Tag: scotland

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The latest scandal ….yep another one….of a Tory MP… reads almost like a Crime novel

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By NMRN The latest scandal ….yep another one….of a Tory MP…involves a surreal situation which reads almost like a Crime novel….involves a Tory MP, Mark Menzies (never heard of him) who is the MP for Flyde in Lancashire, where apparently he called an elderly party volunteer saying he was locked in a flat and needed £5,000 as a matter of “life and death”……An eventual sum of £6,500 was paid to secure his release. The money is reported to have come out of local Conservative party funds and the party is carrying out an an investigation……I assume the Police are also carrying out an investigation and if not … Continue reading The latest scandal ….yep another one….of a Tory MP… reads almost like a Crime novel

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Scotland’s ferries policy manifestly functional says this expert

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In the Herald today: Scotland’s ferry policy is “manifestly dysfunctional” and must be overhauled, an expert has said. In a submission to a Transport Scotland consultation on its Island Connectivity plan, Roy Pedersen criticised the current process of “the state procuring large, inefficient ships! which he says “will increase the already high financial cost to the Scottish taxpayer”.  Pederson’s report is 36 pages long but judging by the above claims, he has missed any international comparisons of the kind any rigorous research would require. Academics call it a ‘review of literature’ without which no research will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. If … Continue reading Scotland’s ferries policy manifestly functional says this expert

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Scotland’s ambulances FOUR times faster!

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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!

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Drug-related hospital admissions plummet for third year after Scottish Government Naloxone initiative but are not being reported by media

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By Professor John Robertson The above graph is from Public Health Scotland today, at: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/drug-related-hospital-statistics/drug-related-hospital-statistics-scotland-2022-to-2023/ After a pilot phase ending in 2018, the Scottish Government began to embed Naloxone opioid overdose reversal kits across NHS Scotland. Shortly after, the kits which can be administered by anyone, were adopted by Police Scotland, ambulances and prisons, and made available to libraries, community centres, taxi drivers and to the friends and relatives of users. Scotland was the first country in the world to introduce a national naloxone programme, empowering individuals, families, friends and communities to reverse an opiate overdose. Anyone in Scotland can … Continue reading Drug-related hospital admissions plummet for third year after Scottish Government Naloxone initiative but are not being reported by media

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How are drugs coming into Scotland and from whom and where?

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Why Liverpool? This: Liverpool drugs gangs still have their eye on Scotland: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-drugs-gangs-still-eye-25476347 By NMRN County lines Drug gangs is the missing part in all reports promoted by the media and politicians when in reference to drugs in Scotland…..yet one would have thought it was a hugely significant factor……a tactical omission ? Perhaps it is something the Justice secretary could seek to explore and have investigated as to the consequences it has upon Scotland and the problems with the drugs accessibility here……. where data could be published which would at least give the Scottish public a sense of how some drugs were coming into … Continue reading How are drugs coming into Scotland and from whom and where?

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

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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

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Why are BBC Scotland’s ‘ageing ferries’ far younger than Washington State’s ‘ageing ferries?’

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From King-TV Seattle today: Washington State Ferries (WSF) received $4.8 million in federal funding to refurbish six aging boats in its fleet, Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell announced Wednesday. The federal grant will pay for upgrades on WSF’s Issaquah Class Vessels, originally constructed between 1979 and 1982. The vessels currently serve travellers on the Fauntleroy-Southworth-Vashon, Mukilteo-Clinton, and Anacortes-San Juan Islands routes. https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/washington-state-ferries-receives-4-8-million-in-federal-funding-for-passenger-area-upgrades/ar-AA1kKmpQ?ocid=asudhp Meanwhile, in Scotland, from BBC Scotland in May 2022: The problem with CalMac’s ageing ferries. Announcements that Caledonian MacBrayne ferries have been withdrawn from service for repairs are becoming an increasingly common occurrence. Most islands in the west … Continue reading Why are BBC Scotland’s ‘ageing ferries’ far younger than Washington State’s ‘ageing ferries?’

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Lessons From Australia on Scotland’s NHS 

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By Fraser Grant The Scottish media gave a lot of coverage to Dr Michael Mrozinski who told BBC Reporting Scotland on Thursday that blaming Covid for NHS failings was just spin.  This was eagerly picked up by The Scotsman (1) which then ran an editorial on Saturday headlined “Australia punctures SNP spin about NHS crisis” (2). However, the Australian health system is not as rosy as portrayed by Dr Michael Mrozinski, as a Victoria University publication on 15 December 2023 on the dire nursing shortage (3)  stated that “recent COVID-19 pandemic tested the resolve of many – if not most – nurses, with … Continue reading Lessons From Australia on Scotland’s NHS 

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HIV and Hepatitis C – The blood scandal reveals how a submissive Labour Government in Holyrood will never act in the interest of Scots

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Headlining on BBC Wales today, a BBC Wales investigation of the kind BBC Scotland and it’s Disclosure team will never tackle: When 10-month-old Colin Smith contracted HIV after receiving contaminated blood, his parents’ house was daubed with “Aids dead”. His father was also forced to leave his job. Now 34 years on from his death from Aids at the age of seven, his family are facing another injustice. A BBC investigation has found Prof Arthur Bloom, the doctor who gave Colin infected imported blood product Factor VIII, broke his own rules to do so. Just three months earlier, Prof Bloom’s … Continue reading HIV and Hepatitis C – The blood scandal reveals how a submissive Labour Government in Holyrood will never act in the interest of Scots

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Lorry driver ignores bridge weight limit, who you gonna blame? BBC Scotland ask ‘Did the Scottish Government build the bridge?’

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By Professor John Robertson Thanks to Bob Lamont for alerting me to this: Lorry damage puts CalMac ferry out of action BBC Scotland note: CalMac told ferry users the damage was caused by “large commercial vehicles” whose weight exceeds the ramp’s design load, but it has been unable to identify which lorries were to blame. Who’s to blame, children? Yes, the lying lorry driver and the lorry owners. What do BBC Scotland suggest instead? Cumbrae Ferry Users Group held a public meeting to discuss the ferry problems on Tuesday, attended by 130 people – about 10% of the island’s population. … Continue reading Lorry driver ignores bridge weight limit, who you gonna blame? BBC Scotland ask ‘Did the Scottish Government build the bridge?’