Tag: mental-health

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‘No current investigations in Scotland involving offences against children which would mirror the investigations [in England] described in Baroness Casey’s audit as being perpetrated by “grooming gangs”

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Professor John Robertson OBA Readers will be aware no doubt of new Labour MP Joani Reid’s shameless u-turn on national inquiries into grooming gangs – no in England where they are many, to save her boss a red face, but yes in Scotland, where there are none, proving that as Jimmy Reid’s granddaughter, the apple can fall pretty far from the tree at times. Reid also wrote to FM Swinney, demanding an inquiry here but his response published on 4th July 2025 has had no MSM coverage. You can see why: However, in order for any action to be effective, … Continue reading ‘No current investigations in Scotland involving offences against children which would mirror the investigations [in England] described in Baroness Casey’s audit as being perpetrated by “grooming gangs”

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NHS Scotland’s emergency stroke treatment saving thousands but the service remains in crisis in England after a year of Labour

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Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to Brenda Robb for both alerting me to this and for research assistance. In the Guardian today, the above, and: The NHS has repeatedly failed in its diagnosis and care of stroke patients, England’s health ombudsman has said. According to the World Stroke Association, more than 12 million people worldwide will have their first stroke this year and 6.5 million will die as a result. Strokes are one of the UK’s biggest killers, causing about 34,000 deaths a year, and the single biggest cause of severe disability. The NHS Fast campaign aims to raise awareness of the most common symptoms of … Continue reading NHS Scotland’s emergency stroke treatment saving thousands but the service remains in crisis in England after a year of Labour

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NHS Scotland caring for 8% of the population but with not one of the five major maternity crises and a system that is ‘equitable’

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Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Health today: Health Secretary Wes Streeting, has said “we must act now” as he announced a national investigation into maternity care in England. The announcement comes after a series of critical reports into maternity care over the past decade. In March 2015 an investigation found mothers and babies died unnecessarily at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust between 2004 and 2013 – the report described a dysfunctional culture with substandard clinical skills, poor risk assessments and a repeated failure to properly investigate cases and learn lessons. In March 2022 an investigation into services at the … Continue reading NHS Scotland caring for 8% of the population but with not one of the five major maternity crises and a system that is ‘equitable’

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Families in England even more worried over lack of speech therapists and lagging behind Scotland, as the waiting list there is 17% longer than in Scotland

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Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Scotland today, the above case study and: Families [well two] worried over lack of specialist speech therapists – A new report seen by BBC Scotland News shows that demand for speech and language therapists (SLT) is increasing in Scotland but that the numbers of therapists is falling behind the rest of the UK. The report, by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT), says Scotland needs to increase its full-time equivalent SLT therapists by 370, from a current total of 530. It also says that Scotland is lagging behind England in terms … Continue reading Families in England even more worried over lack of speech therapists and lagging behind Scotland, as the waiting list there is 17% longer than in Scotland

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The history of the Tories, Liberals and Labour in covering-up systematic child abuse by MPs that underlies the more recent inaction by government and by police on grooming gangs

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By JB Independent Inquiry Child Sex Abuse From the 2012 investigation  ‘Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse Linked to Westminster’. “This investigation concerns institutional responses to allegations of child sexual abuse and exploitation involving persons of public prominence who were associated with Westminster. Westminster is defined in this report as the centre of the United Kingdom’s government, government ministers and officials, as well as Parliament, its members and the political parties represented there. Seven topics were covered in evidence. These were: police misconduct, political parties, whips’ offices, the Paedophile Information Exchange, prosecutorial decisions, the honours system, and current safeguarding policies in … Continue reading The history of the Tories, Liberals and Labour in covering-up systematic child abuse by MPs that underlies the more recent inaction by government and by police on grooming gangs

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Month-after-month, year-after-year, Scotland’s hospitals are ready to operate on more than 98%, or quarter of a million patients, on time, but get no media recognition, only the parroting of opposition party lies

