The Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Stroke – of which we are secretariat, is exploring the current position of emotional support available to people affected by stroke in Scotland. Our aim is to support stroke improvements in this area.
A vital part of this is to gather the views of people affected by stroke in Scotland.
We want to know: what support you received? Was it the right support for you?
Please have your say by completing out short online survey.
Motorists running modern EVs and hybrids who are tempted to cut costs by not investing in roadside assistance could be in for a shock from unskilled recovery agents warns leading breakdown provider Start Rescue.
As people tighten their belts, breakdown cover is often the first thing to go. But that could end up being a false economy and particularly for those with electric cars and hybrids.
With many modern vehicles having detailed recovery procedures, specialist and up-to-date knowledge is essential and particularly with modern EVs and hybrids. Failure to recover these vehicles correctly can result in costly damage to the crucial motors, transmissions and expensive electrical components.
Start Rescue says drivers of conventionally powered vehicles could find themselves shelling out £250 or more from inflated call-out charges and extra, unforeseen costs from freelancers, but for EV and plug-in hybrid owners who fall victim to unskilled traders it could mean thousands in unnecessary repair bills.
And if the vehicle is damaged during recovery there is the added worry as to whether the operator has the appropriate insurance cover; potentially leaving the driver footing the entire repair bill.
Start Rescue Managing Director Lee Puffett said: “It’s a false economy to skimp on breakdown cover but particularly for those running electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids. These motorists are risking not just their vehicle but leaving themselves open to massive additional bills if the recovery is botched.
“When you need help, you should ideally obtain assistance from a company which has a good reputation in your community or holds an industry recognised standard, such as PAS 43*. If they are PAS 43 registered, you can be very confident they have the necessary skills and technical training to recover your particular vehicle, whether it’s a car, van, motorcycle or a bus.
“Companies operating without a recognised recovery industry standard or lacking the experience of working with varying vehicle types, frequently don’t have the skills to recover a petrol or diesel vehicle correctly. So, if you have an EV or hybrid the risks of hugely expensive damage to these vehicles – which require a specific set of skills – are potentially higher.”
Without appropriate roadside rescue knowledge, these kind of ‘have-a-go’ operators are also potentially putting themselves and drivers at risk of injury, due to a lack of knowledge in appropriately recovering the vehicle or correctly managing the scene.
‘Have-a-go’ traders also may not have DBS or background checks, leaving vulnerable drivers at risk and recovery traders lacking a recognised recovery industry standard may exceed their allocated tachometer hours, increasing the risk of an accident due to fatigue.
Start Rescue is a 2021 Which? recommended breakdown cover provider.
Breakdown cover top tips
Get covered! If you don’t know a local reputable company, having no breakdown cover leaves you at the mercy of rogue traders
Use a reputable breakdown assistance provider such as Start Rescue
Have the breakdown cover’s contact details stored in your phone
Check the recovery company’s credentials. Reputable companies should show ID
Read your vehicle handbook to check for any special recovery instructions
Obtain a written and signed vehicle condition report before and after assistance has been provided and take photos of your vehicle both before and after assistance has been provided
Check for vehicle damage straight after recovery; report any problems immediately
This month, speciality Spanish wholesaler Brindisa are coming to Edinburgh as part of an exclusive tapas takeover with El Perro Negro at Bonnie & Wild.
Celebrating artisan and authentic Spanish products, and of course, Iberian burgers, Bonnie & Wild in the St James Quarter, will play host to award-winning El Perro Negro and Brindisa, for an evening of delicious feasting on Wednesday 28th September..
Following on from the success of El Perro Negro’s ‘The Spaniard’ collaboration burger with Brindisa – which had Iberian beef, marrow butter, San Simon cheese, sobrasada, confit garlic mayo and chimichurri, the award-winning burger supremos decided to take the partnership one step further with a night completely dedicated to Spanish cooking and culture.
Foodie fans will love the tapas sharing feast with the menu offering an array of dishes with three standout Spanish burgers, including; Iberico pork cheek finished in a Pedro Ximenez glaze, pickled shallots and truffle mayo; Presa Iberico, chimichurri, confit garlic mayo and Galician beef with smoked hollandaise.
Sharing dishes on the menu are authentic, premium and delicious. They include speciality Iberico croquetas; smoked Nardin anchovies, Navarrico piquillo peppers on charred sourdough and olive oil drizzle; mouth-watering chorizo cooked in cider with chickpeas finished with PX vinegar and speciality Spanish charcuterie and cheeses.
