Meanwhile in Scotland......

I'm Scottish and live in Scotland - I'd love to see a Scotland-specific Gransnet forum News and Politics thread. Except politics up here is, what's the best word, hmmm, ah - fraught. Yes, fraught covers it.

I don't think I'll ever forget being in Dundee and watching Jim Murphy suffer a barrage of rotten eggs during the indy-ref campaign (no, I'm not Scottish Labour, but I did like him and wanted to hear his take on the issue). He was also drowned out by bag-piping gNats, heckled unmercifully by shouty disturbingly foul mouthed louts, and in the end had to try for a graceful exit (something the gNats were unwilling to permit).

Politics (and NHSS seems to be a political topic these days rather than the public health topic it should be) in Scotland as a topic is scary. I've found avoiding it all safest as it doesn't seem to matter what party or cause someone supports, every discussion ends in shouts or frosty silences, and in many cases, broken friendships. I keep my opinions to myself and that includes the opinions I use to form my vote decisions. Safer that way.

As someone stuck in the outback of East Anglia where few Westminster MPs ever dare to tread for fear of getting lost in a bog, I’m very interested in how different things are in Scotland, Wales and N Ireland. I had no idea your dental service is free or what the difference is in hospital treatments. We can only look with wonder and awe at what they get in the London area and how close together the hospitals are and the expertise centred there.

DJ but when we are watching the national news, reading national newspapers or watching say Question Time, they seldom qualify statements about the NHS (or education, or water rates, etc.etc) by saying in England only or England & Wales. This is confusing for viewers/readers in Scotland/NI/Wales as we are often left agonising about a problem that is NOT happening in our neck of the woods, or, I suppose tho' I can't think of any examples, celebrating a success that does not apply here.

Probably not if you want to avoid exposing the oft claimed unfairness of the formula.

Such discussions undermine our Union.

...so any such unfairness is best left hidden.

Funding on the NHS in England has only been increased by 1% sonce the Tories came in. That's 3% behind what it was under Labour.
Labour was having to catch up on the Tories having cut funding in the previous Tory government.
Tories dislike spending money on everyone's health. Fortunately, they do not and will not have control of the NHS in Scotland. Unfortunately, they make up for that by reducing the amount of money they give to Scotland overall. They penalise both the Scots and Welsh for not voting for them, while rewarding the Irish, as they need DUP votes.

The government has split the NHS so there is NHSE and NHSS. There is no straight NHS any more, so I don't see your point, Jaycee.

There was a good graphic on BBC news last week that showed that funding had been increased year on year in percentage terms.
Demand has grown at an enormous rate though. No easy answers.

I don't see why there shouldn't be a separate thread but it is still worth commenting on general threads about the NHS. It is always worth reminding people who defend the cuts to the NHS that it is possible to do things in a better way and that there are being done in the UK.

"With EVEL we don't have any say in anything that isn't a solely Scottish question"
Don't be silly paddyann - all MPs representing Scottish constituencies have a say in all UK matters - EVEL only limits their powers (but they can still have their say by debate) on matters that only apply in England and do not apply in Scotland - and quite right too. If you remember it was the Scottish Labour MPs who voted with the Labour government to introduce university tuition fees that only applied in England & Wales - not in Scotland. A disgrace.

makes my blood boil granny23 Westminster are bullies ,plain and simple .They have more MP's so they can do what they like to us.With EVEL we dont have any say in anything that isn't a soley Scottish question.So when they vote for things that effect us by a back door route we have to just take it and shut up.Thankfully we have found our voice after three hundred years of mistreatment .For anyone who hasn't seen tham ...and I'd guess that MOST on gransnet..check the Westminster Scotish accounts ,they stopped publishing them in 1922 because Scots were starting to be aware of how the figures worked .70%...+ of our income STAYED in England for their use while people in Scotland lived in the worst slums in europe and it hasn't improved in almost 100 years since .WE still subsidise England .Why else do you think they desperately want to hold fast to us.Its not for our charm or good looks !Its not a union its the last vestige its abuse

www.thenational.scot/news/15825870.M_S_tells_Scottish_customer__You_ve_had_your_referendum_and_you_re_part_of_England_now/

A link to the story about M & S comment that Paddyann mentioned.

I agree that what happens in any part of the UK should be open to comment by everyone, but that should lead to lively debate and information sharing as the best threads here show. Nobody should fear making an informed comment and most of us are old enough to respect that others can have different political views without making it personal.

I did see that story about the alleged comment in the news about us being part of England now and I am hoping it will turn out to be a mistaken report or a misunderstanding.

It's a very fair point, though, that we do have devolved matters in Scotland along with our own distinct legal, education and health systems and that we are justifiably proud of the things that work better for us, whether by accident or design.

As Paddyann points out, our devolved government is not getting everything right, but they do seem to be more willing to listen than Westminster at the moment. Fortunately.

Granny23 a statement today from the British Dental Association said that dental care in Scotland was basically light years ahaead of the rest of the UK ,the free dental checks mean people aren't worried about costs when seeing a dentist so problems are caught quicker and dealt with cheaper .The number of tooth extractions in children in England and Wales is alo rising rapidly but not here north of the border .I have found as you have any reference to the Scottish NHS is either ignored or slapped down as unimportant .The grans on this site dont seem to think they can learn from our experience even though it is proven to work better .In the main management is superior ...though of course NOT perfect and like any government the SNP can and should be criticised where they fail .The difference being they LISTEN and mainly act on our complaints unlike Mrs May and her cohorts .I will never post again about Independence on here as the bile that was spouted was appalling.Then of course we have the news today that M and S who have branded Scotch whisky as "british" told a complaining customer to get over it because we'd "had your referendum and lost and you'r PART OF ENGLAND NOW" never have we been or will be a PART of England .

What happens in any part of the UK should be of interest to everyone, in my opinion.

There are quite a few on here who live in Scotland.

Am sure if you want Scottish GNers to comment on here then they will see the thread and leave comments Granny23 I see no reason why there can’t be a thread for those who are Scottish / live there, to discuss purely Scottish problems, especially as the local GN are closing.

Really Kitty I certainly did not see or hear an apology. Where/when was it broadcast? I did however see loads of posts on social media repeating the figures given by Sarah as evidence of the shocking state of the NHSS.

But it's almost standard practice to dismiss Scottish concerns as irrelevant while many think the important English parliament is simply indulging the Scots in an attempt to keep us quiet.
I'm happy to say I have read quite a few posts on GN which show a level of interest, knowledge and understanding but rather more that display a patronising and dismissive attitude.

The BBC did issue an apology for that mistake and it was mentioned on NewsWatch too.

How on earth did that happen? I'll see if I can get GN HQ to delete the rest.

I expect they'll all sit up and take notice now that you've started 7 threads on this topic

Good idea, Granny23.
Not that I'm not interested in the NHSS, but I don't know how different it is to NHSE, and NHSE seems to be in a worse situation to NHSS.

I think you only need one thread on it, though.

If you only watch the 'National@ part of BBC News you will not be aware that the figures quoted by Sarah Smith were 100% wrong, nor will you have seen her apology - not made on the News Chanel where the mistake was made but only in a personal tweet, leaving the vast majority of viewers with the mistaken impression that the situation in Scotland re waiting times in A&E is diabolical, when in fact it is better than any other part of the UK.

www.thenational.scot/news/15825905.BBC___s_Scotland_editor_forced_to_apologise_for_reporting_wrong_A_E_figures/?ref=eb