Tag: scotland

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NHS hospitals, staffing and strike avoidance lead to 1 600 fewer deaths, last year

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA From Public Health Scotland today: Unadjusted hospital mortality remained relatively stable at between 2.6% and 3.3% over the majority of the five-year period from July 2019 to June 2024. The relatively small variation shows clear seasonal patterns with increases in mortality during the winter months. However, larger increases occurred during the COVID-19 epidemic in Scotland, with unadjusted hospital mortality reaching 5.4% during the first wave, 4.4% during the second wave. Since the quarter April to June 2021, the crude mortality rate has been between 3.2% to 4.0%, showing seasonal variation.1 NHS England chooses not to publish … Continue reading NHS hospitals, staffing and strike avoidance lead to 1 600 fewer deaths, last year

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Despite surrounding poverty, drug abuse and years of UK Government austerity policies, Glasgow’s biggest hospital is one of the safest in Scotland and more so than the vast majority in England

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA Public Health Scotland, today, released the Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios data. Of particular interest is the ratio of observed to predicted deaths within 30 days. The ratio should be 1. If it’s much more than 1, then that may indicate a problem in staffing, operating theatre availability, ward cleanliness and, of course, many other factors. Lower than 1 is good news. For QEUH, it was 0.92. Only 4 of the 32 hospitals in Scotland had a more reassuring ratio. QEUH also had a lower than average Crude Mortality rate of 3.7% below the national average of … Continue reading Despite surrounding poverty, drug abuse and years of UK Government austerity policies, Glasgow’s biggest hospital is one of the safest in Scotland and more so than the vast majority in England

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NHS England spending EIGHT TIMES more per head on private consultants than ‘SNP’ NHS

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA The Scotsman yesterday, headlined: Anger as SNP consultants bill hits £42m Mr Robertson begins class on using maths with the above story – ‘Seems a big number doesn’t it boys and girls?’ Tommy (11) ‘Yeh, but it might not be, like that 40 000 extra NHS appointments Keir Starmer announced. That was only 0.5% more.’ Mr Robertson – ‘So, what other information do we need to be sure if it’s important or not?’ Nicola – ‘Is it bigger than last year or ten years ago?’ Maggie – ‘What was it in England?’ Mr Robertson – ‘Great, … Continue reading NHS England spending EIGHT TIMES more per head on private consultants than ‘SNP’ NHS

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Devolution offers little protection for Scotland’s democratic choices – sobering assessment of the Sewel Convention and Westminster power by the Institute for Government

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By stewartb The Institute for Government (IfG) – the London-based think tank close to the Westminster/Whitehall establishment – has published an assessment of the operation of the Sewel Convention. It explains the convention is ‘designed to give the devolved institutions a degree of certainty that their powers will not be overridden, and enables the UK and devolved governments to work together on legislation where their policy objectives are aligned.’ Source: Allen et al (November 7, 2024) The Sewel convention in practice – five case studies from the 2019–24 parliament. Institute for Government, London (https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/2024-11/Sewel-convention-in-practice.pdf ) The IfG reports that the … Continue reading Devolution offers little protection for Scotland’s democratic choices – sobering assessment of the Sewel Convention and Westminster power by the Institute for Government

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Herald and GMB attack SNP’s well-meaning employment rights ‘guidance’ conveniently ignoring the fact that it’s a reserved matter and that Scottish Labour betrayed Scots on it

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The Herald today, has: SNP workers’ rights policy is no more than feel good fluff Employment law is, of course, reserved to the UK Government1 and Scottish Labour, in 2023, under a Tory government, with no interest in improving employment rights, would not support a motion calling for the devolution of employment law – despite a manifesto pledge to back the policy.2 Readers will remember that Scottish Labour Leader, Anas Sarwar, has previous on this: Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has confirmed that not all workers at his family’s wholesale business are currently paid the real living wage. His party … Continue reading Herald and GMB attack SNP’s well-meaning employment rights ‘guidance’ conveniently ignoring the fact that it’s a reserved matter and that Scottish Labour betrayed Scots on it

