Tag: history

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Imagine a Scottish ambulance service told A&E patients to ‘get themselves there’

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this. From the Times today: People having a heart attack or a stroke are being asked to get themselves to hospital after dialling 999 in some parts of England, as surging sickness levels plunge the NHS into another winter crisis. The West Midlands Ambulance Service, which declared itself under “severe pressure” last week, confirmed a change to the script used by its 999 call handlers to suggest patients make their own way to hospital during periods of high demand. Six out of ten ambulance services in England were at their highest … Continue reading Imagine a Scottish ambulance service told A&E patients to ‘get themselves there’

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Leaving aside Operation Branchform where they’re being told what to do, even our police are different ie better, just as, more widely, Scotland is

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Today in the Observer: Images of arrested people who were innocent of any crimes are still being stored in a police database that may be used for facial recognition purposes, an official report has warned. In 2012, the high court ruled that keeping the images of people who faced no action or who were charged and then acquitted was unlawful. Despite the ruling, custody images of innocent people are still on the Police national database, which is available to all UK police forces and selected law enforcement agencies. The images can be used for facial recognition checks of potential suspects. Then way … Continue reading Leaving aside Operation Branchform where they’re being told what to do, even our police are different ie better, just as, more widely, Scotland is

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‘The most heinous if not criminal failure of the media in general and public broadcasters in particular to inform the public in Scotland of the dangers these gangs represent

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The BBC‘s Mission, from Copy of Royal Charter for the continuance of the British Broadcasting Corporation Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by Command of Her Majesty December 2016: The BBC’s Mission The Mission of the BBC is to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain. https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/governance/charter This is a royal charter, approved by Parliament giving the BBC, including BBC Scotland, a clear requirement to inform the public on matters affecting their lives, such as drug … Continue reading ‘The most heinous if not criminal failure of the media in general and public broadcasters in particular to inform the public in Scotland of the dangers these gangs represent

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Welsh students punished again by tuition fee hike, to leave them in debt more than twice that in Scotland

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to AR for alerting me to this: Today from BBC Wales: University fees in Wales are set to rise to £9,535 a year – nearly a £300 increase – from September 2025. The Welsh government announcement brings tuition costs in Wales in line with a hike in fees already announced by the UK government for universities in England. It is the second increase in charges for Welsh courses within a year, after the maximum charge went up from £9000 to £9250 from September 2024. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yw97y9xnwo?s=03 Things were already bad for students in Wales, under Labour: Average student debt … Continue reading Welsh students punished again by tuition fee hike, to leave them in debt more than twice that in Scotland

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Scotland’s prison population surged under Labour as they built too few new spaces but has stabilised since SNP took charge

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From Scottish Prison Population Statistics 2023-24, published today, we can see that there were only 5 868 prisoners in 2000 but by 2008, as the SNP minority government took over, there were 7827, a 34% increase in only 8 years. 17 years later in 2024, there 7 856.1 In 2005, the Guardian could report: A new report claims Scotland has a higher murder rate than America. The UN says it’s the ‘most violent place in the developed world’.2 By 2024, Scotland has the lowest violent crime levels in the UK3. Sounds like new prisons are not the … Continue reading Scotland’s prison population surged under Labour as they built too few new spaces but has stabilised since SNP took charge

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NHS Scotland’s stunning 98% completion rate as operations return steadily to pre-pandemic levels less than two years after the end of the ‘Greatest test since World War Two’

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Less than 2 years after the World Health Organisation declared an end to the Covid-19 pandemic on May 5 2023, and the ‘Greatest test since World War Two’ according to the United Nations Secretary General, with global economic collapse and longer-term health damage to millions, and Scotland’s Auditor General seems to have ignored the evidence to deny that NHS Scotland can and will survive while holding to the principles we all value deeply. The evidence which is easily available, making you wonder at his political agenda here, includes this: From Public Health Scotland, the above graph … Continue reading NHS Scotland’s stunning 98% completion rate as operations return steadily to pre-pandemic levels less than two years after the end of the ‘Greatest test since World War Two’

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Factcheck – The overall backlogs in NHS England and NHS Scotland are, per head, the same. Neither is ‘lagging’* but the English figures are probably pochled

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to AR for alerting me to this. Two days ago, the Times had an extended report, widely copied across the media and exciting Unionist voices, to suggest that NHS Scotland is actually lagging behind NHS England, on the overall backlog, cancer waiting times and A&E waiting times. I’ll tackle them one at a time. The backlog The Times claims that the backlog in England was only 290 326 and 72 793 in Scotland, at the end of June. Also, they claim that the backlog has been falling in England, while in Scotland it continues to climb and that this … Continue reading Factcheck – The overall backlogs in NHS England and NHS Scotland are, per head, the same. Neither is ‘lagging’* but the English figures are probably pochled

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Factcheck – Full emergency waiting times are significantly shorter in Scotland unless you fake the figures like the Times

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to AR for alerting me to this. Two days ago, the Times had an extended report, widely copied across the media and exciting Unionist voices, to suggest that NHS Scotland is actually lagging behind NHS England, on the overall backlog, cancer waiting times and A&E waiting times. I’ll tackle them one at a time. A&E waiting times The Times claims that in September 2024 65.9% were seen within 4 hours in Scotland and 72.4% were seen in that time in NHS England. They’re confused or dishonest. Looking at the published data, from Public Health Scotland, … Continue reading Factcheck – Full emergency waiting times are significantly shorter in Scotland unless you fake the figures like the Times

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Scotsman’s David Bols is either thick or trying to deceive you with suggestion that NHS Scotland is lagging behind NHS England when it’s clearly far ahead

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By Professor John Robertson OBA David Bol of the Scotsman today has this astonishing headline: SNP dealt blow as NHS recovery in Scotland lagging behind England This claim is based on the supposed evidence that performance in NHS Scotland is worsening while in NHS England it’s improving. Yes, but, but, David, what if performance in Scotland is worsening and is improving in England but the English performance is still worse than the Scottish performance, isn’t it England that’s lagging, until, at least it overtakes Scotland? Get me? Objectively, which NHS is lagging? The facts once more: First, THREE times as many wait … Continue reading Scotsman’s David Bols is either thick or trying to deceive you with suggestion that NHS Scotland is lagging behind NHS England when it’s clearly far ahead

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They are not only doing political journalism in BBC Wales differently from BBC Scotland but opponents of the government in Cardiff may behave differently too

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By stewartb Seems they are not only doing political journalism in BBC Wales differently from BBC Scotland but opponents of the government in Cardiff may behave differently too. The BBC News website in its Wales section today (November 26) had this headline about NHS Wales: ‘Ambulance response target may change after failures’. It reports: ‘Ambulance response targets in Wales may change in 2025, after four years of the service failing to meet its key measure.’ ‘A total of 65% of the most life-threatening calls are expected to arrive to a patient within eight minutes, but this has been missed for the past … Continue reading They are not only doing political journalism in BBC Wales differently from BBC Scotland but opponents of the government in Cardiff may behave differently too