NHS

Health & the NHS

‘GP vacancies (in England) rise to record levels despite recruitment pledge, survey suggests. Long patient waits and unsafe, rushed appointments are unlikely to end any time soon as vacancies have risen from 9.1 per cent to 15.3 per cent since the (UK) government pledged 5 000 more doctors.’ In sharp contrast, the GP vacancy rate in Scotland was only 5.6% at the end of 2017.
https://thoughtcontrolscotland.com/2018/07/06/scottish-gp-vacancy-rate-now-only-one-third-of-that-in-non-scottish-parts-of-uk/

Six times this morning (and no doubt three time this evening on Reporting Scotland) we heard, headlined:

‘Doctors’ leaders are warning that the NHS in Scotland is being pushed to the brink!’

We’ve been here before, several times, with the BMA and BBC Scotland presenting unsound research findings to undermine the reputation of NHS Scotland and, by association, the SNP administration. Read on...
https://thoughtcontrolscotland.com/2018/06/26/bbc-scotland-and-bma-collude-to-produce-a-classic-nhs-scare-story-based-on-shoddy-unreliable-research/amp/

Papers are filled with talk of the Theresa May's NHS Brexit dividend this morning. Thankfully, it appears that no one buys the story. Not one serious media outlet believes there is a Brexit dividend. The UK will still be paying the EU after Brexit. And because Brexit will shrink the economy there will be less tax paid. So, Theresa May is lying.
http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2018/06/18/there-are-three-ways-to-deliver-funding-of-20-billion-for-the-nhs-and-tax-is-the-worst-of-them/

147,000 NHS workers in Scotland will received a 3% pay rise this year. For those paid weekly the increase will start on 2nd July and for those paid monthly, at the end of July.
https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/06/10/pay-rise-for-nhs-staff-in-scotland/