Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
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mcdowall.me
Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
@mcdowall.me
Chair, Welfare Scotland | EQHR Commissioner | Experts by Experience Panel at 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Poverty and Inequality Commn | AMRSPH Assoc | Fellow of Royal Society of Arts | MIHSCM Institute Health & Social Care Mgmt | 🏳️‍🌈 ♿️ #LGBT+ | He/Him
@stu-mcmillan-snp.bsky.social Great news about the planned walk-in GP clinic for Inverclyde. Do you know if it’ll be staffed by GPs hired for that purpose or will it be staffed on a rota of local GPs?
August 28, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
Join us for the next HRCS Members Webinar Series session on Changing the Story of Child Poverty with Ben Thurman from Save the Children UK.

📅 9 September | 🕐 1–2 PM UK | 💻 Online

Register: www.hrcscotland.org/events/hrcs-...
July 14, 2026 at 10:53 AM
More Creon shortages. Fed up having to juggle not knowing if I’ll get my full prescription or have to chase down supplies. Any one found an alternative that works as well?
August 26, 2026 at 12:34 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
The move to our new Stirling studio has presented considerable financial challenges, which is why we are launching a new appeal to raise £25,000 to complete the work on fitting out our studios and produce more programmes.

Please donate whatever you can afford

www.broadcastingscotland.scot/donate/
August 25, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Dolly Parton dying was not on my Bingo card for 2026 😭
August 25, 2026 at 6:08 PM
So not only did Scottish Labour create a scheme which bled taxpayers dry across Scotland for years and years for business via PFI, we will now pick up the bill when the buildings we’ve paid through the nose for are brought into public ownership?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Taxpayers will foot bill for shortfall on PFI hospital upgrades
Tens of millions of pounds will be needed to bring the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh up to scratch when it transfers to public ownership next year.
www.bbc.co.uk
August 19, 2026 at 12:51 PM
Skeleton with 167 fractures discovered at Stirling Castle may have been first victim of Edward I's 'War Wolf' trebuchet

www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
Skeleton with 167 fractures discovered at Scottish castle may have been first victim of Edward I's 'War Wolf' trebuchet
Dozens of fractures in a medieval skeleton found buried near a castle suggest the person may have been killed by a direct trebuchet hit.
www.livescience.com
August 17, 2026 at 3:28 PM
This is a disgrace and every person who contributed to this witch hunt should be utterly ashamed of themselves. There is a far cry from questions to answer and someone dying. The way the media and some within it whip up a frenzy is beyond contempt.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Jason Arday: Former Cambridge university professor found dead
His family said it was "in shock to have lost this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son" after the academic was found dead in London on Friday.
www.bbc.co.uk
August 14, 2026 at 10:02 PM
Ángel Aguirre the former governor of Guerrero state in Mexico has been formally charged over his alleged involvement in the disappearance of 43 students in 2014, a case that has become a symbol of the country’s brutal cartel violence and government impunity.

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
Former Mexican governor charged in case of 43 students who vanished in 2014
Ángel Aguirre indicted in case that rocked Mexico and became symbol of its brutal cartel violence
www.theguardian.com
August 14, 2026 at 8:04 PM
It really does seem that Eurovision will do everything but actually suspend Israel from the contest.

Eurovision proposes new rules to reduce political voting.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Eurovision Song Contest considers rule changes to discourage mass voting
Organisers reportedly say politically motivated voting is "persistent" and is seen as "deeply worrying".
www.bbc.co.uk
August 14, 2026 at 12:19 PM
This is appalling. If someone doesn’t want to be treated by a person of colour then put them in the corridor and give them the phone number for a taxi company. People can’t pick and choose, who treats them, by skin colour.

news.sky.com/story/nhs-st...
Patients refusing to be treated by non-white staff as NHS reports shocking rise in racism
Paul Awah, a Bedfordshire-based diagnostic radiographer originally from Nigeria, said: "It's definitely got worse – people are more expressive."
news.sky.com
August 4, 2026 at 1:51 PM
These neo-Nazis surrounded a Drag Story Hour while chanting slurs. Now they’ll pay the price.

www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/08/thes...
These neo-Nazis surrounded a Drag Story Hour while chanting slurs. Now they'll pay the price. - LGBTQ Nation
The group tried to get a cafe to shut down the Drag Story Hour through intimidation. But it didn't work.
www.lgbtqnation.com
August 3, 2026 at 9:37 PM
EU citizens in UK get letters telling them post-Brexit residency rights were given ‘in error’

