Tag: mental-health

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As resident (junior) doctor strikes loom in NHS England, SNP settlement praised by BMA means NHS Scotland set to avoid thousands of excess deaths again

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today, the above and: In a letter to the NHS chief executive, Sir Jim Mackey, the BMA council chair, Dr Tom Dolphin, and the deputy council chair, Dr Emma Runswick, said: “Your decision to instruct hospitals to run non-urgent planned care stretches safe staffing far too thinly, and risks not only patient safety in urgent and emergency situations, but in planned care, too. “Consultants cannot safely provide elective care and cover for residents at the same time. We therefore strongly urge you to reconsider your instructions to hospitals, which should be preparing now … Continue reading As resident (junior) doctor strikes loom in NHS England, SNP settlement praised by BMA means NHS Scotland set to avoid thousands of excess deaths again

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Leading health think tank praises new framework for population health co-created by Scottish Government and COSLA

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– ‘this is a major step forward’ –  ‘Despite the now released Fit for the future: 10 Year Health Plan, England has nothing equivalent’ – ‘England would do well to draw inspiration from its neighbour’. By stewartb A respected think tank focusing on health and care in England, the King’s Fund published (July 14) a blog post with the headline: ‘What can English health policy learn from Scotland? A coherent policy approach to population health.’ Source: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/blogs/scotland-coherent-policy-approach-population-health It describes the King’s Fund’s longstanding advocacy of a stronger focus in England on population health through promoting the ‘integration for health, as … Continue reading Leading health think tank praises new framework for population health co-created by Scottish Government and COSLA

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News you won’t see – Scottish Government funding for playparks to promote children’s health and development surges by FIVE times in only five years

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Professor John Robertson OBA From: Funding to upgrade children’s playparks: FOI release Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 published yesterday: Question 1 – How much of this money has been allocated (not to be confused with the £25,000,000 announced recently)? The Scottish Government has allocated and committed the following sums since May 2021: The Scottish Government announced recently that in 2025/26 the final funding instalment of £25 million will be provided to the local authorities, which is delivering on the 2021 Programme for Government commitment of funding £60 million for play parks renewal. https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202500467583/ … Continue reading News you won’t see – Scottish Government funding for playparks to promote children’s health and development surges by FIVE times in only five years

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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. Dr Clea Harmer, chief executive of the baby loss charity Sands, said the national investigation was “much-needed and long-overdue”. The ‘Scottish’ media are quiet. If they had something, they’d be all over it like nappy rash. I searched for ‘Scotland maternity inspections substandard‘ – only English ‘hits’. I searched the Healthcare Improvement Scotland site – … 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