Day: March 4, 2020

Sixteen year old Scots won’t face PIP ordeal

The Scottish Government will use its new benefits powers to remove the need for children to take part in Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments.

Under current DWP rules, children getting Disability Living Allowance for Children are asked to apply for PIP six months out from their 16 birthday, but under the Scottish Government changes, young people will continue to get DLA Child, as long as they remain eligible, up to the age of 18.

This means that they will not need to do a DWP PIP application or assessment – which many people say are stressful.

The change comes as the Scottish Government takes full responsibility for disability benefits from April this year.

Social Security Secretary Shirley Anne Somerville said: “We know from people like June Jamieson, a parent who has had direct experience of the current system, that making the transition from child to adult services can be a challenging time for their child and family.

“Adding to this, young people may be going through changes in a number of other areas of their life at the same time. We’ve also been told that the fact that this transition is to PIP, creates even more stress and anxiety.

“This is why we are using our new social security powers to extend the eligibility,  ease the pressure on families and make sure young people in Scotland have adequate time to move from children to adult social security support.

“Our priority for people already getting this support from the DWP is to move them over in a safe and secure way and make sure that people get the financial support they expect, when and where they expect it.”

Ms Jamieson, from Edinburgh, has recently applied for PIP for her son Alex, who turned 16 in January. She said: “So many things are happening in a child with additional needs life when they turn 16, for example they need to think if they are staying on at school, and parents may need to apply for guardianship.

“It will really take the pressure off lots of other families not to have to worry about this. Although Alex won’t benefit from the changes I am really pleased that other people will. I have the fear of the unknown waiting to hear the outcome of his PIP application.”

Community Health Matters course at Royston Wardieburn

You can still join the free COMMUNITY HEALTH MATTERS course which is running at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre on Thursday mornings until 2nd April.

See below for this week’s programme – all welcome!

THURSDAY WORKSHOPS

Childcare expansion plans on track, says Government

The expansion of funded early learning and childcare (ELC) in Scotland is on course to be delivered from August 2020, says Children’s Minister Maree Todd – but public watchdogs have concerns over the tight timescale. 

Backed by an unprecedented £2 billion investment, by the end of the expansion more than 900 nurseries will have been built, extended or refurbished since 2018. Meanwhile, 4,310 additional full-time equivalent staff have also been recruited, resulting in a record 40,000-strong workforce.

From August, all three and four-year-olds and around a quarter of two-year-olds, will be entitled to 1,140 hours a year – almost double the current entitlement of 600 hours.

In response to Audit Scotland report on early learning expansion, Children’s Minister Maree Todd said: “We are on course to deliver the most generous, high quality early learning and childcare offer in the UK, which can transform the lives of children.

“I’ve seen and heard of the way children’s confidence and communication skills have been boosted by the care and learning they’ve received, while they’re also getting access to opportunities such as outdoor learning.

“Through our strong partnership working with local government, so much has already been achieved. There are already thousands of additional staff in post, and councils will continue to grow their teams over the coming months.

“We have also been delivering a large-scale infrastructure programme to provide high quality settings. Hundreds of nurseries have been built or refurbished, with work continuing across the country.

“We are committed to delivering the roll-out from August and councils have contingency plans in place for all critical projects due to complete this summer, so we can be confident that the places will be there to deliver the expansion for Scotland’s children. The expansion also opens up more opportunities for playgroups, private and third sector nurseries, and childminders to be involved in delivering funded hours.

“The quality of ELC provided is absolutely key. That is why we are investing in the workforce and developing improved learning opportunities for them to increase their skills and share best practice.

“With a passionate and dedicated workforce across all parts of the sector, and fantastic places for children to learn and play in a nurturing environment, there has never been a more exciting time for our childcare sector.”

However while plans to boost early learning and childcare (ELC) hours have made steady progress, risks around buildings and staffing remain, say public sector watchdogs.

The watchdog says the Scottish Government and councils are working well together to increase ELC hours from 600 to 1,140 a year from August and the pace of the expansion is broadly in line with plans.

But around half of the building work required is due to be completed over the summer, and about half of the additional ELC staff still need to be recruited. Private and third sector providers – which are expected to deliver over a quarter of the hours – also continue to report significant workforce challenges that threaten their sustainability.

The Scottish Government’s evaluation plans for the expansion are well advanced but challenges remain. For example, it is not clear how the longer-term economic benefits of the policy, or its impact on family wellbeing, will be measured.

Caroline Gardner, Auditor General for Scotland, said: “The Scottish Government and councils have worked well together to increase early learning and childcare hours, and we’ve also seen improvements in how the project will be evaluated.