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Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland today, the above graph and: Of all planned operations during April 2025 in NHSScotland, 733 (3.1%) were cancelled by the hospital for clinical reasons, 638 (2.7%) were cancelled by the patient, 415 (1.8%) were cancelled by the hospital due to capacity or non-clinical reasons, and 85 (0.4%) were cancelled for other reasons. Source: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancelled-planned-operations/cancelled-planned-operations-month-ending-30-april-2025/ Only that 1.8% figure can be meaningfully used to assess the performance of Scotland’s hospitals. Decisions to cancel by patient or doctor are to be expected in some cases as opinion and emotions shift. NHS Scotland was ready … Continue reading Month-after-month, year-after-year, Scotland’s hospitals are ready to operate on more than 98%, or quarter of a million patients, on time, but get no media recognition, only the parroting of opposition party lies

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They’re never going to tell you about this – 100% seen within the target for years, more than 80% waiting less than half the target time and numbers well above pre-pandemic levels – Scotland’s IVF programme creating and saving live

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Professor John Robertson OBA I’ve been reporting this success story, unique to Scotland, for years and BBC Scotland never reports it. From Public Health Scotland today, we can see that of the 353 patients referred for IVF treatment in Scotland, in January to March 2025, 40.2 waited only 0-13 weeks, 40.5% waited 14-26 weeks, 4% waited 27-39 weeks and 15.3% wated 40-52 weeks. None waited over the 90% in 52 weeks target.1 And from Fertility Scotland: Scotland is proud to be the only UK nation to provide up to three full IVF/ICSI cycles on the NHS for eligible couples with some of the highest pregnancy rates and lowest multiple births across … Continue reading They’re never going to tell you about this – 100% seen within the target for years, more than 80% waiting less than half the target time and numbers well above pre-pandemic levels – Scotland’s IVF programme creating and saving live

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In the wake of the Daily Record front page today – The Media’s Alarming Influence on Knife Crime Perception

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stewartb From a UK charity with a mission to reduce knife crime and improve community safety – https://knives4lives.co.uk ‘The Media’s Alarming Influence on Knife Crime Perception’ (November 15, 2024) – ‘The media holds significant power in shaping public perception and policy around knife crime in the UK. ‘While its role in raising awareness is vital, media outlets need to offer balanced reporting. Their reporting should be nuanced and precise. By doing so, they can help foster informed public discourse. This approach can also reduce fear and stigmatisation.’ And on what media influence could facilitate: ‘Furthermore, it supports the development of effective, long-term solutions to this pressing … Continue reading In the wake of the Daily Record front page today – The Media’s Alarming Influence on Knife Crime Perception

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Does the Herald think that police numbers should go up as crime falls more than twice as fast as staffing?

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Professor John Robertson OBA Taking a break from ferry fraudulence to policing propaganda, Martin Williams (Herald sole staff member on Wednesday?), has this today: Scotland has lost nearly 800 police officers since it became a unified national force 12 years ago leading to concerns about how it is able to cope, it can be revealed. The policing strength of Police Scotland has dropped from 17,324 in April 2013, when it was formed to just 16,553 this year – despite past promises to put an extra 1,000 officers on the beat. Based on the above statistics, crime has fallen by around 10% … Continue reading Does the Herald think that police numbers should go up as crime falls more than twice as fast as staffing?

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Royal College recommends NHS England’s A&E departments should adopt Scotland’s ‘front door frailty screening’

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By stewartb The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has a press release (issued May 6) which makes a positive reference to NHS Scotland – yes really! The statement has this title: ‘An alarming threat to patient safety’ – over a million older patients endured 12-hour waits in England’s A&Es last year.’ It goes on: ‘Figures obtained by RCEM via Freedom of Information Act requests, reveal in England’s major EDs last year, a staggering 1,148,666 people aged 60 and over waited more than 12 hours to be transferred, admitted or discharged. That’s over 3.5 times more people when compared to … Continue reading Royal College recommends NHS England’s A&E departments should adopt Scotland’s ‘front door frailty screening’