Tag: mental-health

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Grooming readers and viewers to believe there are mass rape grooming gangs in Scotland

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They all use the term ‘grooming gangs’ so what’s wrong with that? Well, the inquiry terms of reference do not, ever, use either word: Child sexual abuse and exploitation: Jay Inquiry: The aim of this inquiry, established under the Inquiries Act 2005, is to make recommendations to better protect children from group-based sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) both now and in the future. These will be informed by the experiences of survivors, examining responses, investigating system failures and assessing the extent to which group-based CSAE in Scotland occurred during the period from 1 January 1996 to the setting up date … Continue reading Grooming readers and viewers to believe there are mass rape grooming gangs in Scotland

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Scotland’s media cynically grooming a single child abuse victim to find a Scottish ‘Rotherham’ which Police Scotland and all the evidence say is not here

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Notice a pattern? Find a personal trauma then milk it for political purposes. In the above report from BBC Scotland today, in nearly 2 000 words on one victim’s experience, there’s no place for this: In Rotherham alone, at least 1,400 children estimated to have been sexually exploited by predominantly Pakistani-heritage men (Jay Inquiry). Later NCA work identified over 1,100 victims in related investigations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal They will not give up. They smell blood and tears and will try to make sure enough Scots think we have rape grooming gangs too and so are no different. Why do they want this? … Continue reading Scotland’s media cynically grooming a single child abuse victim to find a Scottish ‘Rotherham’ which Police Scotland and all the evidence say is not here

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Prevalence of major congenital conditions falls 8.4% in just two years in Scotland perhaps influenced by nearly 20 years of protection from worst of austerity policies, Child Payment, free prescriptions and more affordable housing

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From Congenital conditions in Scotland 2021 to 2024 published yesterday, the above and: Source: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/congenital-conditions-in-scotland/congenital-conditions-in-scotland-2021-to-2024/ What factors influence the rate of these conditions? Genetic factors, environmental exposures (often interacting with genes), maternal age, area deprivation, maternal ethnicity, infant sex, and multiple pregnancy are the main factors associated with variations in rates of major congenital conditions. The rates for these conditions in England and Scotland are similar other than in South Asian communities in England where first cousin marriage is twice the national average rate as is the rate of congenital anomalies. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0140673613611320 The line graph at the top shows that … Continue reading Prevalence of major congenital conditions falls 8.4% in just two years in Scotland perhaps influenced by nearly 20 years of protection from worst of austerity policies, Child Payment, free prescriptions and more affordable housing

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NHS Scotland waiting lists keep reducing as experts accuse NHS England of fiddling returns by up to 17% of their total

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From Stage of treatment waiting times New outpatients, inpatients and day cases, published yesterday, the above and: At 30 September 2026, there were an estimated 588,864 individuals on at least one new outpatient, inpatient or day case waiting list – a decrease of 2.2% compared to September 2025. This is equivalent to around 1 in 9 of Scotland’s population. In September 2026, 61.3% of these waits were completed in 12 weeks or less, down from 62.8% in August. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/stage-of-treatment-waiting-times/stage-of-treatment-waiting-times-new-outpatients-inpatients-and-day-cases-27-october-2026/ Have any experts expressed concern with the accuracy of the figures from England? Yes. Several experts, think tanks, the independent statistics … Continue reading NHS Scotland waiting lists keep reducing as experts accuse NHS England of fiddling returns by up to 17% of their total

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English babies and young children failed amid surging poverty and inadequate protection legislation compared with Scotland

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Featured in BBC Breakfast this morning and in Glasgow Live, today the above, with a tasteless image, and: A charity has claimed that babies and young children in the Scottish care system are being failed by delays in decisions on their permanent homes. NSPCC Scotland and the Parent Infant Foundation have organised the National Summit on Permanence for Babies and Young Children amid ‘serious concerns’ about the length of time youngsters wait to be placed in a long-term home. The charity says that kids wait more than two years on average for decisions or recommendations, with many then waiting months … Continue reading English babies and young children failed amid surging poverty and inadequate protection legislation compared with Scotland

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Scotsman under fire for misleading reporting on alcohol deaths as treatment within only 3 weeks beats 90% target for years on end and Swinney adds another £37 million new this year