“But the timeline remains tight and there are big risks around infrastructure and workforce.”

Graham Sharp, Chair of the Accounts Commission said: “Given the amount of work due to be completed over summer 2020, it’s important that councils continue to work closely with the Scottish Government to manage the risks of any delays, including how best to keep parents informed.”

200303_early_learning

State of Child Health – it’s not good

The RCPCH has today published State of Child Health 2020, the largest ever compilation of data on the health of babies, children and young people across all four UK nations.
The report shows that for many measures of children’s health and wellbeing, progress has stalled, or is in reverse – something rarely seen in high income countries.

Visit the State of Child Heath website

Across most indicators, health outcomes are worse for children who live in deprived areas. Inequalities in some outcomes have widened since the last State of Child Health report in 2017. Progress has also been seriously affected by deep cuts to local authority budgets – used to finance public health initiatives and community services.

The authors highlight that, even where there have been notable improvements in children’s health, the UK is often lagging far behind other countries.  For example, although there has been a fall in the number of emergency asthma admission rates across all four nations, the UK still has one of the highest mortality rates in Europe for children and young people with asthma.

Dr Ronny Cheung, Clinical Lead for RCPCH and co-author of the report, said: “Two weeks ago, the Marmot Review presented a stark picture about life expectancy in England. Now, our own report shows troubling signs for children and young people across the UK.

“The harsh reality is that, in terms of health and wellbeing, children born in the UK are often worse off than those born in other comparably wealthy countries. This is especially true if the child is from a less well-off background.

“Infant mortality is a globally-recognised sign of how well a country is looking after the health of its citizens. Throughout the world, the number of babies dying in their first year has been steadily falling for decades, as incomes rise and mothers and children receive better healthcare.

“Yet UK infant mortality rates have stalled, and in England they actually got worse between 2016 and 2017. For a high-income nation such as ours that should be a major wake up call.”

State of Child Health 2020 brings together 28 measures of health outcomes, ranging from specific conditions – such as asthma, epilepsy, and mental health problems – to risk factors for poor health such as poverty, low rates of breastfeeding, and obesity.

Community paediatrician and co-author Dr Rakhee Shah, said: “Investment in preventative health services must now be prioritised by the new UK Government.

“England has seen a huge decline in spending on local services and I see the results of that every day of my working life especially for my most disadvantaged patients. The cuts to services also have an impact on our NHS – people have fewer places to go to get advice, support, and stay well.”

The authors make a number of policy recommendations for each nation. These include:

  • Introduce a cross-departmental National Child Health and Wellbeing Strategy to address and monitor child poverty and health inequalities.
  • Restore £1 billion of real-terms cuts to the public health grant for Local Authorities.
  • Ensure future investment in public health provision increases at the same rate as NHS funding and is allocated based on population health needs.
  • Implement in full commitments from the prevention green paper, Advancing our health: Prevention in the 2020s.
  • Implement commitments to provide a Youth Investment Fund, with protection of the committed £500m funding.
  • Provide health-based support for children throughout education, including funding for increased numbers of school nurses and school counsellors.
  • Provide renewed investment in services for children and families, which support the child’s school readiness.
  • Ensure that health visiting services are protected, supported and expanded with clear and secure funding.

President of the RCPCH, Professor Russell Viner, said: “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us if we’re to get a grip on the state of child health in the UK. This report is the only one of its kind to zoom out and look at the full picture and it’s not a pretty sight. On many vital measures we risk lagging behind other European countries.

“There some positive signs – teenage pregnancies have fallen hugely, Scotland is leading the way on reducing youth violence, and we’ve made huge strides in the treatment of conditions like diabetes. These outcomes are invariably the result of good policy, political commitment, and proper funding.

“In many areas of healthcare, we’ve led the rest of the world. But we’re in danger of failing a generation if we don’t turn this situation around. The government has made welcome commitments on childhood obesity and young people’s mental health but we need to see delivery in these and other areas.

“We have the evidence, the experience and the expertise to make real progress in the life of this government. It’s now time to deliver for children and young people.”

KEY HIGHLIGHTS 

Infant mortality

  • The UK is fifth from bottom among 27 European countries for infant (under one year of age) mortality. Infant mortality in England stalled between 2013 and 2018 at 3.9 per 1,000 livebirths, with a slight rise in 2017 to 4.0.
  • In England and Wales infant mortality is more than twice as high in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived areas.