The evening will be served family-style to reflect the Spanish culture of bringing people together over great food and wine.
Nick Watkins, co-founder of El Perro Negro, explains: “As well as being purveyors of imported Spanish fine foods like charcuterie, artisan cheeses and olive oils, Brindisa has two shops in London and five restaurants including one in foodie haven, Borough Market.
Gayle Swan, Brindisa regional manager for Scotland, said: “This collaboration marks a new direction for Brindisa. We have an incredible base in London, and this evening gives us a chance to showcase the quality and diversity of Spanish products that we offer.”
The El Perro Negro x Brindisa Tapas Takeover takes place at Bonnie & Wild on Wednesday 28th September with two sittings available at 5.30pm and 8.00pm.
The event is priced at £55pp (+booking fee) and includes three Spanish sliders each and seven dishes to share between two. With carefully curated Spanish drinks pairing menu options. Guests can choose between Spanish wines or Spanish inspired non-alcoholic cocktails to compliment their meal.
Places are limited and expected to sell out very quickly. Buy tickets and secure a place online HERE.
Pioneering study heard from patients, named persons, practitioners and tribunal members
An Edinburgh Napier University-led study, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, into stakeholder experiences of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland (MHTS) has recommended several ways it could improve its processes and decision-making.
Addressing the influence of clinicians, encouraging participation of patients and offering more support for named persons are among the suggestions put forward in the report.
The MHTS was set up authorise and review compulsory psychiatric measures under the 2003 Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 and began operating in October 2005. The legislation is underpinned by human rights-based principles which govern the way that the MHTS makes its decisions about compulsory psychiatric care and treatment.
This study is the first of its kind since the Tribunal’s formation and heard from patients, their named persons, MHTS panel members, lawyers, independent advocates and health and social care professionals.
The timing of the study’s report means that its findings will be used to help inform the Scottish Mental Health Law Review, which is due to publish its recommendations on Scottish mental health, capacity and adult support and protection law this autumn.
Jill Stavert, Professor of Mental Health and Capacity Law at Edinburgh Napier University said: “Our study revealed several areas of agreement across all participant groups on how the Mental Health Tribunal operates and evidence of considerable caring goodwill on the part of the Tribunal and health and social care practitioners.
“However, there were certain areas where the experience and perceptions of patients and Tribunal panel members was not shared, particularly surrounding patient perceptions of their ability to participate during tribunal hearings.
“An important test whether human rights principles are effective is not only whether they are given effect by state authorities, such as tribunals, but also the extent to which they are felt to be given effect by rightsholders such as patients.”
Some of the report’s recommendations include, among others, addressing perceptions of the influence of clinicians and diversity issues, supporting patient participation, and supporting named persons more.
Professor Stavert continued: “Some of these, we consider, should be addressed by the Tribunal itself while others are for other bodies to take up.
“This is very important as human rights requirements increasingly require active respect for the rights of persons with psychosocial, cognitive and intellectual disabilities.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will set out a raft of actions this afternoon (Tuesday 6 September) in a Programme for Government designed to help people through the cost emergency.
The package will include an increase in Scottish Child Payment to £25 per eligible child per week from 14 November, with the ground-breaking anti-poverty benefit also opening to applications for all eligible under-16s from that date.
The First Minister is determined to help households and businesses cope with a “humanitarian crisis that will cost lives.” She has also called on the UK Government to take urgent action as it holds most of the key policy levers and resources to fully address the crisis.
Speaking ahead of her statement to Parliament on the 2022-23 Programme for Government, the First Minister said: “The Scottish Child Payment is unique to Scotland, the most ambitious child poverty reduction measure in the UK and an important action to mitigate the growing cost emergency.
“We doubled the payment to £20 per week per child in April and the further increase to £25 from November means a rise of 150% in less than eight months.
“Around 104,000 children currently in receipt of Scottish Child Payment will have it automatically increased to £25 per week. All new eligible under 16s will also benefit from the £25 rate, with all payments backdated to the date their application is received.
“Through this year’s Programme for Government we will take every action, within the financial means and legislative powers at our disposal, to help people through this humanitarian crisis that will cost lives.
“The most significant powers to tackle this crisis rest squarely with the UK Government and their inaction has compounded the difficulties everyone is facing.
“In the absence of a plan from the incoming Prime Minister we have a clear set of actions which the UK Government could take now, and should have taken already, to begin to address the crisis. These include an immediate cancellation of the October price cap rise and an uprating of benefits.
“The last few months have made it abundantly clear Scotland cannot rely on the UK Government to support people in Scotland through this crisis. It is vital they have a choice over their future.
