Tag: nhs

5 Comments

Scotland’s ambulances FOUR times faster!

johnrobertson834

In the Guardian today, from Poly Toynbee, one always keen to suggest things are bad in Scotland under the SNP: Jammed 999 lines and not enough ambulances to go round: come see the sharp end of this NHS crisis There’s no mention of Scotland in the Guardian report. In January 2024, I wrote: Via the BBC’s How long do patients wait for an ambulance? app today, we can confirm that the average waiting time for a Scottish ambulance is 8 min and 46 secs: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59549800 Also, from BBC UK on 14 December 2023: Average response times of more than 38 minutes for category two emergency … Continue reading Scotland’s ambulances FOUR times faster!

4 Comments

BBC Scotland’s Eva was ‘inoperable’ because of ‘nursing shortages’ caused by the demands of the private hospitals Scottish Labour must now support

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson BBC Scotland milking another sick child story again. I’m amazed Anas Sarwar is not bedside cuddling her. BBC Scotland, last year and today, pin the blame on the SNP in government with: Mr Adams had previously claimed that nursing shortages at the Edinburgh children’s hospital were contributing to some young patients waiting up to three times longer for spinal surgery than they were pre-pandemic. First, there’s no mention in their report that Scotland has far more nurses and doctors per head of population than England. In 2023, Under the SNP government, we have over 28,000 more … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s Eva was ‘inoperable’ because of ‘nursing shortages’ caused by the demands of the private hospitals Scottish Labour must now support

1 Comment

Prime Minister Sunak defends wrong NHS record

johnrobertson834

By stewartb From the BBC News website today (11 April): ‘PM defends NHS record as targets missed in England’. Today’s release of waiting times performance data for NHS England merited a high profile on Radio 4’s Today programme this morning. So what have we learned? In this online BBC article we’re told: ‘The NHS recovery plan set a target for the end of March for 76% of patients attending A&E to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.’ (The target used to be 95%.) And then this: ‘.. some 74.2% of patients were seen within four hours in A&Es … Continue reading Prime Minister Sunak defends wrong NHS record

4 Comments

Elderly and frail TWICE as likely to wait more than 24 hours in A&E in England than in Scotland

johnrobertson834

No pictures of old folk required here By Professor John Robertson From the Guardian today: More than 150,000 patients had to wait a day in A&E before getting a hospital bed last year, according to new data. Freedom of information data compiled by the Liberal Democrats from 73 hospital trusts – about half the total – found that the number of patients forced to wait more than 24 hours in A&E before a bed could be found for them has increased by tenfold since 2019. The majority of those forced to wait were elderly or frail, with two-thirds of the … Continue reading Elderly and frail TWICE as likely to wait more than 24 hours in A&E in England than in Scotland

15 Comments

NHS England almost 10 times more privatised per head than NHS Scotland after 16 years of SNP protection

johnrobertson834

Talking-up Scotland costs nothing so donate to our friends at  https://www.broadcastingscotland.scot/donate/ or take out a subscription to the Scots Independent newspaper in which I have a column, at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/product-category/subscriptions/ In recent years, NHS Scotland typically undertakes around 1 million procedures (operations) over the 12 months. As you might expect with 10 times the population, NHS England does around 10 million. Today in the Guardian, we can read: Private hospitals ‘cannibalising’ NHS in England by doing 10% of elective operations. Campaigners say health service cannot provide care quickly because of underinvestment, which is allowing firms to ‘make a killing’. Private hospitals performed 442,925 trauma … Continue reading NHS England almost 10 times more privatised per head than NHS Scotland after 16 years of SNP protection

8 Comments

SNP competence check – ‘England may wish to follow Scotland’s lead on preventive healthcare for under 5s’

johnrobertson834

This site costs nothing to run so donate to our friends at  https://www.broadcastingscotland.scot/donate/ From an article in the British Medical Journal, a remarkable report of the impact of the Scottish Government’s unique investment in health visitors, across a range of outcomes including infant survival, vaccination rates, breastfeeding, obesity, GP workload, A&E attendance levels and dental treatment. The full article is behind a paywall so unless you have access to an institutional (university, health board etc) account you may not be able to read the whole thing. It’s stunning. Here is an extract: Urgent action is needed to tackle worsening health … Continue reading SNP competence check – ‘England may wish to follow Scotland’s lead on preventive healthcare for under 5s’

10 Comments

Scotland training far far more doctors than rest of UK

johnrobertson834

This site costs nothing to run so donate to our friends at  https://www.broadcastingscotland.scot/donate/ Many thanks as, often before, to Dottie for alerting me to this. From the Guardian yesterday: Ministers have dramatically stalled plans to double the number of doctors being trained in England by 2031 in a move that has caused dismay across the NHS, as well in medical schools and universities, the Observer can reveal. In June last year, ministers backed a long-term plan to expand the NHS workforce and pledged, amid great fanfare, to “double medical school places by 2031 from 7,500 today to 15,000, with more medical school places in areas … Continue reading Scotland training far far more doctors than rest of UK

10 Comments

52 days of doctors strikes averted, more than 100 000 appointments and 5 000 lives saved by Humza Yousaf but his removal is what Labour desire most

johnrobertson834

This site costs nothing to run so donate to our friends at  https://www.broadcastingscotland.scot/donate/ Above, the shocking picture of 52 out of the last 365 when doctors were on strike in England. There were no days lost to action in Scotland. According to the Guardian on 10 January, junior doctor strikes caused around 1.3 million appointments to be cancelled. Had there been comparable action in Scotland, around 130 000 appointments would have been lost. According to the Telegraph on 2 January, there were nearly 53 000 excess deaths in 2023 ‘amid’ the strikes across the UK so, had there been strikes … Continue reading 52 days of doctors strikes averted, more than 100 000 appointments and 5 000 lives saved by Humza Yousaf but his removal is what Labour desire most

28 Comments

Prevent another deadly health strike or check a colleague’s phone bill – What should Humza have done with his time?

johnrobertson834

BBC Scotland are going with the Tories on the news of the day – Humza Yousaf must apologise for refusing to sack former health secretary Michael Matheson, the Scottish Conservatives have said. The, THE news, today, of the Junior Doctor’s next, looming, strike, is nowhere other than in the Health Service Journal: Junior doctors have announced a further five full days of strike action this month, while their union has accused the health and social care secretary of refusing to extend their strike mandate to allow pay talks to continue. The strike will run from 7am on Saturday 24 February … Continue reading Prevent another deadly health strike or check a colleague’s phone bill – What should Humza have done with his time?

13 Comments

NHS Scotland is far better staffed and is returning to pre-pandemic treatment levels but this IFS twit can’t even do basic arithmetic!

johnrobertson834

Straight after we hear that Neil Grey is ‘facing‘ his first day as Health Secretary, Reporting Scotland at 06:27am: It comes as the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says the NHS is handling fewer patients – including 21% fewer elective in-patients – but costing more. A Scottish Government spokesperson said they remain committed to reducing waits for planned and emergency care. Then from Max, above: I think this should be one of the highest priorities for the new health secretary. NHS and health spending is one of the largest fings (sic) the Scottish Government or most governments do and when you … Continue reading NHS Scotland is far better staffed and is returning to pre-pandemic treatment levels but this IFS twit can’t even do basic arithmetic!