762,975 days were lost across the 14 territorial health boards. NHS Lanarkshire had the highest total in 2023/24, at 24,342 days lost. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/more-700000-nursing-days-lost-34374193 There are 65 270 nurses and midwives employed by NHS Scotland. https://www.nursingtimes.net/workforce/scottish-nursing-vacancies-falling-but-still-stubbornly-high-06-12-2023/#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20nurses%20and,in%20response%20to%20the%20figures.&text=The%20numbers%2C%20published%20in%20a,working%20in%20the%20health%20service. Most UK full-time employees work around 260 days per year. https://zelt.app/blog/how-many-working-days-are-in-one-year/ So Scotland’s nurses … Continue reading Lib Dems find Scottish Nurses lose 3 days a year to mental health problems, fewer than UK average of 8

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Cancer waiting times – NHS Scotland saving hundreds of lives with quicker treatment and NHS England risking thousands with delay

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From Cancer waiting times 1 July to 30 September 2024, released today, the above graph and: 72.1% of patients started treatment within 62 days. 94.3% of patients started treatment within 31 days. The equivalent data for NHS England are 67.3% and 90.6%. On cancer waiting times Scotland is performing 7.4% and 4% better. Remember in a Scottish context, that means around 300 cancer patients per quarter seen on time and in England, around 3 000 not. Sources: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancer-waiting-times/cancer-waiting-times-1-july-to-30-september-2024/ https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/ Support Scots Independent, Scotland’s oldest pro-independence newspaper and host of the OBA (Oliver Brown Award) at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/shop/ The Oliver Brown Award for advancing … Continue reading Cancer waiting times – NHS Scotland saving hundreds of lives with quicker treatment and NHS England risking thousands with delay