“Make no mistake, we will continue to act where others have not to help people and businesses – and the UK Government needs to follow our example.”
Tuesday 6 September – 1420-1450 First Minister’s Statement: Programme for Government, followed by; 1450-1700 Scottish Government Debate: Programme for Government.
Boris Johnson gave his final speech as Prime Minister on the steps of Downing Street
Well this is it folks, thanks to all of you for coming out so early this morning.
In only a couple of hours from now I will be in Balmoral to see Her Majesty The Queen and the torch will finally be passed to a new Conservative leader: the baton will be handed over in what has unexpectedly turned out to be a relay race – they changed the rules half-way through but never mind that now – and through that lacquered black door a new Prime Minister will shortly go to meet a fantastic group of public servants.
The people who got Brexit done
the people who delivered the fastest vaccine roll out in Europe
and never forget – 70 per cent of the entire population got a dose within 6 months, faster than any comparable country
That is government for you – that’s this Conservative government – the people who organised those prompt early supplies of weapons to the heroic Ukrainian armed forces, an action that may very well have helped change the course of the biggest European war for 80 years.
And because of the speed and urgency of what you did – everybody involved in this government – to get this economy moving again from July last year in spite of all opposition, all the naysayers we have and will continue to have that economic strength to give people the cash they need to get through this energy crisis that has been caused by Putin’s vicious war.
And I know that Liz Truss and this compassionate Conservative government will do everything we can to get people through this crisis.
And this country will endure it and we will win.
And if Putin thinks that he can succeed by blackmailing or bullying the British people then he is utterly deluded and the reason we will have those funds now and in the future is because we Conservatives understand the vital symmetry between government action and free market capitalist private sector enterprise.
We are delivering on those huge manifesto commitments:
making streets safer – neighbourhood crime down 38 per cent in the last three years
13,790 more police on the streets
building more hospitals – and yes we will have 50,000 more nurses by the end of this parliament and 40 more hospitals by the end of the decade
putting record funding into our schools and into teachers’ pay
giving everyone over 18 a lifetime skills guarantee so they can keep upskilling throughout their lives
3 new high speed rail lines including northern powerhouse rail
colossal road programmes from the Pennines to Cornwall,
the roll-out of gigabit broadband up over the last three years, since you were kind enough to elect me, up from 7 per cent of our country’s premises having gigabit broadband to 70 per cent today.
And we are of course providing the short and the long term solutions for our energy needs – and not just using more of our own domestic hydrocarbons but going up by 2030 to 50 GW of wind power, that is half this country’s energy electricity needs from offshore wind alone, a new nuclear reactor every year.
And looking at what is happening in this country, the changes that are taking place: that is why the private sector is investing more venture capital investment than China itself, more billion pound tech companies sprouting here than in France, Germany and Israel combined and as a result unemployment as I leave office, down to lows not seen since I was about ten years old and bouncing around on a space hopper.
And on the subject of bouncing around and future careers let me say that I am now like one of those booster rockets that has fulfilled its function and I will now be gently re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly in some remote and obscure corner of the pacific.
And like Cincinnatus I am returning to my plough and I will be offering this government nothing but the most fervent support.
this is a tough time for the economy, this is a tough time for families up and down the country – we can and we will get through it and we will come out stronger the other side – but I say to my fellow Conservatives it is time for the politics to be over folks and it’s time for us all to get behind Liz Truss and her programme and deliver for the people of this country.
Because that is what the people of this country want, that’s what they need and that’s what they deserve.
I am proud to have discharged the promises I made my party when you were kind enough to choose me,
winning the biggest majority since 1987 and the biggest share of the vote since 1979.
delivering Brexit
delivering our manifesto commitments – including social care
helping people up and down the country
ensuring that Britain is once again standing tall in the world
speaking with clarity and authority
from Ukraine to the AUKUS pact with America and Australia
because we are one whole and entire United Kingdom whose diplomats, security services and armed forces are so globally admired
and as I leave I believe our union is so strong that those who want to break it up, will keep trying but they will never ever succeed
thank you to everyone behind me in this building for looking after me and my family over the last three years so well including Dilyn, the dog
and if Dilyn and Larry (the Downing Street dog and cat)can put behind them their occasional difficulties, then so can the Conservative party.
And above all thanks to you, the British people, to the voters for giving me the chance to serve all of you who worked so tirelessly together to beat covid to put us where we are today.
Together we have laid foundations that will stand the test of time, whether by taking back control of our laws or putting in vital new infrastructure: great solid masonry on which we will continue to build together, paving the path of prosperity now & for future generations.
