What would it take to narrow the gap in life expectancy between Scotland and England? A revolution in Scottish eating habits, most experts might say.

Slimming World warned last week that people in the East Midlands are the fattest in the UK, while those in London are the slimmest. None are exactly svelte, mind.

Ten years ago, the Home Affairs Committee’s Special Report on Drugs and Prisons made a series of recommendations that are still being ignored by the Ministry of Justice.

Reservations on today’s report by Nuffield Trust which compares funding and healthcare performance across the UK centre on: Rurality (which not even comparison between Scotland and North East England redresses), Reporting standards, Right measures, Responsiveness, and Repeat attendances.

The latest figures for deaths from H1N1 flu, published by the Health Protection Agency for week 48, raise an interesting question. 

Cases of H1N1 have been creeping up again, with Scotland - where children went back to school several weeks earlier - leading the way. 

How can we monitor deaths from swine flu, in cases where the cause may not be immediately identified? This note suggests how it might be done.

Devolution has provided an interesting comparison of how different governments approach the National Health Service - and the arrival of swine flu has pointed out just how great those differences can be. 

As if to prove that not all Scots die prematurely of a surfeit of deep-fried Mars bars, the General Register Office for Scotland has published today a list of