Tag: news

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Scotland gets first Patient Safety Commissioner three years after England and 18 years after a leading European expert said it was already ‘at the very top pillar with regards to patient safety’ 

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Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Scotland today: Scotland’s first ever Patient Safety Commissioner is set to be appointed. Experienced healthcare executive Karen Titchener will take up the role after two previous recruitment drives for the £93,094-a-year role failed. There has been a patient safety commissioner in England since 2022. The BBC Scotland report misses something quite important that the above Scottish Health Secretary put in place – see below. Never mind the facts on the ground in hospitals these 18 years, what does it look like to the media? You have to wonder just WTF England’s commissioner has been up … Continue reading Scotland gets first Patient Safety Commissioner three years after England and 18 years after a leading European expert said it was already ‘at the very top pillar with regards to patient safety’ 

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How only one Scottish Labour MP opposed ‘the biggest attack on the welfare state since George Osborne ushered in the years of austerity’

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By stewartb Back on June 13, 2024, a BBC Scotland editor published an article on the BBC News website (so it must be true) with this opening: “Read my lips,” said Anas Sarwar, during the BBC Scotland leaders’ debate this week. “No austerity under Labour.” Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp4409yejrwo Fast forward to today when the push back against the policies of Mr Sarwar’s Labour in Name Only (LINO) party in government in Westminster has been given further impetus. It is being reported that 42 Labour MPs have sent a letter of protest to the PM. Here is how two Labour-supporting online media organisations are covering the … Continue reading How only one Scottish Labour MP opposed ‘the biggest attack on the welfare state since George Osborne ushered in the years of austerity’

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Scottish Labour is led by someone who has been repeatedly rejected as a constituency candidate in every Holyrood election

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By Liz S Paul Hutcheon the Daily Record’s political Editor for the Labour party in Scotland tweeted this on ‘X’ on 6 May. “Reading that SNP list of Holyrood candidates, it’s like a revolving door of Westminster rejects” MSM Monitor in a tweet yesterday on ‘X’ then responded to Paul’s tweet in reminding us all about Anas Sarwar (as in his political career thus far). “Scottish Labour is not only led by a Westminster reject who lost his seat to Alison Thewliss in 2015. It is led by someone who has been repeatedly rejected as a constituency candidate in every Holyrood election … Continue reading Scottish Labour is led by someone who has been repeatedly rejected as a constituency candidate in every Holyrood election

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As Welsh Labour call out Starmer’s cruelty, Scottish Labour hide behind BBC Scotland

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By stewartb The British Labour Party is under pressure in Wales with the Senedd elections upcoming in 2026. It seems that having British Labour Party colleagues in government in Westminster is being seen as an electoral handicap. The party leaders in Wales – unlike those of the British Labour Party in Scotland – are now seeking to differentiate themselves from LINO (the Labour In Name Only party) that dominates Westminster with its MPs from England and Scotland. A BBC Wales analysis offers an insight into how Labour’s First Minister Eluned Morgan intends to promote voting for Labour in 2026. It … Continue reading As Welsh Labour call out Starmer’s cruelty, Scottish Labour hide behind BBC Scotland

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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’

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Number of police officers increases for third quarter in a row to remain higher than under Labour despite plummeting crime and far lowest level in UK

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Professor John Robertson OBA From Police officer quarterly strength statistics: 31 March 2025, published yesterday: At the same time: Many of us, understandably are skeptical about the picture of falling crime painted by statistics based on police recording. Correctly, we point to the fact that much crime is known to be unreported and unrecorded.2 However, the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS),3 carried out by independent University-based researchers interviews around 5 000 Scots asking them to speak of ‘their experiences of, and attitudes to, a range of issues related to crime, policing and the justice system, including crime not reported to … Continue reading Number of police officers increases for third quarter in a row to remain higher than under Labour despite plummeting crime and far lowest level in UK

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Scotland beware – Right-wing Reform leader Farage wants to replace the NHS with a USA style “insurance based model”

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By JB Right-wing Reform leader Farage wants to replace the NHS with a USA style “insurance based model”. One of the many companies the multi-millionaire Farage owns, which was set up in May 2024, is called ‘Action on World Health LLP’. As “Co-founder and Chairman” Farage wants to reform or replace the World Health Organisation. One of its directors is also a director of a consultancy which advises, among other sectors, health care firms – “particularly mental and behavioural health”.  According to the hypocritical Labour Government Health Secretary Wes Streeting “Farage has been pushing healthcare charges to his supporters in … Continue reading Scotland beware – Right-wing Reform leader Farage wants to replace the NHS with a USA style “insurance based model”

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90% of local authorities in England ‘failed to submit reliable data’ to their national ‘watchdog’ but it’s not covered by media – Imagine that happened in Scotland?

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By stewartb A notable statement has been published today from the National Audit Office. The NAO performs a similar role to Audit Scotland but has a quite different public profile: whereas BBC Scotland and others in the mainstream media crawl through every line of every report published by Audit Scotland searching for ‘juicy’ negatives, the NAO’s output gets little mainstream news coverage in England or UK-wide, even when reporting significant negative findings. Today’s NAO report is clearly a major ‘negative’ – and the first of its kind ever – but at the time of writing this comment, there is nothing about it … Continue reading 90% of local authorities in England ‘failed to submit reliable data’ to their national ‘watchdog’ but it’s not covered by media – Imagine that happened in Scotland?

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There is no evidence that ‘mothers and babies came to harm in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary’ but Reporting Scotland want you to think so despite NHS Scotland’s lower maternity death rate and better staffing

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Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland this morning claimed that mothers and babies came to harm in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary due to a toxic culture there, as they reported on an independent review. The review as reported by BBC Scotland on their website today, does not mention that claim at all: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj3x6vy3lkeo The claim comes from a December 2024 internal review by Lothian Health board which BBC Scotland reported as only having this evidence: But staff say they fear the risks to patients remain. “We are afraid we can’t provide safe patient care and that women and babies are being … Continue reading There is no evidence that ‘mothers and babies came to harm in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary’ but Reporting Scotland want you to think so despite NHS Scotland’s lower maternity death rate and better staffing

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Grangemouth oil refinery – to have “failed” to make a profit at a time of such high oil prices is unimaginable

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By George Caldow In what little coverage (I have given up on expecting proper analysis in Scottish or UK MSM) I have seen or read, it has been about points scoring by Politicians. The truth is not so easily constrained within a soundbite. Ineos’s management is poor. To have “failed” to make a profit at a time of such high oil prices is unimaginable however they state they have. We have had statements of intent regarding introducing new technologies yet they have failed to complete many of the projects announced to much fanfare. They received money from the Scottish Government … Continue reading Grangemouth oil refinery – to have “failed” to make a profit at a time of such high oil prices is unimaginable