Day: July 5, 2021

Urban Union and Muirhouse Housing Association support Millennium Centre with £15,000 donation

Urban Union, as part of their community benefit programmes for the City of Edinburgh Council, and Muirhouse Housing Association (MHA) have together provided over £15,000 in ongoing support to the Muirhouse Millennium Centre in the north of Edinburgh since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

Muirhouse Millennium Centre, run in partnership with Low Income Families Together (LIFT), aims to relieve poverty among the residents of the surrounding areas, provide recreational and leisure facilities, and promote education and training in skills of all kinds.

During the first wave of the pandemic, from March to October, the cash boosts from MHA and the developer behind Pennywell Living helped the Millennium Centre become a major player in food distribution in the north of Edinburgh.

Since then and throughout the two lockdowns, the money has helped fund over 5,000 food parcels, 22,000 packed lunches, 6,000 ready meals, as well as baby formula and nappies for local families and homeless accommodation.

Adapting their recreational support service, the Millennium Centre also delivered over 500 play packs and activity resources, allowing children to continue taking part in the Centre’s homework and youth clubs through Zoom.  In October, once children were allowed to be welcomed back, the Centre used the funding to deliver five sessions a week to reduce isolation and strengthen social skills after being at home for the duration of the first lockdown.

As part of their community benefits mission, Urban Union has previously also supported Muirhouse Library’s Breakfast Club to ensure local children had a nutritious start to their day as well as helping Pennywell School build their STEM curriculum, recently launching a STEM-based learning project.

Neil McKay, Managing Director of Urban Union, said: “Our focus at Urban Union is to not only regenerate a physical landscape, but to create strong relationships and support the communities in which our developments are based. We are ecstatic to have been able to support the Millennium Centre and LIFT throughout a very challenging period for many families.

“We are always happy to give something back to the Muirhouse community and we will continue to offer opportunities for local people and support for the most vulnerable in the area.”

Iain Strachan, Chair of the Muirhouse Housing Association added: “Muirhouse Housing Association is dedicated to supporting our tenants and local community.

“This last year has been one of the most challenging in our near 30 years of being part of the Muirhouse community. We are glad that we can work with Muirhouse Millennium Centre and LIFT in supporting local people and families during a very difficult time and will continue to do so in the future.”

Pauline Bowie, Managing Director of Low Income Families Together said: “We are very grateful for this generous donation from Urban Union and MHA which has made a real tangible difference to children and families alike across Edinburgh during an extremely difficult time.

“The Centre relies on funding to deliver our programmes and reach those who need it the most. Everyone deserves a chance in life, and donations like this allow for local people in challenging situations to access different forms of support.”

City of Edinburgh Council’s Convener of Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work, Councillor Kate Campbell said: “During this crisis, we’ve worked together to put our most vulnerable residents first and making sure people can access the right support when and where they need it has been an absolute priority.

“It’s great to see our development partner Urban Union and Muirhouse Housing Association providing this much needed funding for Muirhouse Millennium Centre’s invaluable work, and the positive impact it’s had on the community’s families and children since the beginning of the pandemic.”

Pennywell Living is the centre of an exciting 8-year regeneration project as part of the City of Edinburgh Council’s house-building programme.

Now in phase three, the development offers an exceptional range of 315 one to four bedroom flats and houses designed for modern living. Over half of these will be for affordable rent.

Urban Union regenerates areas across Scotland to create revitalised communities through building new, high quality, affordable homes.

Across each of its developments, Urban Union aims to deliver sustainable long-term benefits to the new and surrounding neighbourhoods, with job and training opportunities, ensuring the community will benefit from the projects for years to come.

To find out more about Urban Union, visit: https://www.urbanunionltd.co.uk/

To find out more about the Millennium Centre, visit: https://www.lift-edinburgh.com/muirhouse-millennium

Help shape the future of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is appealing to the people of Scotland for their views on the future direction of the services it provides to make the country an even safer place to live, work and visit.

Chief Officer Martin Blunden is urging the public and stakeholders to take part in the consultation ‘SFRS – Long-Term Vision’ – which closes on Sunday 18 July – and help influence the way it evolves over the next ten years. 

The consultation vision document explains four key principles the SFRS wants to focus on over the next decade along with eight priorities it wants to achieve.

The consultation comes against a backdrop of a steady decline in household fires since the SFRS was formed almost ten years ago.

During the same period the country has witnessed an increase in weather related events such as wildfires and severe flooding, both of which are linked to climate change.