Healthy weight

  • The prevalence of children aged 4-5 who are overweight or obese has not improved significantly in any of the four countries since 2006-7.
  • Trends among 4-5 year olds are stable across the UK with around 25% of children overweight but this increases to around 34% for 10-11 year olds in England.
  • Childhood obesity is more prevalent in deprived areas. In England, the prevalence of severe obesity among 4-5 year olds was almost four times as high in the most deprived areas (3.8%) than the least deprived areas (1.0%) in 2017/18.

Child poverty (new indicator)

  • A total of 4.1 million children live in relative poverty in the UK (after considering housing costs) – an increase of 500,000 between 2011-12 and 2016-17. From 2016/17 to 2017/18, the numbers in England rose from 30% to 31% of children and in Wales from 28% to 29%
  • Child poverty in Scotland plateaued at 24% and in NI decreased from 26% to 24%.
  • Across the UK, rates of child poverty have increased for all types of working family. Lone parents working part time and households with only one working parent have seen the sharpest increases in poverty over the last three years.
  • Nearly half of children (47%) in working lone parent families live in poverty.

Immunisations

  • In 2018, all four UK nations fell short of the 95% WHO target for the second dose of MMR.
  • In 2018, the uptake rates of two doses of MMR vaccine at 5 years ranged from 86.4% in England, 91.2% in Scotland to 91.8% in Northern Ireland and 92.2% in Wales.

Youth violence (new indicator)

  • While rates of physical violence among young people are broadly similar across the four nations, England is the only country in which rates are increasing – most notably for 20-24 year olds. Between 2012 and 2017, the rate of physical violence among that age group increased from 297.7 to 315.49 per 100,000.
  • In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, physical violence among young people aged 10-24 shows an overall downward or stable trend from 2012-2017.

Long term conditions

  • Emergency admission rates for asthma have fallen since 2003/4 across the UK. However, the UK has among the highest mortality rates in Europe for children and young people with the underlying cause of asthma.
  • Epilepsy had until recently seen similar falling rates of emergency admissions. However, in 2017/18 rates rose slightly in England, Wales and Scotland. In Scotland, children with epilepsy from the most deprived areas were twice as likely to have an emergency admission to hospital than those from the least deprived.
  • There has been continued improvement in blood glucose control among children and young people with Type 1 diabetes across all four nations, and it is encouraging that there have been increases in the completion of key health checks for those with diabetes.

2020 indicators

  • Mortality – Infant mortality; Child mortality (1-9 years); Young people’s mortality (10-19 years)
  • Maternal and perinatal health – Smoking during pregnancy; Breastfeeding
    Prevention of ill health – Immunisations / vaccinations; Healthy weight; Oral health
  • Injury prevention – Accidental injury; Road traffic accidents; Youth violence (new indicator)
  • Healthy behaviours – Smoking in young people; Alcohol and drug use in young people; Conceptions in young people
  • Mental health – Prevalence of mental health (new indicator); Mental health services (new indicator); Suicide
  • Family and social environment – Child poverty; Education – not in education, employment or training (NEET) (new indicator); Young carers (new indicator); Children in the child protection system; Looked After Children (new indicator)
  • Long term conditions – Asthma; Epilepsy; Diabetes; Cancer; Disability and additional learning needs
  • Workforce – Child health workforce (new indicator)

SOCH-SCOTLAND2-03.03.20

Celebrate International Women’s Day at North Edinburgh Arts

SHE Scotland invite all women to our International Women’s Day event on Friday 6th March at North Edinburgh Arts.

We will be sharing our Ambassadors workshops and celebrating together. There will be a creche during the workshops.

We will also be opening the SHE Motherhood Exhibition by the fabulous SHE Photography.

Children’s mental health services ‘creaking at the seams’

  • The NHS in Scotland failed to meet a maximum 18-week waiting time target for children and young people to receive treatment from mental health services
  • More than a third are waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment.
  • 11 out of 14 health boards, including NHS Lothian, failed to meet the 18-week waiting time target.
  • 272 children and young people waited more than a year prior to being seen
  • Coalition calls for fundamental rethink and renewed focus on prevention and early intervention, including embedding mental health within education.

Latest waiting time figures have reinforced the call by a coalition of leading independent and third sector children and young people’s service providers for dramatically increased investment in mental health services in the budget to address the current mental health crisis.

It has also called for an urgent need for transformational change in services, focusing on prevention and early intervention in order to tackle what is one of the greatest public health challenges of our time.

The call from the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC), which campaigns to improve services for vulnerable children and young people, comes as the latest waiting time figures from the Information Services Division, part of NHS National Services Scotland, highlight that thousands of children and young people are failing to treated within a Scottish Government waiting time target.  

