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US ferry system in ‘severe turmoil’ as 38 lawmakers write to Congress ‘urgently’ requesting extra funds

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From the Seattle Medium today: The Washington State Ferry system (WSF) is currently facing severe turmoil, prompting 38 elected leaders to send a letter to Congress urgently requesting funding “at the highest level possible” to aid WSF in its operations. The agency is currently operating with just over half the number of boats it needs to effectively serve the region. Despite receiving over $140 million in federal grants over the past two years, WSF requires additional funding and time to address staffing and vessel availability crises. In an effort to restore full service as quickly as possible, lawmakers from seven … Continue reading US ferry system in ‘severe turmoil’ as 38 lawmakers write to Congress ‘urgently’ requesting extra funds

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As BBC Scotland try to locate blame for the infected blood scandal IN Scotland, the facts speak of Labour’s incompetence and guilt

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Headlining on BBC Scotland today: The head of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) has apologised to the thousands of victims in Scotland who were infected by HIV or Hepatitis C through NHS blood products. Though apologising, he claims, astonishingly: In Scotland, the vast majority of infections came from Scottish blood donations. In the 1970s and 80s, the country was largely self-sufficient in blood products. In addition to having adequate local donations for the populations needs, the Protein Fractionation Centre in Edinburgh had the capacity to process blood plasma to manufacture treatments for haemophilia or certain forms of immune … Continue reading As BBC Scotland try to locate blame for the infected blood scandal IN Scotland, the facts speak of Labour’s incompetence and guilt

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England follows Scotland’s world-leading life-saving overdose drug programme after three years of delay

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By stewartb On the UK and Health pages of The BBC News website this morning (14 May): ‘Life-saving overdose drug to be given without prescription’. It’s about extending of availability in England of naloxone, the drug given in an emergency to those at risk of death from an opioid overdose. The same story featured in news bulletins throughout Radio 4’s Today programme. Much praise for the UK government in taking this decision! No mention of Scotland’s world first in making naloxone widely available for emergency use. The Scottish Programme reported on TuS: Scotland was the first country in the world to implement … Continue reading England follows Scotland’s world-leading life-saving overdose drug programme after three years of delay

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All of Scotland’s hospitals within normal mortality range

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From Public Health Scotland, today: For the period January 2023 to December 2023 no hospitals had a significantly higher standardised mortality ratio than the national average [more deaths than predicted]. The standardised mortality ratio for Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France (1.12) is above the upper warning limit. For the period January 2023 to December 2023 no hospitals had a significantly lower standardised mortality ratio than the national average [fewer deaths than predicted]. The standardised mortality ratio for Western General Hospital (0.83) is below the lower warning limit. The graph reveals the cohesive nature of public health in a … Continue reading All of Scotland’s hospitals within normal mortality range

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Conservative council’s nursery closures ‘punishment’ for choosing rural life

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From BBC Scotland South this morning: Nursery closures ‘punishment’ for choosing rural life – Parents in the Borders claim they are being punished for choosing country living after their local nurseries were earmarked for closure. Scottish Borders Council announced at Easter that early years centres in Westruther and Fountainhall would close this summer.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c99z08zx024o There’s not a mention of the Council being Conservative & Unionist nor of their Conservative & Unionist MP not their Conservative & Unionist MSP, fighting to keep the nursery open. There is, of course, no context, no news on the wider context of childcare in the … Continue reading Conservative council’s nursery closures ‘punishment’ for choosing rural life

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‘UK’ Birth trauma report has evidence of a crisis only in England

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BY stewartb The report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) in the UK Parliament on birth trauma published today does of course address a really important topic. It merits and has received a lot of attention from the mainstream media: BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning gave it a lot of attention. My interest – as in the main blog post – is in the nature of the APPG’s process – its research scope, its evidence base and the nature of its recommendations. After listening to media reports and skimming through the final report, the following observation seem worth … Continue reading ‘UK’ Birth trauma report has evidence of a crisis only in England

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Conservative minister apologises for birth trauma scandal in England

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From the Guardian today: Minister apologises to women affected by birth trauma after UK inquiry. Inquiry hears ‘harrowing’ testimonies and finds postcode lottery for quality of maternity care. A health minister has apologised to women affected by birth trauma after a parliamentary inquiry that heard “harrowing” testimonies from more than 1,300 women about giving birth found a “postcode lottery” for maternity care. The women’s health minister, Maria Caulfield, on Monday acknowledged ministers had got the approach to maternity services wrong for a long time. A UK inquiry but only the minister covering NHS England is asked and no mention of … Continue reading Conservative minister apologises for birth trauma scandal in England

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New BBC Scotland tactic – ‘numbing the senses of the nation with trivia’

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By stewartb The contributions to life in Scotland by the public service broadcaster, BBC Scotland are well known to TuS readers. Most readily analysed is its output appearing daily on the BBC News website: context-free, perspective-free news on economic and political matters; politicisation of public service issues to a degree unknown in the output of BBC Wales; an evident preference for negativity – candidly, gaslighting; and to reinforce this, a practice of bias by omission. All the foregoing is consistent with exerting influence in support for the Union. However, today on the Corporation’s News website we may be seeing a … Continue reading New BBC Scotland tactic – ‘numbing the senses of the nation with trivia’

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Aberdeen home-owners buy property which requires maintenance just like any other, in a Thatcherite scheme, at a knock-down price, from a Tory or Labour council, after a professional survey, and the SNP Government has to do something?

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By Professor John Robertson As with the excited media reports on inflammable cladding, quite safe from ‘towering infernos’ in Scotland because of the cavity fire barriers required in Scotland by longstanding building regulations, the reports on Raac are tending to be evidence-deficient. Today, BBC Scotland is headlining: ‘We live in fear our roof is going to collapse’ The report, typically, does not mention that the tenants bought these properties at ‘knock-down’ prices from public ownership, as part of Thatcher’s right-to-buy scheme which seriously damaged the ability of public authorities to house the less well-off. There’s no mention of the first … Continue reading Aberdeen home-owners buy property which requires maintenance just like any other, in a Thatcherite scheme, at a knock-down price, from a Tory or Labour council, after a professional survey, and the SNP Government has to do something?

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As CalMac averages over 99% reliability last week Peel Port’s blame for Arran problems is confirmed, problems pile up for ferry services elsewhere

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From the Scotsman, today: Claims by the owner of a harbour on CalMac’s busiest route that its poor condition is due to damage by the operator’s ferries have been rubbished by another ports firm which said the fleet had not harmed any of its own 26 harbours. Who owns Peel Ports? John Whittaker (born 14 March 1942) is a British billionaire. He is chairman of the Peel Group, a property business that mainly invests in North West England. According to The Sunday Times Rich List in 2019, Whittaker is worth £1.95 billion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Whittaker_(businessman) Meanwhile, in Nova Scotia (Canada): The ferry between Prince Edward Island and … Continue reading As CalMac averages over 99% reliability last week Peel Port’s blame for Arran problems is confirmed, problems pile up for ferry services elsewhere