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After 6 months of Labour, NHS England long wait A&E lists are 2 to 3 times as long as in Scotland

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stewartb It’s worth adding the performance stats on long waits from TIME OF ARRIVAL in order to compare with NHS Scotland. NHS England statistics on waits in A&E departments over 12 hours from time of arrival are published monthly. However, the data have also been compiled for ease of reference in something called ‘Supplementary ECDS Analysis Time Series February 2023 Onwards (XLS, 41.9KB)’. Using this source it is possible to compare and contrast the number and percentage of A&E attendances spending 12 hours or more from time of arrival to admission, discharge or transfer. Set out below are snapshots of … Continue reading After 6 months of Labour, NHS England long wait A&E lists are 2 to 3 times as long as in Scotland

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A year later after they had queued round the block for a dentist, Labour has no plan but the SNP has managed 95% registered with an NHS dentist

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA Today lawyer Peter Stefanovic re-posted the above video to makes these points: The Labour Party went into the 2024 election promising to reform the discredited NHS contract fuelling the current crisis. According to @TheBDA there has … Continue reading A year later after they had queued round the block for a dentist, Labour has no plan but the SNP has managed 95% registered with an NHS dentist

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Massive surge in patients waiting more than 12 hours in NHS England A&E after 6 months of Labour-rule

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA In December 2024, 54 207 people waited more than 12 hours [after triage and decision to admit] in NHS England A&E departments, up from 36 806 in July when Labour won the General Election promising change but … Continue reading Massive surge in patients waiting more than 12 hours in NHS England A&E after 6 months of Labour-rule

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How the SNP Government kept your health data out the hands of an NHS England contractor who openly boasts about killing people in Gaza for profit

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From the Skwawkbox, today, the above video (link below) and this: Alex Karp, the chief executive of software company Palantir – which supplies military software and services to the Israeli occupation that has murdered and maimed hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank and also has a huge contract from the UK government to manage NHS data – has told shareholders he’s sure they’re having as much fun as he is and approves of the company ‘scar[ing] enemies and on occasion kill[ing] them’. Palantir has also been linked, in a parliamentary enquiry and … Continue reading How the SNP Government kept your health data out the hands of an NHS England contractor who openly boasts about killing people in Gaza for profit

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Contrary to the London-based IFS, the second homes tax is ‘One of Scotland’s best-conceived & rewarding policies’

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In the Herald, February 2025: Second homes tax is ‘Scotland’s most ill-conceived & damaging policy’ – What does Scotland’s tax system for purchases of second properties mean for taxpayers, landlords, tenants and the economy? That is one of the key questions the independent think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) examined in the first in a series of briefings from its third annual Scottish Budget Report published today. Should I check out the report by the IFS, that London-based, right-of-centre thinktank and do them the honour of responding to them point-by-point? I’m not. On the Second Homes Tax, I know, based on … Continue reading Contrary to the London-based IFS, the second homes tax is ‘One of Scotland’s best-conceived & rewarding policies’

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UK Government’s maintenance backlog for England’s devolved public service facilities reaches £30.5 billion – what impact of this neglect on Scotland?

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By stewartb The eye-watering scale of the maintenance backlog associated with UK government  property is exposed in a new report from the National Audit Office (NAO). A figure of £30.5 billion is identified as the scale of the backlog associated just with properties used in the delivery of devolved public services in England (some in Wales). Source: NAO (January 22, 2025) Maintaining public service facilities. Cross-Government Report, HC 544 (https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/maintaining-public-service-facilities.pdf ). When decisions by Westminster/Whitehall to neglect basic property maintenance in England result in budget numbers on this scale, the possible negative consequences for Scotland’s own public finances should merit … Continue reading UK Government’s maintenance backlog for England’s devolved public service facilities reaches £30.5 billion – what impact of this neglect on Scotland?

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NHS Scotland has the shortest waiting lists and 97% efficiency in progressing operations regardless of delays in building new units because of UK Government’s spending review

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland today has: More than £34m has been spent developing plans for five delayed NHS treatment centres which are meant to deal with a backlog of operations. then largely demolishing any value their report might have: … Continue reading NHS Scotland has the shortest waiting lists and 97% efficiency in progressing operations regardless of delays in building new units because of UK Government’s spending review

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Grenfell is to come down – A reminder of why a towering inferno will never happen in Scotland

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser closing on Friday, primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS Today [February 6th 2025] in the Guardian: Grenfell Tower is to be demolished, bereaved families are understood to have been told by Angela Rayner. Rayner, the deputy … Continue reading Grenfell is to come down – A reminder of why a towering inferno will never happen in Scotland

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Ayrshire Labour MPs could easily have voted against ‘plunging a rising number of children into poverty’ with no long term harm to their ‘careers’ or salaries but were too afraid to do so

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In Ayrshire Live on 24th July 2024: New Labour MPs vote to keep two-child benefit cap despite branding it ‘cruel’ previously During the election campaign Kilmarnock and Loudoun’s new MP previously called the two-child benefit cap “cruel”. All four of Ayrshire’s new Labour MPs have voted with the UK Government to keep the two-child benefit cap. Central Ayrshire MP Alan Gemmell, Kilmarnock and Loudoun MP Lillian Jones, Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock MP Elaine Stewart and North Ayrshire and Arran MP Irene Campbell all backed Prime Minister Keir Starmer. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/ayrshire/new-labour-mps-vote-keep-33314784 Today in the Guardian: Labour restores whip to three more MPs who opposed two-child benefit cap – Labour has restored … Continue reading Ayrshire Labour MPs could easily have voted against ‘plunging a rising number of children into poverty’ with no long term harm to their ‘careers’ or salaries but were too afraid to do so

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Latest of eight bias-free sub-polls has SNP 19 points ahead of Labour, Cons in deep trouble and Reform surging into second place, even in Scotland

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On January 14, 2025, I had the above, based on 7 Westminster sub-polls unaffected by bias, resulting from adjusting the sample to reflect the more than 10 years old 2014 referendum result, still used in all-Scotland polls and suggesting we’re still ‘even Stevens’ (not Flynn) on the yes/no vote while the SNP remain in the doldrums. Today, from YouGov: UK-wide Scottish Sub-poll (214) Regardless of the SNP support not back at full strength, though Op Branchform looks like withering soon, this suggests an SNP wipe-out other than in the LibDem seats. Transferred to Holyrood, I feel sure we can say … Continue reading Latest of eight bias-free sub-polls has SNP 19 points ahead of Labour, Cons in deep trouble and Reform surging into second place, even in Scotland