As the Scottish NoMedia are fed on imagined subject shortages, we see the remarkable facts on the somewhat more important matter of how many teachers we actually have to teach those subjects properly and in manageable class sizes. These data in the headline come from a parliamentary question, below, and are frankly astonishing.
In Insider yesterday:
Scottish building firms had a strong start to the year because they are not over-dependent on overseas workers, says an industry body. A study for the Federation of Master Builders found construction SMEs with more work was up a net 10% on the previous quarter in Scotland. That compared with a dip of 29% UK wide, the first fall in six years.’
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scottish-building-sector-rebounds-face-14974458
This is an astonishing divergence, suggesting once more, objective evidence of a thriving and well-managed economy, well-placed for independence within the EU.
Earlier reports of the same trend:
Unemployment in Tory UK is 15% higher than in Scotland
Further evidence of better employment practices in Scotland
Unemployment in Scotland below UK level and employment better paid
Or see below the merciful other reality of employment in modern Scotland?
Thanks to a parliamentary question, below, from Monica Lennon, we can see, from the above results table, provided in the answer, that it is extremely rare for patients to have to wait more than 28 days for readmission. One obvious reason for this performance is suggested further below.
A likely contributory factor in making the above near-100% performance possible seems likely to be the dramatically falling need for patients to return to theatre after surgery, described in recent research as: ‘a multi-year effort that has produced some of the largest population-wide reductions in surgical deaths ever documented’:
Most impressive, is that the percentage of patients having to return for further surgery has fallen to almost zero! This comes after a period, under Labour, of worsening outcomes.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/bjs.11151
For more on the above, see:
‘Oncologists under investigation for giving lower dosages of chemotherapy to 300 breast cancer patients refute claims they were wrong to do so. That’s according to a senior clinician at NHS Tayside. Last month doctors at NHS Tayside were ordered to come into line with other health boards. This week, experts from London have been called to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.’
This is a less dramatic case than the previous two reports here on BBC Scotland’s horribly biased coverage of a cancer patient satisfaction survey where the choice of vocabulary resulted in clear distortion and even lies. However, the agenda is still apparent.
The ‘investigation’ which the oncologists are supposedly ‘under’, is a ‘voluntary internal review’ triggered only by BBC Scotland’s exaggerated coverage, just as the review into hygiene at Glasgow hospitals only took place to satisfy media pressure. The term ‘under investigation’ has the required policing feel to position the doctors as suspects. The oncologists were not ‘ordered to come into line’ but again that language finds them guilty before any review. NHS Tayside have themselves decided that they ‘will now bring treatment into line with the rest of the country’ despite their concerns about the dangers in higher doses.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-47826556
This is going to be interesting. The oncologists are not going to give up easily. Their determination to clear themselves is probably justified by the review already undertaken which found that at worst 1 death could perhaps be attributed to the dosage:
‘The overall assessment of the increased risk of recurrence within the treated cohort is extremely difficult to quantify but probably of the order of 1-2%. A risk of harm of 1-2%, allows an estimate that around 1 patient per year in NHS Tayside may have suffered an adverse outcome.’
Back on April 1st, Jackie Bird listened with a face that spoke of the empathy she was known for, as her health correspondent reported:
‘The report today pointed to the possibility of a dysfunctional department. ‘Detectives’ spoke of pharmacy and nursing staff who said they had concerns about the change of procedures, but they felt they were not being listened to and that their position was one above.’
Only Reporting Scotland use the word ‘dysfunctional’. The BBC website and all the papers I looked at (8) did not use the term either.
The report did not, of course (no time?) tell us that NHS Tayside’s breast cancer care mortality is average!
https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Cancer-Statistics/Breast/#cancer-of-the-breast
Today’s presenter has responded to my previous accusations with what seemed like genuine indignation. That tells us that the agenda has been thoroughly internalised and that for many presenters it really does not feel like bias.
Those academics just don’t understand what journalism is because they’re outsiders. We know what to do because we’ve always done it and our peers often give us awards for doing what we and they have always done.
Propaganda in a market-oriented part-democracy is the most effective history has seen because the mechanism is almost invisible.
Earlier in the day, we heard the fact that ‘the vast majority of’ or ‘95%’ of cancer patients expressing positivity about their care, could be presented by Reporting Scotland, as merely ‘most.’ It was a clear attempt to continue a campaign against NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government, by proxy. In that case we might call it bias by distortion or, in common parlance, lying.
Later, we heard opening the report, this claim:
‘Many cancer patients are missing out on emotional, financial and practical support which they feel should have been available to them.’