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The Scotsman, confused on alcohol deaths – against this week or for last week? From the Scotsman’s David Bol today: Exclusive: SNP under fire for lack of action to tackle alcohol deaths as focus on tackling drug fatalities. John Swinney has been warned grieving families “deserve the same urgency” in tackling Scotland’s alcohol death crisis as the nation’s drug-related fatalities amid criticism over a lack of action. Two leading charities have told The Scotsman it was “deeply disappointing” the First Minister’s programme for government “contained nothing new” to tackle alcohol harm. https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/snp-under-fire-for-lack-of-action-to-tackle-alcohol-deaths-as-focus-heaped-on-tackling-drug-fatalities-9308257 First on action ie treatment, from National drug … Continue reading Scotsman under fire for misleading reporting on alcohol deaths as treatment within only 3 weeks beats 90% target for years on end and Swinney adds another £37 million new this year

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BBC Scotland desperate for their first ever NHS strike, in SIX weeks, put the effort in, to at least make you worried enough to miss an appointment

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on whether to take action…………….voting due to close on 7th December. In their tiny insert in BBC Breakfast, every half-four, the BBC Reporting Scotland team gave over most of the time allocation to this possibility of a strike, in more than 5 weeks. They cannot wait to have you start the process of thinking NHS Scotland is as troubled as NHS England and for old folk to wonder if it’s worth attending appointments. We’ve seen this over and over, this last four or five years, as NHS England unions go on strike and in Scotland they never, so far do, … Continue reading BBC Scotland desperate for their first ever NHS strike, in SIX weeks, put the effort in, to at least make you worried enough to miss an appointment

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As STV explore everything about ‘serious organised crime’ except the appalling things the English County Lines cultural variant does, a fearful reminder of what of that, from Police Scotland but ignored by ‘our’ supposed media

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From Human Trafficking NRM referrals re county lines – 10yrs published by Police Scotland today, that ‘referrals made by Police Scotland to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) where county lines and suspected criminal exploitation was a factor‘ 26 September 2026: Under 16 year-olds – from 6 in 2020/2021 to 39 in 2025/2026, almost a seven-fold increase. 16-17 year-olds, from 16 to 65, a four-fold increase. Source: https://www.scotland.police.uk/access-to-information/freedom-of-information/disclosure-log/disclosure-log-2026/june/26-1022-human-trafficking-nrm-referrals-re-county-lines-10yrs/ What forms does that exploitation take? County lines refers to a violent, exploitative model of illegal drug distribution in the UK, where urban gangs and organised criminal networks export drugs (primarily heroin and … Continue reading As STV explore everything about ‘serious organised crime’ except the appalling things the English County Lines cultural variant does, a fearful reminder of what of that, from Police Scotland but ignored by ‘our’ supposed media

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Eradicating child poverty costs nothing in the long term because everything depends on it – the EIGHT research reports supporting the SNP Government’s decision to spend 0.7% of its budget for a future we all benefit from

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In the Guardian in December 2024: The news that more than one in three children in the UK are now living in poverty should shock everyone but surprise no one. Nearly three years into the cost of living crisis, we know that young families and disabled people have been among those hit hardest by the biggest fall in UK living standards in half a century. The latest estimates, by the non-partisan Social Metrics Commission, show that the number of people in poverty has risen to 16 million, or nearly one in four of the UK population – its highest level … Continue reading Eradicating child poverty costs nothing in the long term because everything depends on it – the EIGHT research reports supporting the SNP Government’s decision to spend 0.7% of its budget for a future we all benefit from

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Nearly six years ago 5 research studies found scale of Covid deaths was largely due to private care home owners over-reliant on travelling agency staff, denying sick pay to staff and failing to test them in-house

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Again, I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve countered that myth about hospital discharges causing care home outbreaks but, one more time quickly: There is no evidence at all that any of the discharges of hospital cases into care homes caused any of the outbreaks in those homes. There are repeated research reports showing that agency staff working in more than one of the, especially, larger corporate-owned homes did, unwittingly, cause the outbreaks. Here’s the evidence again: The charitable MHA with a presence in Scotland did research into its own homes and discovered this: Large numbers of staff could … Continue reading Nearly six years ago 5 research studies found scale of Covid deaths was largely due to private care home owners over-reliant on travelling agency staff, denying sick pay to staff and failing to test them in-house