Will Scotland’s model for pharmacy offers lessons for predicted ‘Iran war’ shortages?

In the Guardian today: Britain [sic] is “a few weeks away” from medicine shortages ranging from painkillers to cancer treatment if the Iran war continues, according to experts, while drug prices could also rise. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/28/uk-weeks-away-medicine-shortages-iran-war-impacts-experts-warn The above makes no mention of Scotland. Searching for reports of shortages in Scotland gets the same story of shortages in England plus, When I saw the Guardian piece I was reminded of this intriguing suggestion: One potential solution lies in affording community pharmacy greater latitude in altering prescriptions – a practice that could save immense amounts of NHS funds and ease the mounting pressure … Continue reading Will Scotland’s model for pharmacy offers lessons for predicted ‘Iran war’ shortages?

Scotland’s GPs have ‘negotiated, investment-heavy multi-year package aimed at stabilisation’, while England’s GPs have strongly rejected what they see as ‘burdensome, under-resourced changes’

Thanks, once again, to Dottie for alerting me to this: Today, from Doctors’ Association UK: The Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) has given its strong support to general practitioners in England after they overwhelmingly rejected this year’s imposed contract changes. Almost 17,000 GPs and GP registrars took part in the BMA’s referendum, with 98.9% voting against the plans. They have called on the Government to return to negotiation with the BMA’s GP committee (BMA GPC) to jointly develop and agree a brand new contract.  https://dauk.org/government-urged-to-listen-after-gps-reject-contract-changes/ AI question – How does the current GP contract in Scotland compare with that for England … Continue reading Scotland’s GPs have ‘negotiated, investment-heavy multi-year package aimed at stabilisation’, while England’s GPs have strongly rejected what they see as ‘burdensome, under-resourced changes’

The Dark Side of NHS England and Jackie Baillie’s only waiting times ‘victory’ over Scotland

In August 2025, STV and many other media reported: Long NHS waits are over 800 times more common in Scotland than they are in England, Scottish Labour has claimed. The party said its own analysis of publicly available figures showed Scotland had nearly 15,000 ongoing waits of two years or more – representing one case per 367 people. Meanwhile, NHS England reported having 182 waits of more than two years, or around one in 317,000 people. The figures involve those waiting more than two years on NHS outpatient, inpatient or day case waiting lists. Under this measure, Labour said the … Continue reading The Dark Side of NHS England and Jackie Baillie’s only waiting times ‘victory’ over Scotland

Scotland does TWICE the UK rate of heart transplants per capita, thanks to additional financial support from the SNP government but the UK does lag far behind rest of Europe

From BBC Health two days ago, the above and: The UK used to be a world leader in the field – but has fallen behind major Western nations. The number of heart and lung transplants the NHS carries out each year has not increased in three decades. BBC File on 4 Investigates has found that technology is outdated, there is a lack of investment and senior surgeons are leaving – while patients point to issues with ongoing care. and: While the number of organs donated in the UK is equal to, or better than, much of other parts of Europe … Continue reading Scotland does TWICE the UK rate of heart transplants per capita, thanks to additional financial support from the SNP government but the UK does lag far behind rest of Europe

The Health Secretary in England says the NHS is ‘on the road to recovery’ but two think tanks reveal it’s nowhere near catching NHS Scotland

By stewartb The health think tank, the Kings Fund in collaboration the Nuffield Trust has just published a report on public satisfaction in 2025 with the NHS and social care across the UK. It is based on British Social Attitudes Survey research. The report notes: ‘The British Social Attitudes Survey (BSA) is a ‘gold standard’, nationally representative survey that uses a robust methodology to explore public views on what it is like to live in Britain and how respondents think the country is run.’ (See https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/2026-03/public-satisfaction-with-the-nhs-and-social-care-in-2025.pdf ) The research provides views on the NHS overall and on selected NHS services viz. general practice, … Continue reading The Health Secretary in England says the NHS is ‘on the road to recovery’ but two think tanks reveal it’s nowhere near catching NHS Scotland

How can there be ‘home care facing catastrophic breakdown’ in a system which actually increased the number of places available last year? 