One of the proposed priorities in the consultation is achieving Carbon Zero status to reduce the impact on the communities the SFRS serves.

Chief Officer Blunden explained why the consultation was needed, saying: “While our immediate environment is changing and we need to respond to this in terms of the services we provide, I also want our fire and rescue service to evolve and have an increasingly positive impact on the health and wellbeing of our communities.

“We’ve been encouraged by the responses we have received so far and I would urge people to submit their views before the consultation closes. I want to hear what you think – positive or negative – as well as understand what’s important to you too so that you, your family and your community feels safe and protected. We want you to achieve a safer Scotland for all, together.”

The consultation runs until Sunday, July 18 and can be accessed here.

Respondents are invited to answer a short survey and give their views on the vision document ‘SFRS – Long-Term Vision’.

Responses to the consultation will be used to inform the final vision document that will set out the future direction of the SFRS.

Emergency! Key staff shortages are increasing the pressure on struggling ED workforce

Census by RCEM Scotland shows a shortage of key senior decision-making clinicians and a workforce below adequate staffing levels

A census of the Emergency Medicine workforce in Scotland by the Royal College of Emergency has found shortages of key senior decision-makers, and a workforce that is below adequate staffing levels to deliver the best and most effective care to patients.

When asked for immediate staffing needs, Emergency Departments across Scotland reported they needed an increase of:

  • 25% in consultants
  • 45% in Advanced Clinical Practitioners/Advanced Nursing Practitioners/Physician Associates
  • 16% in Emergency Nurse Practitioners
  • 22% in Higher Specialist Trainees/Non-consultant Senior Decision-Makers
  • 21% in Junior Doctors

RCEM analysis shows that to resolve the shortages of senior decision-makers and to achieve adequate staffing and aspirational staffing levels by 2026 the current workforce in Scotland needs a total of 405 more health care staff broken down as:

  • 113 more consultants
  • 74 more Higher Specialist Trainees/Non-consultant Senior Decision-Makers
  • 38 more Advanced Clinical Practitioners/Advanced Nursing Practitioners/Physician Associates
  • 180 more Junior Doctors

RCEM’s Scotland workforce census consisted of a 64-question survey and was sent to Emergency Department Clinical Leads across Scotland.

Responses were received from 24 Emergency Departments, including all 20 consultant-led Emergency Departments, one Minor Injury Unit, and three Remote and Rural Hospitals.

Commenting on RCEM’s Scotland workforce census, Dr John Thomson, Vice President (Scotland) of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “The census clearly shows that the Emergency Medicine workforce in Scotland is not adequately staffed to deliver the highest quality patient care.

“This has led to an increase in intense pressures on the existing workforce and is very likely to be a contributing factor to the continued deterioration in performance.

“We have always been proud of Scotland’s performance in Emergency Medicine, ensuring quick and effective care that outperformed the rest of the United Kingdom. But, even before the pandemic, the increase in demand put severe pressure on staff, and departments began to struggle to meet the four-hour access standard, but more seriously began to struggle to deliver appropriate treatment to patients, resulting in more delays and longer stays.

“The pandemic certainly exacerbated these issues and now there are some major challenges that face Emergency Medicine in Scotland. Emergency Medicine can be relentless; a service delivered 24 hours a day, seven days a week, will always take its toll, and the pandemic has highlighted the severe burnout that Emergency Medicine staff, especially face.

“Departments must be staffed with a workforce trained and qualified in Emergency Medicine. Shortages in senior decision-making staff groups can lead to Emergency Departments over-depending on junior staff. The census shows that we need considerable expansion of funded consultant and senior decision-maker posts in order to prioritise patient safety and quality of care.

“We managed to survive the first two waves of pandemic with an insufficient workforce, but now these existing staff are facing burnout and exhaustion – with some clinicians reporting they are planning on retiring early. This census clearly shows that we must act and address these problems without delay.

“The Scottish Government must work with the specialty to devise an adequate workforce plan for the emergency care system, taking into account population needs and rising demand on the service. Plans must ensure sustainable and fulfilling careers for all staff, allowing for the delivery of quick, safe, and effective care for patients.

“Without a sufficient workforce plan that addresses the findings of the census, it is likely that there will be continued deterioration in Emergency Department performance and rates of burnout will continue to increase amongst Emergency Medicine staff.”