They do go on to tell us that the above is ‘part of a survey’ and that 95% rated the care positively, ‘but just over half got sufficient psychological and emotional support.’ So ‘many’ turns out to be less than half but more important ‘part of’ turns out to be just 1 of 21 outcomes, looking at the actual report. The ‘part’ is, the 15th (page 2) outcome:
‘Just over half of respondents (55 per cent) felt they had been completely supported emotionally / psychologically by healthcare professionals during their cancer treatment.’
It’s interesting to note that the 55% who did feel they had been supported can be referred to as ‘just over half.’ Were the 55% who voted NO in 2014, ‘just over half’ or did the 10% gap matter?
The other 20 outcomes range from the good to the excellent and it takes an agenda to think you have reported it fairly by picking out the one least positive and headlining that. The report is a triumph for NHS Scotland. We should thank whoever we thank that we have it. This is a bad case of bias by extreme selection.’
Yoon Filters at PQ disabled!
BBC Scotland have let through another piece of good news regarding Scottish Govt’s ‘joined up’ public policy framework – this time Higher Education. Link and snippets below:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48108497
A growing proportion of university students are arriving straight from Scottish colleges, new figures suggest.
Statistics from the Scottish Funding Council show that 26% of new undergraduates from Scotland have previously attended college.
Colleges play an important role in efforts to widen access to higher education.
Sometimes graduates are able to join the second or third year of a university course.
In total, about 4,000 students who started university courses in Scotland during the current academic year came straight from colleges.
The minister for further and higher education, Richard Lochhead, said: “I am pleased to see more students entering university having gained a qualification at college, with today’s figures showing nearly 2,000 full-time first degree entrants coming from the most deprived areas in 2017-18.
Shona Struthers, chief executive of Colleges Scotland, said: “Colleges have an intrinsic role in widening access and this report confirms that an increase to over 26% of first degree entrants in 2017-18 had obtained a college qualification before enrolling at a university.
“The overall figures show an increase of more than 10% in the past four years in the number of college students moving directly to second or third year at university.
“Colleges also improve life opportunities for people from lower socio-economic backgrounds by significantly contributing to fairer access.”
The Scottish government expects a fifth of new students at each university to come from the most disadvantaged geographical areas of Scotland by 2030.
Related stories:
More Scots and more from ‘most-deprived’ areas going to university
95% of Scottish cancer patients, ‘the vast majority’ are positive about their experience despite a massive increase in demand. Reporting Scotland chose to replace the statistic with the word ‘most’. Technically correct they’ll insist but given that 51% is ‘most’ too, and the report said ‘vast majority’, a bit grudging don’t you think? It’s especially mean when you see in the graph below that 90% rated it between 8 and 10 out of 10 or that 50% rated in 10 out of 10!
They then went on to find one criterion where the satisfaction was a bit lower, among many where it was high or very high. I’m not repeating it here. That would be duplication. Here are some extracts:
‘Around 5,000 individuals who had received cancer care in Scotland responded to the 2018 Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey. It’s a highly detailed survey with some comparisons between 2015 and 2018. Despite the massive increase in demand, satisfaction remains at a high or very high level across all the criteria.’
Most impressive findings are:
‘The vast majority of people (95 per cent) rated their overall experience of cancer care positively, supported by 97 per cent reporting they were always treated with dignity and respect by healthcare professionals treating them.’ (2)
Not one of 5 000 patients rated the service lower than 4 out of 10. Astounding! And, in terms of progress:
Of course, there is still some way to go on the above (p24).
Satisfaction with cancer care in England is at an all-time high of 90%.
The demand for all services from NHS Scotland is soaring:
http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/uploads/docs/report/2018/nr_181025_nhs_overview.pdf
Scottish business confidence has risen AFTER a recent dip, according to the Bank of Scotland’s Business Barometer for April 2018. The MSM are clear that this rise is a good sign for Brexiteers but just how that might explain the previous dip is not considered. Brexit has been in the background for years, but correlating more precisely with this recent rise, has been the surge in support for Scottish independence and for the SNP. Might this have something to do with it? Scottish independence and retained EU membership are much more plausible now and most businesses want that. The Scottish Government has been particularly, relative to rUK, kind to small businesses:
Scottish Government support for small businesses superior to that in non-Scottish parts of UK
From the regional director for Scotland at Bank of Scotland:
‘The rise in positivity was the biggest of any UK region, which bodes well for Scotland’s prospects during 2018, though we still expect levels to fluctuate through the year.’
Talking-up Scotland 