Baron Grayling’s former constituency hospital parking patients head-to-toe in A&E after 23 years of Tory-representation

Chris Grayling, famous for trying to ban books in prisons, comparing Manchester’s Moss Side to the Wire and giving ferry contracts to a company with no ferries, was MP for Epsom and Newell where the local hospital had a visit from Mirror reporters, above. Grayling was MP for 23 years, until 2024, giving him time, you’d think to work with (press) the local hospital to improve performance. Not so it seems. The SNP have had a bit less time than Grayling, but have done better. UK Government statistics confirm NHS Scotland’s A&E departments have been performing significantly better for nearly … Continue reading Baron Grayling’s former constituency hospital parking patients head-to-toe in A&E after 23 years of Tory-representation

Shocking inequalities in NHS England’s maternity care not apparent in Scotland where standards are being further ensured thanks to Scottish Government plans

‘shocking inequalities’ in maternity services… the deaths of 56 babies and 2 mothers at Leeds Teaching Hospital may have been preventable. By Professor John Robertson OBA BBC News at 6 [January 2025] has the above astonishing report goes on to list 6 or 7 other locations with comparable concerns to those in Leeds but there as no suggestion of blame for the current or previous governments. In November 2023, I was able to write: Note the wee print under the photo – 85 dangerously substandard maternity units in NHS England. The ‘Scottish’ media are quiet. If they had something, they’d be all over … Continue reading Shocking inequalities in NHS England’s maternity care not apparent in Scotland where standards are being further ensured thanks to Scottish Government plans

More news you won’t hear – Over 98,000 children are now benefiting from new learning environments and over 10,000 people are benefiting from new affordable homes

By cuckooshoe The SNP proposed a Scottish Futures Trust in their 2007 election manifesto. The Scottish Government owns the SFT which they established in 2008. It is an independent, arms-length company that works with the public and private sectors to maximize the benefits of infrastructure projects. “To further demonstrate the impact of our work, we produced this website with our ten outcomes detailed below. Within each of the outcomes, we have listed a number of facts and figures that reflect the quantitative impact our work is having. And across the ten outcomes, we have added 23 more case studies (on top … Continue reading More news you won’t hear – Over 98,000 children are now benefiting from new learning environments and over 10,000 people are benefiting from new affordable homes

There is no evidence of ‘regular’ care in extra beds and corridors in Scotland as BBC Scotland make up the numbers from a survey where less than 1% bothered to respond across the UK

Professor John Robertson OBA In a 457 page report, On the frontline of the UK’s corridor care crisis, from the RCN UK, the word ‘Scotland’ appears only twice in the text and, other than that, as the page header of a section where there are anonymised statements from an unspecified number of respondents. I am not, of course, saying that events do not happen in corridors and that care never takes place there, in Scotland but I am saying that this report does not provide evidence of it happening regularly as BBC Scotland claims today. The report only suggests ‘more than 5 … Continue reading There is no evidence of ‘regular’ care in extra beds and corridors in Scotland as BBC Scotland make up the numbers from a survey where less than 1% bothered to respond across the UK

NHS Scotland staffed and resourced to carry out 98% of nearly 25 000 operations in November 2024, up 40% on the level at the end of the pandemic, to complete media silence

By Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland, yesterday, we see that NHS Scotland had in place the staff and resources to carry out 98% of the 24 764 operations planned for November 2024 and 40% up from the around 18 000 planned at the end of the Covid-19 emergency measures in early 2022. In the event, around 6% were cancelled at the last minute, either by the patient themselves or by the medical staff, but nevertheless, NHS Scotland after 17 years of SNP rule, was ready for that 6% too. This is remarkable efficiency and government support in a … Continue reading NHS Scotland staffed and resourced to carry out 98% of nearly 25 000 operations in November 2024, up 40% on the level at the end of the pandemic, to complete media silence

