Tag: scotland

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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?’

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You’re almost TWICE as likely to be on a waiting list for cardiac care in England than you are in Scotland

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By Professor John Robertson From the Guardian today, we see that 408 548 are waiting for cardiac care in England. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/11/number-waiting-for-nhs-care-for-serious-heart-problems-in-england-rises-fivefold You know the drill. With one-tenth of the population, all things being as equally bad as our media would hope, Scotland might expect to have around 40 000 on the waiting list for cardiac care but according to the Herald on 6 February 2024, it’s 23 000, just over half. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24091977.cardiology-waiting-lists-at-highest-level-record Is it just this or is there a wider picture of NHS Scotland waiting lists being shorter after 16 years of the SNP in Government? Search: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/?s=wait to … Continue reading You’re almost TWICE as likely to be on a waiting list for cardiac care in England than you are in Scotland

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Prime Minister Sunak defends wrong NHS record

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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

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Crime and police staffing in Scotland – Factcheck finds more officers than under Labour and only half the crime!

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are making them feel vulnerable and sometimes unsafe. The Inspectorate of Constabulary says resources are a major concern, as well as the state of police buildings and disruption to days off. From Reporting Scotland this morning, the above. Note the word ‘feel‘ twice. We then hear from the Chief Inspector of Constabulary: It is glowing white hot. It is massive in the growth of demand and it’s more than I’ve ever seen. Resourcing is a challenge. You’re reducing the officer numbers. You’re reducing the amount of people available to work on a shift. It will cause problems because it will … Continue reading Crime and police staffing in Scotland – Factcheck finds more officers than under Labour and only half the crime!

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National Parks England & Wales on Raptor protection – ‘The Westminster and Welsh Governments should follow Scotland’s lead’

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By Professor John Robertson Big in the Guardian today, completely ignored in other MSM, the above from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/09/national-parks-in-england-and-wales-failing-on-biodiversity-say-campaigners has nothing to say about Scotland. Why should it? This on page 77: In response to ongoing raptor persecution, the Scottish Government introduced vicarious liability offences in District National Park. The birdwatcher had spotted a short-eared owl and watched it through his scope as it gracefully quartered the moor. Suddenly, the bird’s body was lost in a cloud of feathers as a shot rang out across the moors. The eyewitness managed to record footage of the suspect and reported the incident to … Continue reading National Parks England & Wales on Raptor protection – ‘The Westminster and Welsh Governments should follow Scotland’s lead’

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Deaths on A9 plummet to disappoint Murdo Fraser and Scotland’s roads revealed to be safest in UK

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By Professor John Robertson In December 2023, Douglas Ross accused the SNP of showing contempt for communities ‘reliant on the A9.’ Conservative Home wrote: In a recent debate at Holyrood on the £3 billion dualling programme, Murdo expressed frustration that, with the exception of Fergus Ewing, there were no SNP MSPs from the areas that are impacted who voted to treat the long-delayed dualling project as an urgent priority.’ A recent Freedom of Information request, probably by the Scottish Conservatives, seeking details of the number of deaths on the A9 in 2023 will have sorely disappointed them and is notably … Continue reading Deaths on A9 plummet to disappoint Murdo Fraser and Scotland’s roads revealed to be safest in UK

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CalMac ferries are youngest in major survey!

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linked to the aging vessels it currently it currently has to use. By Professor John Robertson BBC Scotland today, opening with the ferries construction being ‘delayed and over budget‘, a ‘running sore‘, then ‘delayed and over budget‘ again, all in less than 60 seconds, in case you didn’t get that, before repeating the idea that the fleet is ‘aging.’ Well, we’re all aging, but CalMac ferries are, objectively, younger than average, for a ferry fleet. From a September 2022, Ernst and Young LLP survey for the Scottish Government’s Transport Scotland department, CalMac ferries are, on average, newer (22) than those … Continue reading CalMac ferries are youngest in major survey!

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Another step toward life ‘in the early days of a better nation’ – Human rights centred benefits approach for disabled children in Scotland that BBC Scotland is predicted to ignore

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By Professor John Robertson I’ve written many times now how the SNP in government, hamstrung by the limits of the devolution settlement, is working hard toward Alasdair Gray’s famous line – “Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation.” We see it clearly, as long as we don’t rely on Scotland’s self-hating media, in the compensation for the bedroom tax and two child benefit cap, in the free prescriptions, the bus passes for youngsters to get them to college or apprenticeships, the progressive taxation and the world-leading child benefit which even the IFS had to … Continue reading Another step toward life ‘in the early days of a better nation’ – Human rights centred benefits approach for disabled children in Scotland that BBC Scotland is predicted to ignore