Tag: mental-health

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‘Horrifying’ scale of child-on-child sexual abuse in schools cannot be confidently transferred to Scotland

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In the Guardian today: Lawyers and campaigners have condemned the “horrifying” scale of child-on-child sexual abuse in schools after a Guardian investigation revealed thousands of sexual offences against under-13s, including multiple rapes, are reported to police every year. Close to five sexual crimes against children aged 12 and younger were recorded on average by police every day in primary and secondary schools in England and Wales, according to Guardian analysis of police data for 2021-25. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/oct/04/child-on-child-sexual-abuse-schools-england-and-wales Directly comparable figures are not available. However, sexual offences based on police records published in government outlets are. In the year ending March 2026, … Continue reading ‘Horrifying’ scale of child-on-child sexual abuse in schools cannot be confidently transferred to Scotland

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Aging NHS workforce? Retirement ‘crisis?’ Just as well we train so many more nurses and doctors than England can?

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Crowdfunder – https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingBank transfer – JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account 12266421 The Herald, you have to feel for the wee souls, dragging up another scare story from the sump of their files. The Guardian in January 2026 had: Helen Lambert borrowed £57,000 to go to university and began repaying her student loan in 2021 after starting work as an NHS nurse. Since then she has repaid more than £5,000, typically having about £145 a month taken from her pay packet. But everything she hands over is dwarfed by the £400-plus of interest that is added to her debt every … Continue reading Aging NHS workforce? Retirement ‘crisis?’ Just as well we train so many more nurses and doctors than England can?

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When they tell you there’s no evidence for Swinney’s radical plan to merge Scotland’s health boards, here’s what to say

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On BBC Scotland, today, the above headline claim and: Leading doctors are calling on the Scottish government to withdraw its plans to drastically reduce the number of health boards. The new chairwoman of BMA Scotland, Dr Nora Murray-Cavanagh, said the proposal to cut the number from 14 to just two would be costly and time consuming – and that there was no clear evidence it would benefit patients. So, the BMA Scotland branch is a very part-time GP and union organiser heavily distracted by politics, who, with the best will in the world, will be hard-pushed to top any committed … Continue reading When they tell you there’s no evidence for Swinney’s radical plan to merge Scotland’s health boards, here’s what to say

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Primary Care Walk In Centres traffic soars ten times in just first 6 months of pilot

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With only 1 day left, support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at:Crowdfunder 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 GP led walk-in services monthly Month ending 31 August 2026 published today, the above table and this below: A case is used to identify a patient’s single encounter (service contact) with the Walk-In  service. 2. Note that a patient can have more than one case  at a centre in a month and will be counted on each occasion. 3. Clinics have been opened in a phased approach, so some have been … Continue reading Primary Care Walk In Centres traffic soars ten times in just first 6 months of pilot

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Top research bodies reveal Scotland’s care system is years ahead of any plans Andy Burnham has

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With only 1 day left, support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at:Crowdfunder 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 As the new PM is pressed on England’s failing social care system, we sometimes hear, not on BBC Scotland of course, that though still challenged, Scotland system after nearly 20 years of centre-left government by the SNP is well ahead. What’s the evidence? What has the SNP done differently? Let’s ask the Nuffield Trust and the IFS? In Scotland, there is free personal care for all adults assessed as needing it. This … Continue reading Top research bodies reveal Scotland’s care system is years ahead of any plans Andy Burnham has

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In one year NHS England declared 217 times as many critical and major incidents as NHS Scotland did

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With only 3 days left, support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 As BBC Scotland today reports a critical incident in NHS Grampian, we can report that, in 2024, the most recent year with a full report [above], NHS England reported 198 critical incidents plus 19 major [more serious] incidents; 217 declarations in total. Average duration was about 4.6 days. https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/annual-eprr-assurance-report-march-2025/ There was one NHS Scotland critical report in 2024, also in NHS Grampian. In NHS emergency-preparedness terminology, a major incident is … Continue reading In one year NHS England declared 217 times as many critical and major incidents as NHS Scotland did

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European Union Drugs Agency – drug deaths ‘must be understood as underestimations’ (as in England) proving that Scotland is the only ‘Drug Death Accurate Reporting’ capital of Europe

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With only 3 days left, support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 By JB We all saw the MSM headlines yesterday: “ although Scotland’s drug deaths fell they still ‘remain’ the highest in Europe”. Based on what comparable statistics? From AI…”Comparable statistics allow for systematic evaluation, hypothesis testing, and data-driven decision-making by identifying similarities and differences between groups or phenomena. To be comparable, data must either be collected with  standardised methods and definitions  or have undergone a thorough assessment of differences in … Continue reading European Union Drugs Agency – drug deaths ‘must be understood as underestimations’ (as in England) proving that Scotland is the only ‘Drug Death Accurate Reporting’ capital of Europe

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Huge surge in child exploitation – carrying drugs in body cavities and sexual abuse – by English county lines drug gangs in Scotland

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With only 3 days left, support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 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‘ was: 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 … Continue reading Huge surge in child exploitation – carrying drugs in body cavities and sexual abuse – by English county lines drug gangs in Scotland

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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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Drug deaths – one-year increase does not change overall trend which is down 15%

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Last year, the NRS graph, after a one year fall, showed also the trend in a dotted line with a shaded bandwidth of confidence and a fall from the peak of 1 339 to 1 017, 24%. https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/drug-related-deaths-in-scotland-2024/ For some reason, time maybe, this year’s graph does not show the trend. 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 Today, to a gleeful media feeding frenzy, we see they’ve gone up again, ‘by 11%’ to 1 133, so the fall from 2020 is now 15% but the trend, sorry MSM, is still down. They had a nice … Continue reading Drug deaths – one-year increase does not change overall trend which is down 15%