Today, the Herald has: Home caring services are heading towards a “catastrophic breakdown”, Scottish ministers have been told as industry leaders warn the funding deficit is becoming uncontrollable. Concerns over the sustainability of social care in Scotland have been growing in recent years, with local government body Cosla warning £750 million is needed just to stabilise the vital industry. Is there hard evidence for this claim? From Care home statistics for Scotland Support and services funded by local authorities in Scotland 2024/2025 published yesterday: During 2024/25 there were an estimated 49,605 people who resided in a care home and were fully or partially … Continue reading How can there be ‘home care facing catastrophic breakdown’ in a system which actually increased the number of places available last year? 

A major new study counters ‘deluge of negativity, accusations and downright lies’ about NHS Scotland

By Jim Mennie The Meidas Scotland  ‘Have Your Say’ survey created to gather feedback on Scottish NHS experiences — Scottish NHS: Your Stories Matter — has gathered over 400 responses in a matter of weeks and is already generating valuable insight.  The survey link – https://meidasscotland.eaction.org.uk/hospitals Meidas Scotland – https://www.facebook.com/people/Meidas-Scotland/61573925276612/ https://x.com/MeidasScotland and https://bsky.app/profile/sovereign.scothttps://www.instagram.com/meidasscotland/https://www.tiktok.com/@meidasscotlandhttps://free-scotland.scot/ I created this survey after becoming furious at the sheer deluge of negativity, accusations and downright lies coming from some politicians and parts of the mainstream Scottish media. Enough was enough — if they weren’t going to tell the truth, then I’d ask the public directly. I wanted the … Continue reading A major new study counters ‘deluge of negativity, accusations and downright lies’ about NHS Scotland

‘An unannounced inspection by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) has praised maternity services at Victoria Hospital, NHS Fife, for delivering compassionate, person-centred care’

By stewartb ‘Maternity Services in Kirkcaldy not being ‘up to standard.’ – surely such BBC Scotland negativity CANNOT be about maternity services at the Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy? From the NHS Fife website today, 19 March: ‘An unannounced inspection by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) has praised maternity services at Victoria Hospital, NHS Fife, for delivering compassionate, person-centred care. The inspection, carried out in December 2025, highlighted strong multidisciplinary teamwork, visible senior leadership, and highly positive feedback from women and families using the service.’ From the actual report: Healthcare Improvement Scotland (March 19, 2026) Unannounced Inspection Report Maternity Services Safe Delivery of Care Inspection … Continue reading ‘An unannounced inspection by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) has praised maternity services at Victoria Hospital, NHS Fife, for delivering compassionate, person-centred care’

The story of Covid was not the same across the UK – this is a deliberate lie to conceal Scotland’s demonstrably and significantly better performance and recovery

across the UK, but recovery after Covid is perhaps one area where Scotland has performed a little bit worse than England England in terms of the waiting times for non-urgent operations that people are facing right now. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002szh1/reporting-scotland-lunchtime-news-19032026 BBC Reporting Scotland today, ignoring all the evidence that does not fit their agenda and trying to tell you that the SNP Government did no better and even, in recovery, even worse. First excess deaths First, Excess Deaths – From the Covid Inquiry documents, Table 13, during the pandemic period from March 2020 to February 2022, in England, excess deaths were 6.5% … Continue reading The story of Covid was not the same across the UK – this is a deliberate lie to conceal Scotland’s demonstrably and significantly better performance and recovery

Labour’s crisis in social care disappears when the figures come in

In December 2025, Jackie Baillie, Labour Party Health spokesperson said: That the Parliament believes that the Scottish Government’s failure to prioritise social care has fuelled a crisis, harming some of Scotland’s most vulnerable people, and calls on the Scottish Ministers to work to close the funding gap facing health and social care partnerships and value Scotland’s care workforce. In response, Health Secretary Neil Gray said: As an amendment to motion S6M-19977 in the name of Jackie Baillie (Crisis in Social Care), leave out from “Scottish Government’s” to end and insert “UK Government must reverse its hostile and damaging migration policies, … Continue reading Labour’s crisis in social care disappears when the figures come in