Tag: life

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From “If you don’t know, vote NO!” To becoming an author

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By Mark E. Saunders of “The Scottish Minuteman” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61575625542197 Okay. Cards on the table. In 2014, I wasn’t some lifelong dyed-in-the-wool independence campaigner who had spent years on the streets criticising the Union. I was just one of millions who had ‘forever’ accepted the political status quo. That is, until one political slogan challenged me to think differently. “If you don’t know, vote no!” I suppose I could have shrugged my shoulders and accepted that as reasonable advice. Instead, I didn’t just take it on board. I took it as a challenge. If I don’t know, then I’ll find out. And that curiosity became … Continue reading From “If you don’t know, vote NO!” To becoming an author

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Not a word on hospital discharges in first of deadly care home inspections in 2020 as care home owners are revealed to be guilty for Covid deaths

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In December 2020, as deaths began to rise again in care homes and opposition parties returned to the smell of blood they detected from their ‘common sense’ unqualified notion that hospital discharges must be responsible, the Care Inspectorate applied to cancel the registration of Thornlea Nursing Home in Loanhead Midlothian. There was no mention of hospital discharges as a suspected cause of infections and deaths, by the Care Inspectorate in December 2020 and there is none in the final report released yesterday but there is, ten times, mention of failures of infection control by the staff, often untrained and under-staffed, … Continue reading Not a word on hospital discharges in first of deadly care home inspections in 2020 as care home owners are revealed to be guilty for Covid deaths

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NHS Scotland treating 20% more in 12 weeks than NHS England as think-tank predicts a crisis there by the next election

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Typically dishonest, gutter-level journalism from the Herald today. Moving the formal maximum target from an unmet 12 weeks to a 26-week aim by 2031 is a relaxation of ambition relative to the old legal standard, but it does not mean the plan is to increase waits to twice what people experience today. For a large number of current long-waiters it would still represent an improvement if achieved. Like many health service targets, our aging, less active yet more expectant population, living in a world of de-regulated food production and made addicts to hyper-processed non-food by global corporations, cannot be met. … Continue reading NHS Scotland treating 20% more in 12 weeks than NHS England as think-tank predicts a crisis there by the next election

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NHS Scotland’s gentler touch keeps ‘ghost patients’ safe from harm

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Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 From the Guardian today: ‘Ghost patient’ policy wrongly removing at-risk people from GP lists, doctors say – An NHS policy to remove “ghost patients” from GP lists is inadvertently leaving some of the poorest people in England without vital healthcare, analysis has found. Under previous NHS rules, inactive patients at risk of being removed from their GP practice were given six months to respond to outreach. But under NHS England’s accelerated list validation timeline, introduced last October, patients now have only three months to reply. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/23/nhs-england-ghost-patient-policy-wrongly-removing-vulnerable-people What are the … Continue reading NHS Scotland’s gentler touch keeps ‘ghost patients’ safe from harm

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Tory spokesperson in Scotsman hiding NHS Scotland’s cancer treatment performing better than and and saving thousands who would have been delayed in NHS England

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In the Scotsman today, under the frontpage headline ‘Ministers warned of ‘ticking timebomb’ of cancer cases’, Miles Briggs (above) is allowed to present the fakest of fake news with a view to undermining the SNP: Leaping over the opening statements to the ten year change figures which do show significant increases in cancer incidence over that decade, he ignores the fact that this has resulted from an aging population, living long enough to report, especially prostate cancer, and the first statement: In 2024, there were 37,657 new cancers registered in Scotland (19,473 in males and 18,184 in females). This was … Continue reading Tory spokesperson in Scotsman hiding NHS Scotland’s cancer treatment performing better than and and saving thousands who would have been delayed in NHS England

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Play this to those hesitating to vote. Let them see the words too

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Lyrics: We’ll be singing, we’ll be singing If we get out and vote for our own We’ll be singing, we’ll be singing When we remember all we’ve sown Pulling thousands out of poverty Sending the same to learn for free Offering a hand to the weak and the sick We begin the path to the Scotland we want We’ll be singing, we’ll be singing If we get out and vote for our own We’ll be singing, we’ll be singing When we remember all we’ve sown To each according to their need From each according to our abilities Paying that wee … Continue reading Play this to those hesitating to vote. Let them see the words too

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A Song for Holyrood 26 – please share

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Lyrics: We’ll be singing, we’ll be singing If we get out and vote for our own We’ll be singing, we’ll be singing When we remember all we’ve sown Pulling thousands out of poverty Sending the same to learn for free Offering a hand to the weak and the sick We begin the path to the Scotland we want We’ll be singing, we’ll be singing If we get out and vote for our own We’ll be singing, we’ll be singing When we remember all we’ve sown To each according to their need From each according to our abilities Paying that wee … Continue reading A Song for Holyrood 26 – please share

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One third of English patients using private dentists because they have only half the level of access to NHS dentists in Scotland

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON In the Guardian today: Almost a third of people in England now use private dentistry, with a sharp rise in the number of poorer households forced to pay for fillings and extractions. The scarcity of NHS care means the proportion of people turning to private dental services jumped from 22% in 2023 to 32% late last year, the health service’s patient watchdog found. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/09/nhs-dental-crisis-private-dentist-patient-incease-england We’re hearing nothing even vaguely similar from the media in Scotland and you can be sure … Continue reading One third of English patients using private dentists because they have only half the level of access to NHS dentists in Scotland

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NHS England has second-worst month for 12-hour waits in Emergency Departments on record!

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON By stewartb In NHS Scotland – ‘A&E performance around Christmas peak pressure suggests major improvements’ – not in NHS England it seems when it comes to the important ‘over 12 hour waits’ metric! The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) had this headline for a press release on February 12: ‘The wheels have come off’: predictably busy January exposes ‘fragile’ NHS system as A&Es swamped with patients needing beds’. That was its view following the publication of NHS England’s Emergency … Continue reading NHS England has second-worst month for 12-hour waits in Emergency Departments on record!

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Anas tried to be a real big tough guy – a folk rock song on lament (not) of Labour

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Please Support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above. Youtube version – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-hvsbZdngk Lyrics: Anas tried to be a real big tough guy But London Labour gives no more For him than they do for any of us He’s back in his box and it’s shrinking Well, it’s goodbye to Labour now Well, it’s goodbye to Labour now They’ve sold their soul to London Now they’re no bloody use to us Richard Leonard seemed alright And he had a lefty feel to him too But the Woman of Mass Destruction Sitting fast on Dumbarton Rock Had her pals push him … Continue reading Anas tried to be a real big tough guy – a folk rock song on lament (not) of Labour