With an increasing number of children and young people being identified with mental health problems they also highlight a postcode lottery for mental health treatment across the country.

Covering the quarter October to December 2019, the figures highlight that 3,884 children and young people started treatment at specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in this period.

The NHS in Scotland, including 11 of the 14 regional health boards, failed to meet the Scottish Government 18-week waiting time target for children and young people to receive treatment from CAMHS. This target should be delivered for at least 90 per cent of patients.

While 66.4 per cent in the NHS in Scotland are being seen within this 18-week waiting time, still in itself far too long, more than a third (33.6 per cent) are failing to be seen within this period.

Individual health boards failing to meet this target are: NHS Fife (66.1 per cent), NHS Ayrshire & Arran (89.9 per cent), NHS Grampian (80.1 per cent), NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (68.9 per cent), NHS Highland (75.2 per cent), NHS Lanarkshire (57.8 per cent), NHS Lothian (48.4 per cent), NHS Tayside (57.4 per cent), NHS Dumfries & Galloway (88.6 per cent), NHS Shetland and NHS Forth Valley (57.7 per cent).

The figures also indicate that 272 children and young people in the October to December quarter had been waiting for more than a year prior to being seen for treatment, an increase from 204 in the previous quarter and a considerable increase from the  same quarter of last year (108).

Mental health services are creaking at the seams due to greatly increasing demand, as evidenced by these waiting time figures. Research indicates that 10 per cent of children and young people (aged five to 16) has a clinically diagnosable mental health problem (around three in every classroom), with 50 per cent of mental health problems established by the age of 14 and 75 per cent by the age of 24.

While acknowledging the great efforts the Scottish Government is making, such as an additional £250 million of funding announced in the Programme for Government of 2018, the SCSC has called for the Scottish Government to greatly increased investment in CAMHS and for a more consistent approach to delivering these services across Scotland. 3

It has also called for a renewed focus on prevention and early intervention for those with mental health problem, reducing the need for referral to under-pressure specialist CAMHS.

This includes embedding mental health within education from an early age in order to strengthen knowledge and awareness of mental health, as well as reducing the stigma associated with mental health.

SCSC says emotion and resilience classes should be provided to all students from primary one to teach students how to work through their emotions in a healthy way and there should be a whole-school approach, with training for all staff involved in education and providing counselling support.

A spokesperson for the SCSC said: “These latest waiting time figures highlight that we desperately need increased investment in the forthcoming budget to address this situation. The simple fact is that we are continuing to fail thousands of children and young people with mental health problems, and more clearly needs to be done to address this epidemic.

“These newly released figures highlight that the NHS in Scotland, including eleven of our health boards, are failing to meet what is already a lengthy waiting time. Yet we know that three children in every classroom has a clinically diagnosable mental health problem.

“There must be a radical transformation of our mental health services, with a focus on preventing such problems arising in the first place and intervening early, especially when we know that half of all mental health problems begin before the age of 14.  This includes embedding mental health within education from an early age as well as providing training for all staff involved in education.

“With mental health and the issues associated with it representing one of the greatest public health challenges of our time, we must ensure that children and young people are able to get the care and support they need, when they need it. This includes investing in greater community support and support at school, reducing the need for referral to specialist CAMHS.”

One in three young people in the Lothians are waiting over a year for mental health support.

Miles Briggs, Scottish Conservative Lothian MSP, said: “It is deeply concerning that we are now in a situation where over a third of young people referred for mental health support in NHS Lothian are having to wait over a year.

“SNP Ministers have allowed us to reach crisis point by not properly managing NHS Lothian’s workforce and must take responsibility for neglecting to take action over the mental health crisis amongst young people.

“These figures show just how urgently we need an additional 40 whole time equivalent mental health professionals in NHS Lothian.”

Great escape for lucky Ace

Firefighters helped save the life of a horse who had fallen and become stranded during Storm Dennis.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service crews from Dalkeith and Sighthill responded to the incident within a field near Gorebridge, Midlothian.

The horse, named Ace, had been blown over by a strong gust of wind and was unable to get back to his feet due to extremely wet ground conditions.

Ace suffers from radial nerve damage following a previous accident and was unable to regain his footing without assistance.

Battling wet and miserable conditions, fire crews and volunteers worked with a  local farmer and his forklift to gently move the animal to safety and harder ground.

Following a challenging two hour operation, Ace was able to get to his feet and is now back to enjoying life.