Health Secretary Sajid Javid: “We cannot eliminate COVID-19”

Learning to live with Coronavirus

Moments after the Prime Minister called to ask me to become Health and Social Care Secretary last Saturday night, I spoke to my teenage daughter in the kitchen (writes UK Health Secretary SAJID JAVID).

‘You won’t have much to sort out then, dad,’ she said sarcastically.

When I came back to Westminster on Sunday morning, I found the biggest in-tray I’ve had at any department – and I’ve run 5.

I’ve spent the last year working with Harvard University on how governments can learn from this pandemic and be better prepared for future challenges, now I’m the one faced with so many of those tough choices.

I feel both the heavy responsibility and urgency that comes with this job.

My first video call on vaccine progress had to be at the same time as the England-Germany match. It was all going well until JVT (Jonathan Van-Tam, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England) suddenly took off his headphones because he didn’t want to hear the score before he watched a recording of the match.

It was an honour to start the meeting by thanking the team who have delivered the rollout, including everyone in the NHS, the Vaccines Taskforce and the officials in my department.

Amid the endless policy memos and reams of data, I see 2 immediate challenges. The first is how we restore our freedoms and learn to live with (coronavirus) COVID-19. The second is to tackle the NHS backlog – something that we know is going to get far worse before it gets better.

We are on track for 19 July and we have to be honest with people about the fact that we cannot eliminate COVID-19.

We also need to be clear that cases are going to rise significantly. I know many people will be cautious about the easing of restrictions – that’s completely understandable. But no date we choose will ever come without risk, so we have to take a broad and balanced view. We are going to have to learn to accept the existence of COVID-19 and find ways to cope with it – just as we already do with flu.

The economic arguments for opening up are well known, but for me, the health arguments are equally compelling. The pandemic has hit some groups disproportionately hard.

Rules that we have had to put in place have caused a shocking rise in domestic violence and a terrible impact on so many people’s mental health. All the progress we have made is thanks to the sacrifices of the British people – and our phenomenal vaccine programme.

The jabs are working. The latest data from the Office for National Statistics shows that 8 in 10 UK adults have the COVID-19 antibodies that help the body fight the disease. The implications of this are huge.

Tragically, the last time we had 28,000 new cases of COVID-19 in a day, we saw about 500 people die each day. On Friday, we had almost 28,000 cases a day, but 24 times fewer people lost their lives.

There will always be the possibility that we have to deal with dangerous new variants that evade the vaccine but I encourage everyone to get their jabs now if they haven’t already done so. It is the single biggest contribution you can make to this national effort.

We have many other crucial health challenges that we need to confront. We protected the NHS to make sure it was there for everyone who needed care. The steps we took saved countless lives but also led to the build-up of a vast ‘elective’ backlog – checks, appointments and treatments for all the less urgent, but often just as important, health issues.

Because of the pandemic, we estimate that about 7 million fewer people than normal came forward for healthcare. Even if only some of that demand returns, we will see enormous pressure on the NHS.

To help meet this demand, build a better NHS and bust the backlog, we need to build on the changes we’ve all embraced through the pandemic, such as using NHS 111 to direct patients to the most appropriate setting to receive care, expanding the use of our pharmacies and encouraging more people to use the NHS app.

We have to keep doing all of that, and more.

Of course, if you are feeling unwell, you need to come forward. The NHS is always there for you – and now in many different ways.

We’re putting record levels of funding into the NHS. In March, we committed a further £7 billion of funding – including £1 billion to begin tackling the elective backlog and about £500 million for mental health services and investment in staff.

And we’re bringing so many more talented colleagues into the workforce. We have record numbers employed in the NHS, with more than 58,300 more staff in hospital and community health services since March last year, including over 5,600 more doctors and 10,800 nurses.

We’re also embracing technology to help staff spend less time on paperwork and more on patients.

It’s time to build on the spirit of innovation we’ve all embraced and use it for the other challenges we face: from finally fixing social care and putting it on a sustainable footing, to tackling the health inequalities that the pandemic has brought to the fore.

I’m determined we get that right.

There’s a lot of work ahead, but if we hold on to the spirit that has seen us through these difficult days, we will have a country that is not just freer, but healthier, too.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is likely to confirm later today that all COVID restrictions will be lifted in England from 19th July, so-called ‘Freedom Day’, despite a rising number of COVID cases.

Scotland is more cautious, with a tentative date of 9th August, and Wales and Northern Ireland have yet to make any decision on further relaxation on restrictions.