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
EU citizens in UK get letters telling them post-Brexit residency rights were given ‘in error’
After years of building lives in UK, potentially hundreds of thousands of EU citizens could be told they have no right to remain
www.theguardian.com
August 2, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
Oh look, JK Rowling's chequebook-waving has emboldened the ADF, a Christofascist hate group that has been pouring millions into the UK to fund court cases and lobbying against abortion rights, equal marriage rights, Pride events etc., to go on the attack as well. Top standing up for women, Joanne!
Christian charities challenge Amnesty report labelling them ‘anti-rights’
A letter led by ADF International UK urges the Charity Commission to affirm that charities may engage in public debate without being labelled a threat to human rights
thecatholicherald.com
July 31, 2026 at 2:56 PM
The Strange Origin of The Human Eye May Trace Back to a 600-Million-Year-Old 'Cyclops'

www.sciencealert.com/the-strange-...
The Strange Origin of The Human Eye May Trace Back to a 600-Million-Year-Old 'Cyclops'
The human eye is one of nature's most complex visual systems.
www.sciencealert.com
August 1, 2026 at 11:42 AM
If it isn’t the consequences of his own actions.

Christian food bank’s shelves are empty after a pastor rejects supplies from LGBTQ+ allies.

www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/07/chri...
Christian food bank's shelves are empty after pastor rejects supplies from LGBTQ+ allies - LGBTQ Nation
He posted a video showing empty shelves after he decided he couldn't take contributions from an organization that accepts LGBTQ+ people.
www.lgbtqnation.com
July 31, 2026 at 8:16 PM
When we have actual fascists marching in the streets and targeting people due to the colour of their skin or perceived religion, this is incredibly ugly and entirely unnecessary. The government isn’t going to arrest its way out of this fiasco of its own making.
News: Appeal against judgment on the Palestine Action ban can be brought to The Supreme Court this autumn!

It was announced at a Lift the Ban protest this afternoon outside Westminster Magistrates Court where over 70 people have been arrested under Terrorism law for speaking out.
July 30, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Kirralie Smith, anti-trans activist and CEO of Binary Australia lied about a trans athlete injuring cis women. Now she has to pay them A$95,000 and make an official written apology and pin it to their social media for three (3) months.

www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/07/an-a...
An anti-trans activist lied about a trans athlete injuring cis women. Now she has to pay the price. - LGBTQ Nation
Kirralie Smith admitted in court she didn't have any evidence to back up her claim about a trans woman injuring two cis women.
www.lgbtqnation.com
July 28, 2026 at 9:55 PM
Does anyone have an iOS based chess app that is free or cheap and will teach someone how to play chess as well as having the ability to play with other?
July 28, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
United States is pressurizing governments to leave the International Criminal Court.

In case of Chad, it's alleged support to UAE's proxy RSF in Sudan could be claimed to be 'motivation', but leaving doesn't stop ICC from investigating it for actions until it leaves ICC.

bsky.app/profile/afri...
July 27, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
Incredibly important letter to the PM on #climate realities from @kevinclimate.bsky.social 👇
Open letter to the PM on Rosebank & Jackdaw oil and gas fields, covered in the Guardian: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Full letter here: climateuncensored.com/letter-to-th...
July 27, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Imagine if obsessed billionaires funded projects like this instead of those causing division.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Jodrell Bank's Lovell telescope faces axe in science cuts, BBC understands
Astronomers warn it would tear the heart out of UK science, and leave a generation untrained.
www.bbc.co.uk
July 27, 2026 at 7:32 PM
If you could only recommend one podcast, which would it be?
July 27, 2026 at 6:23 PM
Just seen the terrible news from the attack on 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇩🇪 Pride participants at Tiergarten park in Berlin. My heart goes out to everyone there and those injured. I hope the perpetrator is caught quickly and that those injured receive the care and support they need ASAP.
July 25, 2026 at 10:38 PM
Imagine how the thousands of visitors and athletes here for the Commonwealth Games are going to feel seeing the disgraceful and sickening scenes in parts of the city today. It isn’t acceptable any more for people to just tweet about it and sign petitions.
July 25, 2026 at 8:26 PM