Tag: life

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The ‘creepy’ use of their own children to make political points is still with us

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA In October 2025, a Lib Dem EdinburghCity Councillor, Sanne Dijksta-Downie, used her 6-year-old daughter’s cancer diagnosis and recovery to suggest some sort of crisis in NHS Scotland under the heading ‘COST-CUTTING EVERYWHERE’. Bizarrely, her first example of cost-cutting was that there were never enough pillows for parents staying over on the ward! She went on then to bemoan the quality of pizzas given to patients and cups of tea and biscuits requiring to be provided by charities. She then complains about having to help with feeding, washing and toileting. Isn’t that a good thing for the … Continue reading The ‘creepy’ use of their own children to make political points is still with us

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Why don’t BBC Scotland want to tell you about Scotland’s first walk-in mental health hubs?

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details Professor John Robertson OBA From STV, yesterday, the above and: Scotland’s largest mental health charity has unveiled plans for a £10m network of walk-in support centres. I searched for – ‘BBC Scotland first walk-in mental health hub‘ and got the same STV report, the Daily Record, the Herald, the Glasgow Times and even the Rangers Charity Foundation covering it. The reports are not actually that SNP-friendly but BBC Scotland? Just this: What’s going wrong with our mental health? Martin Geissler and Laura Miller ask why so … Continue reading Why don’t BBC Scotland want to tell you about Scotland’s first walk-in mental health hubs?

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New Zealand’s ferry fiasco as Finance Minister pays advisors $2 000 a day for two months so far

johnrobertson834

From the New Zealand Herald today: Finance Minister Nicola Willis has defended wanting independent advice on the future of Cook Strait ferries from experts charging $2000 a day, “given KiwiRail got us into this mess”. The Herald has revealed members of the ferry ministerial advisory group have been paid more than $80,000 between them since being appointed just two months ago. The group was announced after the Government refused to give KiwiRail more money for its mega ferry project – leaving the plan to replace the ageing Interislander fleet dead in the water. Overall costs, including new terminals and wharf upgrades, had ballooned to almost $3 billion. KiwiRail is now negotiating … Continue reading New Zealand’s ferry fiasco as Finance Minister pays advisors $2 000 a day for two months so far

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Hospital waiting time lists in England 12 times longer than in Scotland!

johnrobertson834

The Scotsman and the Mail are making much of a Royal Colleges report into waiting time lists for under-18s being more than 100% longer, more than twice as long. I can’t find directly comparable data for England but I can find it for all age groups and it’s large hard-boiled sweet-stopping. From NHS England Consultant-led Referral to Treatment Waiting Times Data for all age groups: In October 2012, 156 461 waited longer than 18 weeks. In September 2023, 3 222 357 waited longer than 18 weeks, 21 times as long. From Public Health Scotland 18 weeks referral to Treatment (RTT) … Continue reading Hospital waiting time lists in England 12 times longer than in Scotland!