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Failure to diagnose and treat lung disease including asthma ‘silently suffocating’ NHS [England], highlights quality of NHS Scotland and importance of universal free prescriptions

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA This morning, BBC Breakfast has: Failure to diagnose and treat lung disease including asthma is ‘silently suffocating’ the NHS. Last year, I was able to write: Why have deaths due to asthma fallen in Scotland while increasing in England & Wales? BBC Scotland is headlining a story on asthma-related admissions in different parts of the UK with, of course, a tragic case upfront, and parts of Scotland picked out as among the worst but, surely, the survival rate is the news here. In Scotland, from 2008 to 2021, deaths due to asthma have fallen from 103 to 96, … Continue reading Failure to diagnose and treat lung disease including asthma ‘silently suffocating’ NHS [England], highlights quality of NHS Scotland and importance of universal free prescriptions

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Little evidence SNP is financially silencing charities

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA According to the Herald today: Charities reluctant to condemn SNP decisions in fear of being ‘financially silenced’ Typically, the headline is based on one source – Clare MacGillivray, director of Making Rights Real (MRR). I share her concerns about the SNP leadership on this matter: but see little sign of the phenomenon she describes. Indeed, just this year, these three charities have attacked the Scottish Government/SNP revealing signs of and agenda: Read in full at: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/?s=charity+ And, Shelter, serial attacks. See in particular: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2024/08/10/do-the-national-branch-offices-of-campaigning-charities-not-understand-devolution/ Source: Support Scots Independent, Scotland’s oldest pro-independence newspaper and host of the OBA (Oliver Brown … Continue reading Little evidence SNP is financially silencing charities

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Scotsman blames SNP for balancing books on teacher numbers but still keeping best conditions in world and best staffing level in the UK as pupils numbers plummet

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA Every year, the Scottish Government monitors the number of teachers and pupils in the system, predicts future demand and adjusts teacher training place numbers to take account of this, with a view to not having too many teachers or overspending in one area of its fixed budget. Sensible? Last year, they were able to say: In Scotland, the number of primary school pupils peaked in 2017 at around 400,000 pupils before decreasing to around 390,000 in 2021. Estimates using 2018-based population projections show a continued decrease each year to around 355,000 in 2027. 1 and have … Continue reading Scotsman blames SNP for balancing books on teacher numbers but still keeping best conditions in world and best staffing level in the UK as pupils numbers plummet

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BBC Highland opens up – ‘Drug gangs now targeting Inverness originate in English cities’

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The above statement is from the comments of a local policeman in Episode 2, Series 2 of Highland Cops, produced by a private company for BBC Scotland, at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0024s8q/highland-cops-series-2-episode-2 BBC Reporting Scotland, BBC Scotland News of any form, last mentioned these gangs in 2021, only once before in 2019, but has never mentioned where they originate and has never used the word ‘English.’ You can watch this episode at 9pm tonight. Unlike a BBC Scotland Disclosure episode, a Highland Cops episode has never been used as a story in Reporting Scotland. This episode, and the series as a whole, is … Continue reading BBC Highland opens up – ‘Drug gangs now targeting Inverness originate in English cities’

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Scotland’s slowing drug death rate fall linked to flood of cross-border low-cost, high strength drugs and inadequate police resources in England and Wales

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In the run-up to the July General Election, Labour promised to add 3 000 new officers1 to the current 240 000 in England and Wales2 – a 01.25% increase. This promise was, in part, in response to steadily climbing drug deaths: The rate of drug-poisoning deaths in 2023 (93.0 deaths per million) was double the rate in 2012 (46.5 deaths per million). The rate has increased every year since 2012.3 Why are drug deaths climbing steadily and even accelerating in England & Wales since around 2017? The National Crime Agency first reported on County Lines Drug gangs in 2015 and … Continue reading Scotland’s slowing drug death rate fall linked to flood of cross-border low-cost, high strength drugs and inadequate police resources in England and Wales