Watch Commander (WC) Gordon Aitchison was involved in the rescue.

Reflecting on the moment Ace regained his footing, WC Aitchison said: “The vet had already informed us that Ace had to get back to his feet by himself because if we used mechanical lifting equipment there was a chance he would fall again.

“We tried to use strops, but Ace kept slipping. The lady who called us, Charlotte, then got in touch with her neighbour, a farmer who came with a forklift.

“We decided to use the strops, forklift and a recovery sheet to try and gently move Ace to the paddock.”

WC Aitchison continued: “Moving Ace from the wet field to the paddock and harder ground was really the final chance we had.

“But thankfully everything worked out fine. When Ace did get back to his feet it was great to see. Charlotte and everyone involved were over the moon and it was hugs all round.”

Charlotte Sleigh, who helps care for Ace, said that without the help of firefighters, her neighbour and friends, Ace would likely have lost his life.

Praising the work of emergency responders, Charlotte said: “If it wasn’t for the firefighters and my neighbour Grant, Ace would have been put down – the vet said as much.

“The firefighters were lovely and were determined to do everything they could to see Ace back on his feet.

“We weren’t sure what to do initially, but having the recovery sheet and Grant’s forklift really helped.

“My friends, George and Allan, who work at a local garage, also rushed here to assist and were a great help.

“It was a positive outcome and it was lovely to see how much the firefighters and everyone involved cared.”

Ace is now fully recovered and back to enjoying life.

Charlotte revealed: “Ace must have about 10 lives, so I knew he would pull through and get back on his feet after we had moved him.

“He’s a big character and just wants to play. We’re all very thankful and indebted to those who helped.”

Tide of change set to sweep over Waterfront?

We recently published ambitious £1.3bn plans to transform Granton Waterfront into a new coastal town to bring back to life a huge piece of former industrial land (writes Councillor CAMMY DAY).
This follows extensive public consultation in the last couple of years, and is a big deal for the city and me personally because as well as chairing the group overseeing the work on this, I grew up in the area.
Two years ago we purchased the former gas works from the National Grid, which was the final piece in the jigsaw we needed to consolidate our land, and start working on an exciting new vision with the local community.
Granton has a rich history and heritage and will be at the heart of our plans. We’ve already agreed to restore the old railway station and light up the former gas tower.
The regeneration of Granton has given us the perfect opportunity to help us to meet our commitment to become a net zero carbon city by 2030 and we’re going to make this one of Scotland’s leading sustainable developments.
We plan to build around 3,500 homes of which at least 35% will be affordable, encourage new businesses, develop a cultural hub and provide new leisure, learning and employment opportunities.
We’ll make sure everything is built to an extremely high standard and along with our housing association partners we’re already delivering around 700 new homes for sale and rent in area.
We’ll also build a school, medical centre, new cycling and walking routes and there is a commitment to improve bus services and other forms of sustainable public transport. This will include looking at the business case for an extension of the tram.
A new coastal city park stretching from Granton Castle Walled Garden to Cramond and Lauriston Castle will re-connect the city with its waterfront and those using the route will get spectacular views across the Forth.

 

We’ve been working on a Development Framework with the local community and this is being considered by the Planning Committee. When agreed it will be used as a guide for developers when making future planning applications to make sure the needs of the local community and sustainability stay at the heart of any future proposals.

Along with sustainable transport links it also supports our draft City Mobility Plan with proposals for a vast network of new routes which promote walking and cycling over car use and car parking has been reduced to a maximum of 25% or less.

With an overall value of around £1.3bn, we’re committed to investing around £196m to accelerate the regeneration, this will help to attract significant public and private sector funding to deliver the vision.

We’re working with public sector partners National Museums Scotland, National Galleries of Scotland and Edinburgh College to make this one of the best places in Edinburgh to live, work, learn and visit.

While work is underway we want to make the best use of land available and so we have a programme of temporary uses for the site and early projects in vacant buildings or land awaiting development.

These will be great for locals and include projects such as an adventure playground, urban wind turbine and shipping containers on the shoreline to provide affordable space for cafes and leisure.

I’m hugely grateful for the wider community’s involvement so far. They have told us many times that they want to see the North Edinburgh’s waterfront transformed with new homes, jobs, providing a sustainable new future for Granton Waterfront.

Our plans will deliver this and I’d encourage you to go along and find out more about this exciting project. It will be on display at Edinburgh College Granton campus until Friday (6 March). The exhibition on the Development Framework has excellent imagery of how the site could look.

 

This article first appeared in the Evening News on 26th February.