Labour MP for Bathgate and Linlithgow’s hypocritical and inaccurate statement on access to NHS dentistry, 95% and 21% higher in Scotland, and available in her own town, just to please Sir Keir at PMQs

By Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks again AR: Kirsteen Sullivan Labour MP for Bathgate and Linlithgow, has just asked PM Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs about a shortage of dentists in Scotland which then allowed Starmer to attack the SNP. We see, above, Sullivan’s supposed commitment to honesty in public life. However, on the availability of NHS dentistry in Scotland, she doesn’t want you to know the honest truth, this: From Public Health Scotland, May 28, 2024: 5,182,993 people were registered with an NHS dentist as at 31 March 2024 (94.6% of the Scottish population). 732,618 extensive clinical examinations were paid in … Continue reading Labour MP for Bathgate and Linlithgow’s hypocritical and inaccurate statement on access to NHS dentistry, 95% and 21% higher in Scotland, and available in her own town, just to please Sir Keir at PMQs

Jackie Baillie tries to blame SNP though flu jag uptake in Scotland was 80% for 65+ while in Labour Wales it was dangerously below the WHO target at only 68%

By Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to AR for another of his regular assists with Labour in Scotland media fake news and the facts from Labour Wales. Health spokesperson for Scotland’s 3rd biggest party, UK Labour (North), Jackie Baillie, Dame of the British Empire, is in the Scotsman today with: Flu outbreak shows how badly the SNP is failing the NHS There is, of course, no mention of the fact that the ‘SNP’ has enabled: Vaccination uptake rates in the 65 years and over cohort remained high, reaching 79.8%. This is above the World Health Organization’s target ambition of 75%.1 … Continue reading Jackie Baillie tries to blame SNP though flu jag uptake in Scotland was 80% for 65+ while in Labour Wales it was dangerously below the WHO target at only 68%

BBC Scotland’s subtle attempt to mislead on cancer deaths

This morning BBC Scotland, at 6:30am, report: Currently three out of five people with a group of cancers characterised as ‘less survivable die within a year of diagnosis. New analysis shows the average one-year for survival rate for this group of cancers, which includes lung, liver and brain cancer, is just 39% in Scotland. The overall cancer survival rates across the country show 71% are still alive after 12 months. I don’t know about you but I took that contrasting 39% in Scotland and 71% across the country to mean that the UK survival rate was 71% and the Scottish … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s subtle attempt to mislead on cancer deaths

Averages from seven ‘2014 bias-free polls’ have SNP 15 points ahead, Labour stuck, Cons in trouble, Reform a wee worry and Lib Dems pleased to hang on to 5th place

Based on the last 7 polls with a breakdown sub-poll for Scotland, the averages are as above in the table. This is based on quite small and, on their own, unreliable sub-samples of between 100 and 200 Scots, 18+, but taken together they add up to around the 1 000 mark, required for a reasonable survey. Almost every Scotland-only poll has its sample adjusted to match the 2014, 55 No / 45 Yes, ratio, reducing, it seem probable, the SNP/Green support. At 35%, for this Westmnister poll the SNP would be well down on their 2021 figure of 47.7% but … Continue reading Averages from seven ‘2014 bias-free polls’ have SNP 15 points ahead, Labour stuck, Cons in trouble, Reform a wee worry and Lib Dems pleased to hang on to 5th place

The Idiocrat

By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Associate Dean (Quality Assurance) Faculty of Education, UWS In the Herald today, recycling the recent lies of Prof (sic) Lindsay Paterson, Neil Mackay has: The debasement of Scottish education is turning us into an idiocracy. Takes one to know one I suppose but I guess he’s not that daft, just desperate to keep his job. The facts: First, in Secondary schools: At SCQF level 7 (Advanced Higher), the gap in 2009/10, two years after the SNP first came to power, was 24.1 and by 2021/22 it was 22.2, though down from 25 in the previous year but more important … Continue reading The Idiocrat