Tag: wales

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The relative effectiveness of Scotland’s health services – so different from what Unionist politicians and their MSM allies portray in their gaslighting of Scotland’s electorate!

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By stewartb You may be interested to learn the following about childhood vaccination take-up rates. Source: NHS England (28 Sep 2023) Childhood Vaccination Coverage Statistics, England, 2022-23.  See the section of the report entitled ‘Coverage in UK countries – 2022-23’: it has a table which displays the latest annual (2022-23) coverage values for all childhood vaccinations across the four UK countries. Overwhelmingly, the take-up rates in Scotland are the highest of any UK country across the full range of childhood vaccinations. (See https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-immunisation-statistics/england-2022-23/6in-1-vaccine  ) To prevent whooping cough, the childhood disease in the news today from England, the relevant vaccine is termed … Continue reading The relative effectiveness of Scotland’s health services – so different from what Unionist politicians and their MSM allies portray in their gaslighting of Scotland’s electorate!

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Under Labour, NHS Wales put responsibility on A&E patients to ‘choose most appropriate place’ and BBC Wales ignore it

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By Professor John Robertson Thanks to AR for alerting me to this. From Wales Online yesterday but absent from BBC Wales reporting despite the drama and the relevance for their audience: Welsh health board issues ‘red alert’ over A&E pressures. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has issued a red alert as their emergency departments are currently under “extreme pressure”. The warning from the North Wales board makes clear that there are “extremely” long delays at A&E. People are being encouraged to choose the “most suitable place to access care”. Currently, waits of up to 10 hours are being reported at … Continue reading Under Labour, NHS Wales put responsibility on A&E patients to ‘choose most appropriate place’ and BBC Wales ignore it

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Delayed ferry deserves politicising but not in Cornwall, only in Scotland

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Yesterday, a further two-month delay for the MV Glen Sannox was a matter for comment by the Conservative opposition on BBC Scotland’s website. We got all of this: Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson MSP said the latest delay was “yet another huge blow to Scotland’s betrayed island communities”. He added: “It means that – after testing – another whole summer season will have gone by without desperately-needed new CalMac vessels being in operation, thanks to the SNP’s monumental incompetence. “That’s another peak holiday season for hotels, restaurants and businesses completely at the mercy of a decrepit fleet that simply … Continue reading Delayed ferry deserves politicising but not in Cornwall, only in Scotland

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

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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

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Worse than England – Pisa scores fiasco leads to NINTH Welsh Education minister since devolution

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By stewartb I’m not one to consider that an education system should be judged on just the OECD’s PISA scoring but there is something to be said for comparing reactions by politicians to such scores for different parts of the UK. When the last set of PISA results for Scotland were reported on the BBC News website on 5 December 2023, we learned that ‘Performance in Scotland’s high schools has slipped according to new international research on education.’ With countries across the world receiving scores that were better or indeed more often worse than before, there are likely to be … Continue reading Worse than England – Pisa scores fiasco leads to NINTH Welsh Education minister since devolution

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The comedy time lag on Scotland’s violent past

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Talking-up Scotland costs nothing so donate to our friends at  https://www.broadcastingscotland.scot/donate/ or take out a subscription to the Scots Independent newspaper in which I have a column, at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/product-category/subscriptions/ Here’s an English comedian recently working the hard Scots stereotype. Comedians, Scottish ones too, have lived of this trope for decades. As recently as 2005, not quite 20 years ago, it was based on a degree of reality: In 2005, a United Nations report named Scotland as the most violent country in the developed world. You were 3x more likely to be a victim of assault in Glasgow than you were in America. Glasgow … Continue reading The comedy time lag on Scotland’s violent past

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NHS Scotland – the best performing A&E service measured by waiting times of any in the UK

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Talking-up Scotland costs nothing so donate to our friends at  https://www.broadcastingscotland.scot/donate/ or take out a subscription to the Scots Independent newspaper in which I have a column, at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/product-category/subscriptions/ By stewartb The Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s (RCEM) website has a section entitled ‘Devolved Performance Figures’ where it provides comparable A&E waiting times data for the NHS in the four UK nations. Presently these enables direct comparisons for the month of January 2024. Under a Tory government with all the powers of a nation-state: NHS England: ‘In January 2024, 177,805 patients waited 12 hours or more from their time of arrival. The MOST AMOUNT … Continue reading NHS Scotland – the best performing A&E service measured by waiting times of any in the UK

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Reported domestic abuse in England & Wales climbing steadily to THREE times the rate in Scotland where it is also falling steadily

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Talking-up Scotland costs nothing so donate to our friends at  https://www.broadcastingscotland.scot/donate/ or take out a subscription to the Scots Independent newspaper in which I have a column, at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/product-category/subscriptions/ BBC Reporting Scotland today is headlining the stories of 7 abused women whose cases, often several years old, have again become ‘the news‘ as they form the basis for another of their Disclosure series. Once more there is no context. Have these crimes become more or less common? Are they more common in Scotland than elsewhere? These are questions we’d get the answers to if they were about drug deaths or any rare phenomenon … Continue reading Reported domestic abuse in England & Wales climbing steadily to THREE times the rate in Scotland where it is also falling steadily

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The Guardian casually distorts the lower level of homicide against women in Scotland

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In the above Guardian piece today, 3 (33%) of the 9 murders described took place in Scotland. The authors chose these 9 examples from 174 murders of women in England & Wales last year. Read the above, on its own, and Scotland looks a more dangerous place for women, by some way. That’s not just untrue, it’s the reverse. The facts: From National Statistics for Scotland, today: In 2022-2023, there were 13 female homicide victims in Scotland. In England & Wales, in 2021-2022 (latest figures) there were 198 female homicide victims. England & Wales have 11 times the population and so, … Continue reading The Guardian casually distorts the lower level of homicide against women in Scotland