And I will be supporting Liz Truss and our new government every step of the way.
Collective is delighted to be taking part in Doors Open Days 2022, with a chance to visit both Observatory House and the McEwan Dome, which are not usually accessible to the public.
Doors Open Days is Scotland’s largest free festival that celebrates heritage and the built environment. It offers free access to over a thousand venues across the country each September. The aim of Doors Open Days is to ensure that Scotland’s spaces and stories, new and old, are made accessible to people living and visiting the country.
Please note that due to the historic nature of the architecture, there is no step-free access to Observatory House or McEwan Dome. Other spaces within the City Observatory and the wider site are accessible to all.
Dating back to 1776, Observatory House represents the very first attempt to develop an astronomical observatory on Calton Hill. Recently restored by Collective and including newly commissioned artwork by four contemporary artists, Observatory House is now available to rent as a holiday let, with proceeds helping to support our year round work with artists and communities.
About McEwan Dome
The City Observatory, designed by William Henry Playfair in 1818, gained Royal status after King George IV’s 1822 visit to Edinburgh. The neoclassical building houses a number of historic telescopes: the Transit telescope on the ground floor, and the Cooke telescope within the McEwan Dome, which is not usually accessible to the public.
Elderly care home residents are among the first to receive COVID-19 and flu vaccines as the winter vaccine programme gets underway.
More than two million people in Scotland will be offered vaccines over the next three months – helping protect the public and relieving pressure on the NHS.
Invitations will have been sent to all over 65s by the end of the week and more than 41,000 frontline health and social care workers have booked appointments through the portal since it opened last month, continuing efforts to keep Scotland as the UK’s leading nation in vaccine uptake.
Both new bivalent vaccines, which target Omicron and the original variant of COVID-19, will be deployed alongside existing vaccines, though the vaccination individuals receive will depend on age and vaccine availability. Both the current and new bivalent vaccines provide good protection from severe illness and hospitalisation from known COVID-19 variants. The COVID-19 vaccine will be given at the same time as the flu jab where possible.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf visited the Victoria Manor care home in Edinburgh where residents Agnes Taylor and Andrew Young were among those being vaccinated.
Mr Yousaf said: “This country is indebted to those dedicated frontline workers who work tirelessly to get the majority of Scots immunised all year round – and whose efforts have led to a sharp reduction in hospitalisations in recent months.
“Vaccination remains the best way to protect yourselves, your loved ones, and the NHS from both COVID-19 and flu viruses, and I encourage you to take up the offer of a booster when you receive your appointment.”
Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership Primary Care Strategic Lead David White said: “Like colleagues across Scotland, we’ve been preparing for the winter vaccination programme. Everyone eligible across Edinburgh, should have easy, local access to receive both flu and Covid-19 vaccinations.
“As with other recent campaigns, we have made special arrangements for care home residents and others who are recognised as ‘house-bound’. This includes the eligible partners and carers who will be able to be vaccinated during the same visit. Over 1.25 million people in Edinburgh have received their vaccinations since December 2020, and we encourage all eligible people to attend for vaccination.”
93-year-old Victoria Manor resident Mrs Taylor said: “It’s good being able to have both vaccinations at the same time here in the care home.
“I’m getting both to help my protection and of course, for the protection and safety of others in the care home or visiting.”
The Great British Food Festival is back this year at the lovely Dalkeith Country Park on the weekend of the 10th & 11th September and it promises to be a fantastic foodie weekend.
Over 75 different traders will be in attendance, amongst them artisan food producers and award winning street food stalls.
Along with wonderful food and drink producers there will be a great line up of local bands, fantastic chef demos, foodie talks, man vs food competitions and a bake stage.
Dan Maycock, one of the organisers said ‘We have got a great mix of local Scottish produce and some coming from further afield. On the hot food front you will be able to try anything from traditional hog roast to Indian and Thai dishes, so hopefully something for all tastes!’
The Chef Demo stage hosts great local chefs and Instagram stars cooking up their favourite dishes and sharing tips, with five demos taking place each day.
One of the highlights is the ‘Great British Cake Off’, where amateur bakers compete head to head in two baking categories (see www.greatbritishfoodfestival.com for details and to enter), and best of all, if you enter a cake you get free entry to the festival!
There is entertainment for all the family over the weekend, including kid’s cookery lessons, free circus skills, and live music. The perfect recipe for a fun, foodie day out for the whole family. See www.greatbritishfoodfestival.com for advanced tickets.
