There were 57 883 deaths registered in 2017, 1,155 (2%) more than in 2016. Despite this increase in demand, NHS Scotland and community care services still managed to increase the number of days spent in the home or community setting, preferred by most patients and families.
For those who died in 2017/18, 87.9% of their last six months, up from 85.35% in 2010/11, was spent either at home or in a community setting, giving easier access for family members.
So, despite a massive 43% overall increase in demand, since 2013 and a 2% increase specifically in demand for end of life home and community care, placed upon NHS Scotland, there was still a 2.6% improvement in the service.
I await sight of praise from the Loyalist parties.
Mike Russell got thoroughly outnumbered last night by several ranting, self-obsessed and not too bright attention-seekers, enabled by Dumbledore, before he was stabbed in the back by Dugdale, so we heard barely a trace of intelligent discussion on education. On top of that, the otherwise sensible crime writer delivered the rambling uneducated fantasy tale nonsense of ‘inspirational’ teachers ‘allowed to teach’ being better than a systematic coherent curriculum, guaranteed for all and not just a handful of bright wee Fifers favoured by their English teacher. Then we had Fraser Nelson! I find it difficult to understand his marble-filled mumble, but I think he was saying that Scottish education is failing because one teacher he knows has told him it is.
I spent 40 years in school education, in teacher education and in research methods education. I wrote curriculum resources (Mathematics for 5-14-year-olds) which were used by thousands of teachers in the old Strathclyde region (population of Wales). I had educational research published in peer-reviewed journals. I read and evaluated hundreds of educational research studies and I summarised the findings for students, practitioners and policy-makers. I’ve got six postgraduate awards including Master of Education and PhD. I don’t care that it sounds pompous, it does, but I think I might have something more useful to say than most on Question Time last night:
A trade union, primarily charged with the task of increasing pay and improving conditions, is not a reliable source for educational policy. Nor are a few clearly worn-out practitioners made bitter perhaps by their own discipline-related or intellectual deficits. Only impartial empirical research, based on reasonably large samples, is of any value in making policy and the Scottish government consulted that.
The reports of 5-year-olds, supposedly traumatised by testing, are not evidence of any widespread phenomenon, but are scattered tales from a handful of neurotic parents, more than likely responsible themselves for stimulating any negative reaction by their unfortunate children, and then Ruthlessly exploited by cynical politicians.
International comparison, often of a narrow range of arithmetical and linguistic concept attainment outcomes, such as that done by PISA, is of little to no value in informing policy determination within one country. As Mike Russell tried to point out, the PISA tests are known to suit the wider cultures, especially the influence of parents and families, of countries such as South Korea or Singapore and not others such as the UK or the USA. Notably, the former systems produce efficient copyists and the latter produce innovators and creative minds.
The clear successes of Scottish education apparent in a narrowing attainment gap, increasing numbers leaving school with qualifications, increasing numbers going on to Higher Education and increasing numbers leaving colleges with positive destinations, are too often ignored by groups obsessed with their deliberate or stupid misreading of the situation, based on sensationalist reporting on PISA or on the calculated protests from the EIS.
Staffing in Scottish schools is higher per capita is than in the other parts of the UK.
‘Scottish property investment in the third quarter of 2018 reached £318.4 million, according to research from CBRE Scotland. The property firm said the total figure was achieved across 35 transactions with offices accounting for 29 per cent (£93.7 million), 20 per cent on industrial property (£63.8 million) and 23 per cent on retail deals (£72.16 million). The year-to-date investment in Scotland totals £1.51 billion which is a rise on the £1.26 billion [up 19.8%] average at this point. By the end the total is expected to top £2 billion.’
At risk of endless repetition, investment in property is real evidence of a real need for the physical space in which to do business because of a real demand for that business, in Scotland, in 2018 and at least for some time beyond that.
‘The latest College Leaver Destinations report found that of the 50,298 students who qualified in 2016/17, 88.9% had confirmed destinations – up from 87.2% the previous year. A total of 95% moved onto so-called positive destinations including employment, training or education – up from 94.9%.Top of Form The number of those unemployed or unavailable to work due to travel or other responsibilities also dropped from 12.4% to 11.7%. For those students who remained in education at college or university, 86.3% progressed to a higher level of study.’
