Talking-up Scotland

Thanks to a Holyrood parliamentary question from the Scottish Labour branch’s Mark Griffin, MSPs and the state broadcaster were horrified to hear that SNP mandarins were responsible for their staff making ‘around 10 errors from over 60 000 payments.’ Kezia Dugdale has reputedly said that this is another victory for her as she sits next to Griffin and often corrects his spelling and arithmetic. The suspiciously cheerfully-named, Shirly-Anne Somerville, is not expected to resign any time soon.

Full details:

You need a big country like the UK to get efficient services?

How the Scotsman’s Alistair Dalton spun a one-year increase in a 40 year dramatic downward trend

Thanks to a parliamentary question at Holyrood last week by Finlay Carson, state broadcasters and both Tory car-experts, Carson and Carlaw (?), were shocked to discover that in only one case out of more than 800, was a ‘poor or defective road surface’ even a ‘contributory factor’ in the collision. In NO case was there a prosecution resulting from ‘poor maintenance.’

There were more than 800 fatalities on Scotland roads over the last 5 years, as the level of death and injury thankfully plummeted to less than one fifth of that in 1970.

https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/42306/sct04185220761.pdf

Details of the question and response:

Reporting Scotland: ‘Man dies ‘after’ going over bump in road!

 

Thanks to a further parliamentary question at Holyrood last week, MSPs and state journalists were shocked to discover another area of NHS Scotland where the ‘staffing crisis’ they so confidently report, may not be real.

NHS Scotland has 771 nurses for every 100 000 people whereas NHS England has only 518 – astonishingly NHS Scotland has over 48.84% more!

For midwives, we have 45 per 100 000 whereas England has only 39 – NHS Scotland has 15% more.

Labour Wales is  doing quite well here compared to Tory England.

Full details below:

Thanks to a parliamentary question at Holyrood, last week, MSPs and state journalists were shocked to discover that NHS Scotland has 2 594 staff for every 100 000 people while NHS England has only 1 952 for the same population – over 25% more!

With regard to dentists, Scotland has 68 per 100 000 while England has only 44 – over 50% more!

And for, GPs, where Reporting Scotland is convinced that we have a staffing crisis, we have 92 per 100 000 while England has only 73 – nearly 25% more!

Finally, for hospital consultants, another group in a supposed staffing crisis, NHS Scotland has 101 per 100 000 whereas England has only 86 – 20% more.

In the last two key groups, GPs and consultants, Labour-controlled Wales has fewer even than England.

Full details below:

I resign

I will today submit my resignation from the SNP. I plan to join the Greens but will, of course, continue to vote in ways most likely to ensure victory by pro-independence candidates.

My reasons for resigning are:

1. the party leader’s outspoken support for the awful Hilary Clinton despite her hawkish foreign policies which have resulted in the mass deaths of women and children in the Arab world;
2. the party leader’s enthusiasm for the political insights of the repulsive Henry Kissinger despite his status as a war criminal responsible for mass deaths in SE Asia and S America;
3. the party leader’s willingness to be physically familiar with the disgusting Alistair Campbell despite his role in facilitating the war crimes of the Blair regime in Iraq and his overt rabid opposition to Scottish independence;
4. the party leader and her inner circle’s treatment of the former FM, Alex Salmond;
5. the party’s treatment of Gareth Wardell (Grouse Beater);
6. the party leadership’s misguided enthusiasm for UK membership of the EU at the expense of Scottish independence from the UK;
7. the party leadership’s lack of drive toward independence;
8. the party leader’s lack of engagement with the wider Yes movement;
9. the party’s lack of fight against Scottish media bias;
10. the party’s lack of drive in dis-associating itself from weapons used in Yemen.

 

Professor John W Robertson

Ayr

26^th April 2019

 

 

Despite pressure from the Lib Dems (below) after Willie Rennie’s earlier attempts to ram home his point about the SNP’s failure to protect sheep-breeders in the Northern Isles, Fergus Ewing is clearly provoking their ire with deliberate delaying tactics which he hopes might further weaken the Lib Dem support in around 5% of Scotland’s sheeple.

https://www.parliament.scot/S5ChamberOffice/WA20190423.pdf

After quite a dramatic fall from 2015/16, the rate of decrease has become less so, but that is inevitable as the level becomes very low. Note that in only 12% of cases were firearms actually fired, and of these, only 2 resulted in death in 2017/2018 and only 1 did so in 2016/17.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/recorded-crimes-offences-involving-firearms-scotland-2016-17-2017-18/

More than 39 000 died by firearm in the USA in 2017. About 60 times the population of Scotland but 20 000 times the risk of being killed by shooting? I feel a ‘staycation’ coming on.

https://www.thetrace.org/2018/12/gun-violence-facts-statistics-2018/

Typically, Scotland-blind, the Independent reported:

According to the Independent, there are 50 to 60 gun-deaths per year in England and Wales, suggesting only ten times the population but fifty times the gun deaths. Despite this, the report made much of the achievements of the UK (sic), Japan, Australia and Norway in getting their rates down to levels still much higher than that in Scotland and made no mention of  the lessons learned here after Dunblane. Just how 50 to 60 gun-deaths equates to ‘nearly eliminated’ escapes me.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/gun-deaths-eliminated-america-learn-japan-australia-uk-norway-florida-shooting-latest-news-a8216301.html

 

 

It’s not working. I can still hear Annie!

