Tag: mental-health

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Understanding Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 2 – How Jeanne Freeman’s, unique in the UK, quick action on vaccines saved thousands of lives

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In BBC Scotland’s retrospective comment on Jeanne Freeman’s time as Health Secretary, they write: Freeman stood beside Sturgeon in press conferences throughout the next year. There would be praise for their calm stewardship and she was there at the start of the vaccine roll-out. But the decision to discharge elderly hospital patients to care homes during the first few weeks of the pandemic without a requirement for a negative test was one which hung over Freeman for the rest of her time in politics and beyond. The worst mortality rates were later seen within care homes as the virus spread among … Continue reading Understanding Covid deaths in care homes in Scotland 2 – How Jeanne Freeman’s, unique in the UK, quick action on vaccines saved thousands of lives

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A major new study counters ‘deluge of negativity, accusations and downright lies’ about NHS Scotland

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By Jim Mennie The Meidas Scotland  ‘Have Your Say’ survey created to gather feedback on Scottish NHS experiences — Scottish NHS: Your Stories Matter — has gathered over 400 responses in a matter of weeks and is already generating valuable insight.  The survey link – https://meidasscotland.eaction.org.uk/hospitals Meidas Scotland – https://www.facebook.com/people/Meidas-Scotland/61573925276612/ https://x.com/MeidasScotland and https://bsky.app/profile/sovereign.scothttps://www.instagram.com/meidasscotland/https://www.tiktok.com/@meidasscotlandhttps://free-scotland.scot/ I created this survey after becoming furious at the sheer deluge of negativity, accusations and downright lies coming from some politicians and parts of the mainstream Scottish media. Enough was enough — if they weren’t going to tell the truth, then I’d ask the public directly. I wanted the … Continue reading A major new study counters ‘deluge of negativity, accusations and downright lies’ about NHS Scotland

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The story of Covid was not the same across the UK – this is a deliberate lie to conceal Scotland’s demonstrably and significantly better performance and recovery

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across the UK, but recovery after Covid is perhaps one area where Scotland has performed a little bit worse than England England in terms of the waiting times for non-urgent operations that people are facing right now. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002szh1/reporting-scotland-lunchtime-news-19032026 BBC Reporting Scotland today, ignoring all the evidence that does not fit their agenda and trying to tell you that the SNP Government did no better and even, in recovery, even worse. First excess deaths First, Excess Deaths – From the Covid Inquiry documents, Table 13, during the pandemic period from March 2020 to February 2022, in England, excess deaths were 6.5% … Continue reading The story of Covid was not the same across the UK – this is a deliberate lie to conceal Scotland’s demonstrably and significantly better performance and recovery

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How can violent crime by children and adolescents fall so much in last 20 years yet school violence be increasing?

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There’s a constant narrative across all of of the media in Scotland that won’t go away and that is being ramped up in the hope that it might save Anas Sarwar in May. I’m not for a minute saying that violence in schools is not a serious problem which has to be dealt with and I’m agreeing fully that teaching can be a very challenging job but the idea that it is increasing dramatically trigger cognitive dissonance. Why? It’s in my title question. We don’t have any hard evidence of increasing violence in schools, only mostly anecdotal accounts. Again, I’m … Continue reading How can violent crime by children and adolescents fall so much in last 20 years yet school violence be increasing?

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As Scottish Cons campaign on drug deaths the FIVE years of success in turning them around, the reasons for that and the reasons it’s not even better than that

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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 Annie Wells and Russell Findlay Who?, outside a pharmacy in Possilpark to campaign for the next election on Scotland’s drug deaths, luckily for them, still the highest in Europe. Did no one tell them that negative campaigning doesn’t work that well? Here are the facts: The drug deaths trend in Scotland has been downward for these last five years, from 1 339 in 2020 to 1 017. A 24.2% fall, by a quarter in only 5 years after … Continue reading As Scottish Cons campaign on drug deaths the FIVE years of success in turning them around, the reasons for that and the reasons it’s not even better than that

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Shock as proportionally 4 times as many children in England & Wales face domestic abuse compared to Scotland but UK Labour have no real plan to deal with that

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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: A proposed law to restrict paedophiles’ parental rights in England and Wales is too weak because it does not protect children of theirs born after their conviction, parliament will hear this week. Under the victims and courts bill, a parent convicted of serious sexual offences against any child and who is sentenced to four or more years in prison will lose parental responsibility but they could come out of jail and have other children who would not … Continue reading Shock as proportionally 4 times as many children in England & Wales face domestic abuse compared to Scotland but UK Labour have no real plan to deal with that

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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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What has the SNP ever done for you? How about stopping private companies using NHS facilities, NHS equipment and NHS staff to enable the private companies to generate a huge profit?

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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 From our regular and much-valued, non-Russian spy, France McKie, from Every Doctor, the campaign against NHS privatisation, yesterday: I wouldn’t be surprised if you hadn’t heard of “NHS in-sourcing”, because the newspapers don’t talk about it very much. But it’s one of the most mind-boggling forms of NHS privatisation! Essentially, NHS Trusts are desperate to bring down their waiting lists, and many are now paying private companies to come in out-of-hours and use NHS resources to do NHS … Continue reading What has the SNP ever done for you? How about stopping private companies using NHS facilities, NHS equipment and NHS staff to enable the private companies to generate a huge profit?

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Why are more GPs opting to work outside the NHS? They’re not in Scotland where almost 100% work in the NHS

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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 From BBC England this morning, the above and: In her consulting room, Dr Yvonne Girgis-Hanna is at work as a GP, but not for the NHS. She is one of an increasing number of family doctors opting to practise privately. “I could not work as a full‑time NHS GP,” she says. “The days I do in the NHS, the next day I’m totally wiped out… You might have 30 face‑to‑face contacts, then extra telephone calls and paperwork. You … Continue reading Why are more GPs opting to work outside the NHS? They’re not in Scotland where almost 100% work in the NHS

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Shock as proportionally 4 times as many children in England & Wales face domestic abuse compared to 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 From BBC England today: An 11-year-old boy who had both legs amputated after being assaulted by his birth parents has won his campaign for a new child safety register. Parents guilty of neglect will face similar monitoring to sex offenders following an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, which the government said it expects to table “shortly”. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce3gxkn453ro Does Scotland also need such a register? Currently in Scotland, child protection operates differently: There is a Child Protection … Continue reading Shock as proportionally 4 times as many children in England & Wales face domestic abuse compared to Scotland