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BBC News at 6, last night, used the 84.6% treated in 4 hours figure, for all A&E departments in England to compare with the Scottish figure of 87.1% and the very low figures for Wales and N Ireland. This led to audiences seeing quite a small gap, between the English and Scottish departments.
BBC should know that England has two types, 1 and 2, and that only Type 1 or ‘major’ is comparable with A&E departments elsewhere in the UK. The figure for Type 1 in England was just 76.4% of patients treated within the four-hour target at major A&E departments in March 2018.
Talking-up Scotland 
I saw this report, too.
Firstly, I thought that it was unusual that there was an unfavourable comparison of England with regard to Scotland and, then. somewhat as an afterthought, it seemed, the figures for Wales and Northern Ireland were given. The figure for England was for February (March?), but the comparator for Scotland was January, which was when A&Es were under pressure in Scotland, partly because of the respiratory problems epidemic. So, it was no a like for like comparison.
Secondly, there has been a lot about NHS England on BBC Salford over the past years. Undoubtedly, it is presenting a system in crisis, which, I think chimes with the experience of many residents in England. Funding of NHS England is a major issue. Unlike BBC Scotland, STV and Herald and Scotsman which have a definite party political – i.e. antiSNP – slant, I think that the BBC Salford reports are more generally political. The politics is essentially about public versus private medicine. Privatisation has penetrated NHS England to a greater extent than in the other three countries. I feel that the argument in England is moving towards a change in the very concept of the NHS: is it to become a very basic service dealing with a limited range of things plus a private health insurance service which allows individuals to choose in a supermarket style service which caters for ‘customers’ ranging from the ‘cheap and basic’ to the ‘Harrod’s and Fortnum and Mason’s’.
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Of course they know the difference , they just think WE don’t . During the winter months when a Westminster Government minister was trying to make out that England ‘s A/E figures were better than Scotland’s , Dr. Philippa Whitford swiftly put him in his place , articulately spelling out the differences in the way times are calculated , Scotland well outperformed England , Wales and Northern Ireland .
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