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

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

Elderly Canadian ferries major maintenance woes and climate change failures after severe government cuts to funding

By Professor John Robertson After years of crew shortages and breakdowns in elderly ferries (average age 37 compared to 24 in Scotland) BC Ferries customers faced new disappointments at the end of 2023. From CTV News in August 2023: BC Ferries says it will be more than a month before its Coastal Renaissance ferry returns to service. The vessel has been docked for days now, after an issue with its motor took it out of service on Aug. 17. In an update Tuesday, the provincial ferry provider said the Coastal Renaissance will not be back in service until October. and … Continue reading Elderly Canadian ferries major maintenance woes and climate change failures after severe government cuts to funding

Prison activity time – Lib Dumbs cannot count as trend is upward but assaults remain at half the level of England & Wales

By Professor John Robertson Headlining on the Herald website today, another Lib Dem (5th biggest party) ‘investigation’: Overcrowding in Scotland’s prisons has led to a significant drop in the number of “purposeful activity” hours being offered to inmates, new figures have revealed. The Scottish Liberal Democrats have warned of a “vicious cycle” with prisoners reoffending because they have been deprived of education and training while inside that would help them rehabilitate. The evidence? This: So, once more, selective, inaccurate, use of stats from the Lib Dumbs. First the fall of 3, from 16 to 13 hours, is not 25%, but 18.75%. Did … Continue reading Prison activity time – Lib Dumbs cannot count as trend is upward but assaults remain at half the level of England & Wales

Under Labour, NHS Wales has a waiting list 36% longer than England and 150% longer than Scotland

By Professor John Robertson As the Guardian reports today a surge in waiting times in England, after a year of strikes, I thought I’d have a look at NHS Wales, led by the Labour Party, to see if that might offer us hope for better performance as the they take over in England next year. England has 18 times the population of Wales. Scotland has 1.7 times the population of Wales. According to the BMJ in March 2023, there were 734 000 on the NHS Wales waiting lists (presumably more now). https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/pressures/nhs-under-pressure-wales#:~:text=Waiting%20lists%20remain%20high&text=In%20March%202023%2C%20there%20were,it%20was%20in%20March%202020. All things being equal, you’d then expect England … Continue reading Under Labour, NHS Wales has a waiting list 36% longer than England and 150% longer than Scotland

After more than 50 days of strikes and more than a million appointments cancelled NHS England’s waiting list swells to proportionally TWICE that in Scotland

By Professor John Robertson More than 50 days of NHS strikes in England, and counting, the Guardian today reports: Almost 10 million people across England could be waiting for an NHS appointment or treatment, 2 million more than previously estimated, according to a survey by the Office for National Statistics. The ONS survey of about 90,000 adults found that 21% of patients were waiting for a hospital appointment or to start receiving treatment on the NHS. When extrapolated, this equates to 9.7 million people. In January, the waiting list stood at 7.6 million, according to official NHS statistics. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/03/almost-10-million-people-in-england-could-be-on-nhs-waiting-list The Guardian report does … Continue reading After more than 50 days of strikes and more than a million appointments cancelled NHS England’s waiting list swells to proportionally TWICE that in Scotland

Chickens uncaged but your news still trapped in one

By Professor John Robertson BBC Scotland’s website above still milking the non-story of an attention-seeking celeb and serial whinger about anything the SNP might do to better the circumstances of the rest of us. This morning, BBC UK had an extended piece on Scotland becoming the first part of the UK to ban the caging of laying hens. As you would hope they let the Scottish Government minister have some credit for the actions. Minutes later BBC Reporting Scotland managed to push the story back, behind a tale of a flooded cemetery in Ayr without telling us the council responsible … Continue reading Chickens uncaged but your news still trapped in one

Abuse, assault, bullying, racism, sexism, misogyny and cover-ups – the Scottish Lib Dems

By NMRN It has always been an enigma to me why ACH and the Lib Dems, an insignificant presence within Holyrood via the amount of MSP’s and TBH via their weak contributions in any debate, that the BBC and other media often seek out their input and opinions upon Scottish politics and indeed any matters connected to Scotland. (though really I am fully aware of why they are given a media platform…. tis solely down to their eager #SNPBAD rhetoric that is part of a combined political attack together with other opposition parties against the SNP) Thus one has to … Continue reading Abuse, assault, bullying, racism, sexism, misogyny and cover-ups – the Scottish Lib Dems

Alcohol-related hospital admissions continue to plummet in wake of SNP ‘controversial’ Minimum Unit Pricing policy

By Professor John Robertson From Public Health Scotland on 26 March 2024: General hospital admissions resulting from conditions wholly attributable to alcohol peaked in 2007/08 (855 per 100,000 population) but have fallen most years since and reduced by 37.5% between 2007/08 and 2022/23 (532 per 100,000). The 2022 Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) reports that 19% of respondents (aged 16 and over) stated that they did not drink any alcohol. This represents a rise on the equivalent 2021 figure which was 16%. There has been a steady increase in the percentage of SHeS respondents aged 16-24 years who report that they … Continue reading Alcohol-related hospital admissions continue to plummet in wake of SNP ‘controversial’ Minimum Unit Pricing policy

Only 0.0008% of nearly a QUARTER OF A MILLION additional needs cases wait too long and there will be complex reasons for even those 2 but the Lib Dems care little for that

By Professor John Robertson BBC Reporting Scotland today have a story not being covered by the BBC Scotland website: Long waits for diagnoses of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and ADHD ‘s ‘harmful’ particularly for children. That’s according to the Scottish Liberal Democrats who obtained wait list figures through a Freedom of Information request. The report goes on to ‘cherry pick’ extreme examples of the kind we all know there will be complex reasons for, over and above any supposed staff shortages, and require a Scottish Government response to a problem entirely the responsibility of a health board. The report does … Continue reading Only 0.0008% of nearly a QUARTER OF A MILLION additional needs cases wait too long and there will be complex reasons for even those 2 but the Lib Dems care little for that

She dislikes SNP, Scottish independence, Jeremy Corbyn, anything passed as a law , bill or policy originating from the Scottish government, Scottish FM (past & present)…….

JK Rowling sitting on a mountain of children’s pocket money and dreaming of domination in Scotland By NMRN “JK Rowling in ‘arrest me’ challenge over hate crime law” Pity there was not a law against “constant attention seeking uber wealthy over privileged peeps’ like her who promotes it’s ‘my way or the highway’ type of opinion on politics and other matters…….her nose cannot help but be stuck into most issues/situations/politics that she demands should be altered/reversed/different ….it’s her dismissive and condescending manner that irks….of course us mere mortals who, unlike her, cannot be protected by vast wealth that sees some, … Continue reading She dislikes SNP, Scottish independence, Jeremy Corbyn, anything passed as a law , bill or policy originating from the Scottish government, Scottish FM (past & present)…….