‘Part of a quarter of a million investment, west coast firm Renewable Parts said it hopes the business will herald the “next phase in the industry’s development”…..The new £250,000 investment will see the firm connect with its aftermarket spares warehouse in Renfrew, near Glasgow, to provide a full turbine repair and recycle service.’
From University of Strathclyde VP:
‘I think the courage, the investment and the commitment that I’ve learned about from Renewable Parts Ltd. makes this a massive success story. Scotland needs more of this and it’s of great personal pride for me that my institution is so heavily involved with Renewable Parts through the development of a productive strategic partnership.
At least I think they’ve apologised. Is it maybe a tease?
Here’s my original complaint:
Full Complaint: BBC Complaint 26.9.18: School Exclusions: On Tuesday 24th September 2018 at 06:26am and repeated five times by 09.00am, BBC Scotland headlined: ‘A report commissioned by three charities suggests that over a third of children with autism have been unlawfully excluded from school in the past two years.’ https://www.notengaged.com/download/SA-Out-Of-School-Report.pdf This is an incorrect reading of the report suggesting 37% of all children with autism, with the effect of seriously exaggerating their evidence. On page 19, the report says: ‘We described unlawful exclusions to respondents as when a child has been sent home from school or asked not to attend, without being formally excluded (e.g. school asking parents to pick up their child early). 37% (n=478) of parents who responded to this question told us that their child had been excluded in this way.’ Note that 37% of the 478 parents who responded (176) indicated ‘unlawful’ exclusion. The full sample was 1 434 and that was thought to be around 10% of the total population of autistic pupils in Scotland (page 14). So, more accurately and thus more informatively for the TV audience, the headline should have said: ‘A report commissioned by three charities suggests that over a third of the 478 children with autism whose parents responded have been unlawfully excluded from school in the past two years.’ More helpfully, the percentage should have been changed to 12% of those who took part in the research and the size of the sample, 10% of the total population, should have featured in the report. More helpfully still, the deeply flawed research should not have been reported. See this for a full assessment of it: https://thoughtcontrolscotland.com/2018/09/25/report-used-uncritically-by-bbc-scotland-on-unlawful-school-exclusions-is-fatally-flawed-and-hopelessly-biased/
Here’s the BBC response:
Dear Professor Robertson
Reference CAS-5101273-HLBVZ3
Thank you for your correspondence. Your comments were passed to the Editor of Reporting Scotland, who has asked that I forward her response as follows:
“Thank you for being in touch about Reporting Scotland on the morning of 24th September. You have raised concerns which I share about a report on a survey of parents and carers of autistic children. In retrospect we should not have carried this story in the way that we did and I apologise for that. I am taking steps to try to ensure that we do not do so again with similar stories. I believe that this was an honest mistake and that there was certainly no intention to mislead our audience, but that does not detract from the fact that we got it wrong. I am grateful to you for taking the time and the trouble to explain the reasons for your concern.”
While few of us would believe that this was an honest mistake, it’s certainly the first time I’ve had an apology of any kind!
No not the medieval ‘Bruce’, the 20th Century ‘Bruce’. I was watching/listening to him late last night when I thought ‘these badlands’ could be the UK. When he sang ‘Keep pushing till it’s understood. These badlands start treating us good’, I remembered the powerful words of ‘The Sturgeon’ last night.
I know Bruce didn’t like it when the Trump or was it the Bush, tried to use his ‘Born in the USA’ after failing to get its critical not triumphal message. They don’t get irony. Will he mind if I just change one two words? And, he must have some Scottish DNA. He looks a bit like my dad and he’s ‘Bruce’ and ‘Springsteen’ is a corruption of ‘Springstane’. The Springstanes had the responsibility of marking the position of life-giving springs with wee stone cairns. These cairns saved many lives in Celtic times and were still being used in the heatwave of 1976.
Important note: When I say ‘England’ I mean the England of the Queen, Theresa May and Jacob Rees-Mogg but not of the millions of nice ordinary English folk. OK?
Anyhoo, here’s the words, slightly adapted to our times:
Lights out tonight, trouble in Scotland.
