Tag: history

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Contrary to the Scottish media frenzy, NHS Grampian’s A&E is better than all but one of England’s health boards and 66% better (!!!) than in Thatcher’s, the last Health Secretary and these MP’s Lincolnshire

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Above, the eight MPs for Lincolnshire constituencies, Margaret Thatcher’s birthplace and now home to Reform’s Richard Tice and the Con Gammon’s Sir Edward Leith. Best of all, Victoria Atkins was Health Secretary under Sunak. Why am I interested in Lincolnshire? In October 2024, after 14 years of Tory government, NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board saw only 39.2% of full emergency department patients (Type 1) within the 4 hour target. NHS England as a whole managed only 58.1%.1 In NHS Grampian, the figure was 65%, 11.87% better than the English average and a shocking 65.8% better than the … Continue reading Contrary to the Scottish media frenzy, NHS Grampian’s A&E is better than all but one of England’s health boards and 66% better (!!!) than in Thatcher’s, the last Health Secretary and these MP’s Lincolnshire

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Children vanish out of schools in England 41 times more often than in Scotland – Herald must tackle vanishing of decent journalism

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In the Herald today, from Dani Garavelli: SNP must tackle the disturbing ‘vanishing’ of pupils from Scotland’s classrooms Not in the Herald today: From the Children’s Commissioner for England, in the wake of the Sara Sharif murder case: A register of children not in school to be implemented urgently. This must include children who are home educated and be introduced via legislation as a matter of urgency, backed by the resource to effectively implement and monitor it. https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/resource/deaths-of-children-in-need/ Because of the above lack of record-keeping, there is only an estimate of how many children are in home education, in England – 92 000.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c704x7e5515o#:~:text=Home%20education%20register,by%20about%2011%2C000%20on%202022. In Scotland, the known, … Continue reading Children vanish out of schools in England 41 times more often than in Scotland – Herald must tackle vanishing of decent journalism

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More than FORTY times as many children are forced into home education in England compared to Scotland – ‘amid rising classroom violence and falling standards’

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From the Children’s Commissioner for England, in the wake of the Sara Sharif murder case, today: A register of children not in school to be implemented urgently. This must include children who are home educated and be introduced via legislation as a matter of urgency, backed by the resource to effectively implement and monitor it. https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/resource/deaths-of-children-in-need/ Because of the above lack of record-keeping, there is only an estimate of how many children are in home education, in England – 92 000. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c704x7e5515o#:~:text=Home%20education%20register,by%20about%2011%2C000%20on%202022. In Scotland, the known, not estimated, figure is currently 2 222. Thus, roughly 41 times as many children, 4 … Continue reading More than FORTY times as many children are forced into home education in England compared to Scotland – ‘amid rising classroom violence and falling standards’

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NHS England’s ‘alarming decline’ in 12 key metrics being averted by SNP Government – Stillbirth, ‘The Canary in the Coalmine’

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks once more to Dottie for alerting me to this. In the Guardian today: Darzi [Prof Lord Ara Darzi, the surgeon and former health minister ] said there had been “alarming declines” in 12 key metrics of patient safety in England since 2022. They include maternity care, in which there are growing rates of stillbirth, babies dying during or soon after they are born and also women dying while giving birth. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/dec/12/nhs-spends-147bn-a-year-treating-patients-in-england-hurt-by-care-mistakes-says-report The stillbirth rate in Scotland in 2023 was 3.7 per 1 000 births, the same as in 2022 and having fallen steadily from 4.2 in 2020 (during … Continue reading NHS England’s ‘alarming decline’ in 12 key metrics being averted by SNP Government – Stillbirth, ‘The Canary in the Coalmine’

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Police Scotland figures show 20% decline in drug deaths after peaking in 2020 and flattening until this year despite County Lines gangs plague

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Professor John Robertson OBA From the Scottish Government’s Suspected drug deaths in Scotland, published today: This is the first clearly falling trend on record, with the quarterly level varying little in the years before that, since the peak of 413 in Q2 2020. The totals for Q1 – Q3 only: Annual variations count for little, mean little, but trends over 5 years tell you what is really happening and, based on police observations of mortality scenes (presence of drug abuse material), the trend in Scotland is clearly down, 20% in 5 years. These data come from Police Scotland management information to provide … Continue reading Police Scotland figures show 20% decline in drug deaths after peaking in 2020 and flattening until this year despite County Lines gangs plague

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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