From a Scottish sample of 143, on 16^th and 17^th April, on Westminster voting intentions for Orb International, we see:

• Labour 17%
• Con 15%
• Brexit 7%
• LibDem 5%
• TIG 2%
• UKIP 2%
• Green 8%
• SNP 42%

https://www.orb-international.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ORB-International-16th-17th-April.pdf

This suggests that the SNP core vote is very strong and that disaffected supporters are only heading left to the Greens. The YouGov poll on the same dates had the SNP at 46% but the greens at only 4% giving the same total of 50% for Indy parties. The Con vote is collapsing well below the 26% they keep at the UK level. I suppose the Labour and TIG figures are moderately encouraging for the former.

Only two months ago, TuS reported:

Toljan had not, of course, mocked Rangers in any way at all. On the same day, the Express delighted in this:

Did you see it? Did you? Ooooh, did it make you mad? Would you like to hurt someone? Go on, do it!

Despite the widespread concern about recent trends, the Express keeps its nose to the ground today with two reports sure to anger:

There is of course little laughing-off to be found in the text. In the next piece, with no sense of irony on social media, they give us a handy link to the offending video featuring a bit of swearing and talk of ‘no surrender.’

Worrall is from Hucknall Torkard in Nottinghamshire, the final resting place of that other romantic hero, Lord Byron. The Grand Orange Lodge of England gives no address. Maybe it’s in Hucknall Torkard?

‘Shocking new figures’ from a Herald on Sunday ‘investigation’ form the basis for this latest scare story on NHS Scotland, building on Reporting Scotland’s series on the Carseview Unit in Dundee. As with previous topics such as Ecstasy deaths or dangerous dogs, some readers and writers are known to become excited if they think a bigger pattern is emerging even if they should know that it is their decisions which are creating its emergence in the first place.

I wonder, if there is any other evidence to back up the headline claim? See this official statement:

‘Over the last six years, collaboration and innovation from staff, service users and carers – along with the application of quality improvement and improvement science – has seen a reduction in self-harm of up to 68 per cent, a reduction in violence of up to 80 per cent and a reduction in the rate of restraint of up to 80 per cent across Scotland as of April 2018 compared to August 2012’

https://www.gov.scot/publications/nhs-scotland-chief-executives-annual-report-2017-18/pages/3/

Makes you wonder, doesn’t it. I’m not a subscriber so I can’t assess the Herald’s research methods. Perhaps a reader can?

Also, you see the word ‘dangerous’ there in the headline? I did an extended search for any evidence of death, resulting from such constraint. I found lots, in England. I could only find one in Scotland in 2001:

‘There are no absolute safe restraint positions; even the recovery position has been associated with a restraint-related death in Scotland. Morrison and Saddler (2001).’

https://www.uclan.ac.uk/research/explore/groups/assets/Review_of_the_Medical_Theories_and_Research_Relating_to_Restraint_Related_Deaths.doc

In England, from Mental Health Today in 2018, I found:

‘Thirty-two women died after experiencing restraint over a five-year period, according to new figures obtained by Agenda, an alliance for women and girls at risk.’

https://www.mentalhealthtoday.co.uk/news/crisis-care/32-women-die-following-restraint

The article seems to be entirely based on NHS England and English politicians. There is no mention of Scotland anywhere. Then in the Guardian in June 2018:

‘A total of 3,652 patients suffered an injury through being restrained during 2016-17 – the highest number ever – according to data from 48 of England’s 56 mental health trusts. The figures raise serious questions about the effectiveness of the government’s drive to reduce use of techniques which critics say can be traumatic for patients and even endanger their lives.’

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jun/09/nhs-restraint-techniques-mental-heath-patient-injuries-rise

Looking, for comparable figures for Scotland, I couldn’t find any. It’s a bit different but Conservative Home helped out with:

http://www.scottishconservatives.com/2018/07/someone-injured-every-hour-in-scotlands-mental-health-wards/

The Guardian figures are for injuries due to restraint only while the above are for all injuries including ‘trips’, but, if they are correct……well I’m worried…….about the methods used by Scottish Conservative mental, health spokeswoman, Annie Wells.