Got a head-on collision, smashin in ma guts ken.
I’m caught in a crossfire that I don’t understand.
But there’s one thing I know for sure hen:
I don’t give a damn for the same old played out scenes
I don’t give a damn for just the in-betweens.
Honey I want the heart, I want the soul, I want control right now.
You better listen to me baby:
Talk about a dream; try to make it real.
You wake up in the night with a fear so real.
You spend your life waiting for a moment that just don’t come.
Well don’t waste your time waiting
Badlands you gotta live it every day
Let the broken hearts stand
As the price youve gotta pay
Well keep pushin till it’s understood
And ‘England’ starts treating us good
Workin in the field till you get your back burned
Workin ‘neath the wheels till you get your facts learned.
Baby I got my facts learned real good right now.
You better get it straight hen:
Poor men wanna be rich, rich men wanna be kings,
And a king aint satisfied till he rules everything.
I wanna go out tonight, I wanna find out what I got.
Now I believe in the love that you gave me.
I believe in the faith that could save me.
I believe in the hope and I pray that some day it
Will raise me above these
Badlands…
For the ones who had a Nation, a Nation deep inside
That it aint no sin to be glad you’re a Jock.
I wanna find one face that aint looking through me
I wanna find one place, I wanna spit in the face of these
‘Do I have to say this? I feel sick. Does my smile not look a bit sickly?’
Up early today? 06:26 am and still a bit fragile? Good. Here we go after a nice wee ‘Hallo’ and ‘Good Morning’:
Figures obtained by the BBC (no, really?) suggest about 8% of meat tested in Scotland last year was found to contain the DNA of animals not listed on the labelling – illegal,kebabs, pizza toppings! DNA? Nooo!! Ham instead of chicken! E.coli? No? BSE? Salmonella? Scrapie? Thrichinosis (from pork)? None of these just ham instead of chicken? OK. Should we have a hard border?
A charity (you can always trust charities) is warning that Scotland is facing a child mental health crisis! The Mental Health Foundation is calling for greater awareness in schools. Could the increase in coming forward and reporting be a good thing, a sign of a more aware, open and tolerant society? No, doesn’t fit this morning’s horror theme? When he says depression IS on the rise and anxiety IS on the rise, should he have said reporting is on the rise? I see actual suicide rates are falling quite fast in Scotland. Is that evidence of anything? No? Even if depression and anxiety are actually on the rise, might schools be helpless in changing things in the context of more likely causes such as Westminster’s austerity policies, Ruth’s Holyrood interventions or even your reporting?
The RMT union is refusing to work extra hours! Maybe it will stop BBC Scotland staff getting to work? Look on the bright side.
Had enough? Just one more. A new system to enable students to report gender-based violence – Zero tolerance! Abuse! Sexual harassment! Stalking!
There now you feel depressed and anxious again. That’s good. Feel like constitutional change? No, just want to curl up? OK we’ll finish with a nice wee story about birds and then the weather. It’ll be quite nice. You can go for a wee walk and do some mindfulness. There you go. Byeeeee.
Remember, a thousand stories were out there. They chose these ones!
Don’t travel. Don’t eat anything. Don’t think anything. Don’t speak to members of the other sex. You’ll be a bit down but safe.
On BBC Scotland at 06:28am today and sneaked in at end after the cheery stuff about the SNP conference:
‘The oil and gas industry’s being warned to keep an eye on rising costs as it recovers from the oil price crash. The findings from the Oil & Gas Authority showed expenditure of £6.9 billion, 2% higher than the previous year. Experts claimed this shows the recent years of sharp cost reductions are over. However, it’s still significantly lower than the peak of 2014. The unit of cost per barrel of oil also rose by 2% last year.’
I don’t suppose there was time for a wee sentence informing us what the income per barrel is? It’s currently around $80 and heading up toward $100 in 2019, my ‘experts’ tell me! What about the actual cost then? No time for that either? According to the BP CE it’s $12 per barrel so profit, before tax, would be $68 per barrel or $41.6 billion (613 million barrels x $68) in 2018 alone!
There’s a fuller report by Reuters here which puts ‘unit operating costs’ at £12.2 per barrel:
