George Monbiot, author and environmentalist, is to appear at the Scottish Parliament’s Festival of Politics with the climate emergency dominating this year’s event.
Running from Wednesday 20th to Sunday 24th of October, every event at the Festival is free to attend. The Festival will take place virtually and you can book your ticket now.
As COP26 takes place in Glasgow in early November and the climate emergency is at the top of every nation’s agenda; it has never been more important for the Festival to bring together global thinkers, writers, academics, and experts to inform, inspire and empower people with the knowledge to make a difference.
The programme, in partnership with Scotland’s Future’s Forum, takes inspiration from the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, exploring the synergy between them, including climate action; sustainable cities; poverty and inequalities.
Speaking as the Festival was launched, the Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone MSP, said:“The climate emergency, poverty, inequality and a global pandemic have created an unprecedented set of challenges for our society.
“It is the job of this Parliament to provide a platform to debate some of the most pertinent issues for our country and globally, and I am delighted to announce this programme today, which does just that.
“This year’s Festival is packed with brilliant panellists and thought-provoking events, and I feel certain festivalgoers will leave better informed, challenged and inspired. I have no doubt that these thought-provoking discussions will promote the understanding that is key to change.”
Events include:
Is the North to blame for the climate crisis? Asking should the North pay reparations to the climate vulnerable countries for decades of the developed world’s over-consumption? In partnership with the Royal Scottish Geographical Society;
Greenwashing – can planet and profit work together? which will cover how consumers can see through the practice of Greenwashing;
Fast Fashion in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland, which will debate how fashion is one of the world’s largest polluters and why it’s time to make radical changes in our clothing manufacturing and buying habits;
Violence against women in partnership with Scottish Women’s Aid, looking at why the responsibility for dealing with this public health issue is still seemingly up to women; and
Black history month – political representation in partnership with the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights, which will debate progress in relation to the election of 6 ethnic minority MSPs, in a political world that needs to be representative of a Scotland with a 4% ethnic minority population.
– Permanent and temporary opportunities available –
– Roles in distribution centres and manufacturing sites nationwide –
Morrisons is looking to recruit 3,000 new colleagues ahead of the festive season in order to meet increased demand at Christmas.
This year’s holiday season is anticipated to be even busier than usual as customers try to make up for last year’s restricted celebrations and hold multiple gatherings with their friends and family.
To help prepare, Morrisons is looking to recruit colleagues for its distribution centres and manufacturing sites across the country. The roles available range from warehouse and production operatives, to pickers and packers as well as other skilled roles such as fork lift truck drivers. Full training will be provided for all positions and so no prior experience is required.
Morrisons has also joined the Kickstart scheme meaning it welcomes applications from 16-24 year olds who are receiving universal credit.
Earlier this year, Morrisons became the first UK supermarket to guarantee pay of at least £10 per hour* and colleagues also benefit from a 10% staff discount as well as flexible hours and shift patterns to suit.
Clare Grainger, Morrisons People Director, said: “Customers have told us that they want to make up for last year’s low-key festive season and so we are working hard to make sure that our shelves are stocked with everything they need to help them celebrate.
“We are looking for 3,000 Christmas helpers to come and join our busy, fast-moving and exciting team on a temporary or permanent basis and help make good things happen this Christmas.”
Anyone wishing to apply should visit www.morrisons.jobs or call 0345 6116111
LifeCare, the older person’s charity based in Stockbridge, is pleased to announce October’s installment of its very popular monthly History Talks which cover local history and are delivered by local people and organisations.
In the year that we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Sir Walter Scott, October’s topic is “The Building of the Scott Monument”.
This talk will be delivered by Jackie Sangster, Learning Manager at Historic Environment Scotland and it will take place online using Zoom on Tuesday 26th October from 15.00 till 16.00.
Spaces are limited so to reserve a place please contact LifeCare’s Community Engagement Facilitator, Aleks Pacula alekspacula@lifecare-edinburgh.org.uk or call LifeCare on 0131 343 0940
The first annual report of how Edinburgh is progressing in its aim to end poverty by 2030 has detailed significant positive developments taking place in the Capital.
It is a year since the Edinburgh Poverty Commission, an independent group sponsored by the City of Edinburgh Council in 2018 to define the steps the city needed to take to end poverty, published its final report.
In the first 12 months following publication of that call to action, the work of the Council and partners has involved building a strong foundation for the long-term actions needed to change ways of working and prevent poverty in Edinburgh, as well as providing immediate improvement and upscaling of support for people experiencing poverty in the city.
The latest data on poverty rates in the city show that an estimated 78,900 people in Edinburgh were living in relative poverty after housing costs in the period to 2020, including 16,100 children. Most commentators project a risk of significant rising poverty across the UK during the next 12 months, driven by rising living costs, energy costs, slow wage growth and benefits changes.
In response to this challenge, the commitment to end poverty in Scotland’s Capital is now one of three strategic priorities embedded in the new Council Business Plan approved earlier in the year.
The plan outlines actions to ensure that the Council is on track to end poverty by 2030 by meeting targets set by the Commission and deliver the End Poverty Plan 2030.
This first annual progress report was discussed by Councillors on the Policy and Sustainability Committee yesterday (Tuesday 5 October) with the debate taking place during the nationwide Challenge Poverty Week.
The report outlines key actions delivered in 2021 for providing immediate crisis support to people in need, expanding income maximisation services, promoting fair work, improving access to employability support, helping those at risk of homelessness and improving prospects, opportunities, health and wellbeing.
Specific outcomes described in the report include:
Over 44,000 crisis and community care grants delivered in the past year (more than double the previous year) alongside 8,800 Free School Meal payments and 8,300 School Uniform Grant payments (a 50% increase in take up). In addition, led by the third sector, partners across the city provided 45,864 meals as food parcels and 3,654 pre-prepared meals during the first half of 2021 alone for people in food crisis
Investment in advice and income maximisation services across the city. Council and third sector work in this area has secured a total of £22m of financial gains for Edinburgh citizens through improved access to entitlements and reduced costs
Expansion of the successful the Discover! programme to help 671 families and 1,346 children with support to reduce and prevent food and financial insecurity, doubling the number of families supported this year
Delivering £41.5m of Council investment in building new homes and through partnership working, reducing the number of people sleeping rough in Edinburgh to 10 or less on any given night, down from 80-120 before the pandemic
Supporting 3,800 people in Edinburgh through Council funded employability programmes
Committing to pay all Council staff the Scottish Local Government Living Wage, changing the pay structure so that 4,400 employees in grades 1 to 3 received a pay uplift
Leading a new action group of employers committed to making Edinburgh a Living Wage City, with a goal to encourage 500 new living wage accredited employers in the city in the next five years.
These outcomes have been given additional financial support thanks to an extra budget investment of over £2.5m earlier in the Spring directly focused on meeting the Edinburgh Poverty Commission actions.
Last year’s report marked the end of the work of the Edinburgh Poverty Commission and the start of a movement that needs to take root to create an Edinburgh without poverty.
As a legacy, Commissioners helped to develop End Poverty Edinburgh – a new independent group of residents with first-hand experience of living on a low income and their allies who want to be part of shaping the solutions. With the support of the Poverty Alliance, End Poverty Edinburgh has been meeting regularly throughout 2021 and aim to raise awareness of poverty in Edinburgh, influence decision-making and hold the city to account.
Councillor Cammy Day, Depute Chair of the Edinburgh Poverty Commission and Depute Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Whilst there has been positive progress made in the first year since the Commission’s call to action no one is underestimating the scale of the challenge we face.
“Tackling poverty is one of our key priorities as a Council and our 2030 target is ambitious but one I’m convinced can be achieved.
“There’s no doubting the enormous impact the pandemic has had on families in this city especially those on the lowest incomes. However our work to limit this impact has seen 44,000 crisis and community care grants issued, over 8,000 free school meal payments and an action group of employers set up to make Edinburgh a living wage city to help lift 40,000 city workers out of low pay.
“We are one year into a long and difficult journey, but if all our partners, communities and residents work together, along with support from the UK and Scottish Governments, we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to make a real difference to those most in need.”
Council Leader Adam McVey said: “As a city, we’re trying to eradicate poverty by the end of the decade and we’re the first local authority in the UK to set such a target. Tackling poverty and inequality in our city drives the choices we are making as a Council such as our new business plan which has ending poverty by 2030 as one of its three core priorities.
“Additional investment is also required and this Spring we agreed a budget package of £2.5m specifically targeted at poverty. This is expanding our money advice and income maximisation services, providing new resources to help those at risk of homelessness, increasing our Discover! programme to help families reduce and prevent food and financial insecurity and the relaunch of the Edinburgh Guarantee to help people of all ages into work or learning. Last year we spent or administered over £100m in core anti-poverty measures to support our citizens.”
“We have made an encouraging start but these are just the first steps and it’s critical the positive work of the past year continues. This isn’t something the Council can achieve in isolation, however, and we need a Team Edinburgh effort and Governments supporting our efforts through housing and welfare policies if we’re going to succeed in meeting the call to action the Commission has set for us all to end poverty in Edinburgh.”
Funding from Swim England has enabled Edinburgh Leisure’s Royal Commonwealth Pool to install ‘a Poolpod’, a submersible lift, creating inclusive swimming environments for people with long-term health conditions, disabilities and rehabilitation needs.
The London Marathon Charitable Trust (LMCT) provided a £750,000 grant in 2020 to allow Swim England and its partners, the Activity Alliance, Community Leisure UK and GLL – to enhance swimming provisions at selected venues across the UK. The Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh is the only Scottish recipient, out of 20 sites across the UK, to receive the funding.
With one in five people in our population disabled or living with a long-term health condition, ‘the Poolpod’ gives dignified and independent access to the water for swimmers.
Lynne Bauba, Manager at Edinburgh Leisure explained: “The Poolpod was installed just before the lockdown in March 2020, and with the reduced capacity in our pool when we reopened due to the pandemic, we haven’t been able to shout about the Poolpod until now.
“However, regular customers with long-term health conditions, disabilities and rehabilitation needs, have been delighted with this new facility.”
One such customer, Alison Malcolm, who became paralysed from the waist down aged 50, explains how she has benefitted from using the new Poolpod and why she loves swimming.
“When I got back in the pool for the first time, my body confidence was low, and I was concerned I wouldn’t float. It sounds daft but after five months in bed, it took a long time for my body to reset.
“However, the staff were great about encouraging me to swim. I’ve never met a member of staff who didn’t want to help.
“Swimming is one of the most accessible ways for people with disabilities to incorporate physical activity into their lives. One of the things I like most about it is that once you’re in the water, you’re the same as everyone else. It has been a great way for me to get active again and using the Poolpod to get in and out of the pool has made the whole experience more enjoyable.
“Now I tend to swim 24 lengths at the Commie three mornings a week. I enjoy the 50m lengths because I can get in the zone and give myself a cardio workout without putting too much strain on my body.”
Edinburgh Leisure boasts 18 swimming pools across the city, including their stunning Victorian swimming baths and pools within the secondary schools.
They offer a variety of pool-based activities to suit all abilities and while the Royal Commonwealth Pool is the only one to boast a Poolpod, most of them have hoists, which the leisure attendants are trained on, to assist people less able to access the pools.
Sir Rodney Walker, Chairperson of The London Marathon Charitable Trust, said: “The Trust funds work which challenges inequality of access to physical activity. We want to help create a society in which everyone is physically active, contributing to their health and wellbeing.
“We know that people who benefit most from aquatic activity – including disabled people, people with long-term health conditions, older people, people with mobility issues and pregnant women – often face the biggest barriers to accessing a swimming pool.”
This exciting initiative is making swimming pools across the UK more accessible and ensuring a more inclusive customer experience for all.
The substantial grant from the LMCT has boosted Swim England’s Water Wellbeing model, which aims to help leisure centres remove barriers to accessing the water.
Water Wellbeing’s ‘whole facility’ approach encourages centres to understand and improve the customer experience, through a wide range of resources available on the Swim England website.
Even if the weather outside is telling us that winter is coming, we don’t want to forget how much fun we had last summer during those wonderful sunny days!
That’s why we are celebrating the time spent together with this fantastic newsletter.
Recovery strategy to help those hardest hit by Covid
People who have suffered the most as a result of the pandemic will be at the heart of Scotland’s Covid recovery strategy, the Scottish Government says.
For a fairer future sets out the next steps in Scotland’s recovery from the pandemic, recognising that while the pandemic has affected every area of life in Scotland, those who were already struggling have been hardest hit by its effects.
The strategy aims to address systemic inequalities made worse by Covid, improve people’s wellbeing, and remobilise public services to be more focused on people’s needs, building on lessons learned during the pandemic.
Actions to achieve this will include upskilling and retraining opportunities for workers impacted by the pandemic and the transition to net zero, help for low income families most at risk of poverty, and locally-based mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people.
While the strategy is focused over the next 18 months, it includes a series of actions over the course of this Parliament to deliver substantial improvements in child poverty, make significant progress towards net zero, and secure an economic recovery that is fair and green.
Deputy First Minister and Covid Recovery Secretary John Swinney said: “The impacts of this pandemic have not been felt evenly with the most disadvantaged suffering disproportionately from the virus, and the social and economic effects of lockdown restrictions.
“For that reason, our recovery must go further than how life was before Covid. This strategy sets out how we will do that, working with local government, the third sector, and businesses large and small.
“It is the product of months of engagement with a variety of individuals and organisations representing sectors across the country, including the Citizen’s Assembly and the Social Renewal Advisory Board.
“The experience of the past 18 months has shown us what can be achieved when we look past traditional barriers to get the right service or support to people when they need it.
“By working together with the same energy, imagination, and urgency as we approached the pandemic, we can drive a recovery that delivers more for all of Scotland.”
COSLA President Councillor Alison Evison said: “I welcome the publication of this strategy and its vision, which has many parallels with the COSLA Blueprint.
“Covid-19 has had an immeasurable impact on communities across Scotland and although we continue to respond to the many challenges it presents, we must also take the necessary action to address inequalities in our society that have only worsened as a result of the pandemic.
“Local Government will be at the heart of recovery, just as we were in response to the pandemic. Recovery is a shared endeavour that requires us all to work together to address the areas of greatest harm resulting from the pandemic, and deliver an inclusive and green recovery for all of Scotland.
“We look forward to working with the Scottish Government to deliver on a collaborative approach to recovery that is at all times rooted in the needs of the people that we serve.”
Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance, said: “The levels of poverty and inequality in Scotland made the impact of the pandemic so much worse than it might otherwise have been. Insecure and undervalued employment, social security benefits that were inadequate and ingrained inequality all meant that some communities bore the brunt of Covid.
“As we look towards the end of the pandemic, it is right that the Scottish Government prioritises a recovery that addresses these underlying inequalities. Focusing on the creation of a wellbeing economy, tackling poverty and investment in social security, housing and decent public services is to be welcomed. Delivering on these priorities and retaining this focus on addressing inequalities must drive our recovery to Covid.”
Louise Macdonald OBE, National Director of the Institute of Directors Scotland said: “A strong, sustainable wellbeing economy and a fair, equal society are interdependent. We welcome the clarity in this strategy that a thriving economy underpins a successful recovery, especially in making the difference for those greatest affected by poverty and inequality.
“Leaders from business and cross-sector organisations in communities in every part of Scotland have played a vital part in the response to the pandemic in a myriad of ways and it is that spirit of collaboration, innovation and purpose – through collective effort and shared vision – which will deliver this ambitions of this strategy.”
Andrew McRae, Policy Chair of the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland said: “Scotland’s recovery from the Covid crisis won’t be possible without economic recovery.
“Smaller businesses have an impressive track record of creating jobs and healing communities after economic shocks – so they must be at the heart of implementing this welcome recovery plan.
“We’re looking forward to working with the Scottish Government to ensure delivery of these plans is designed with small and new start businesses, as well as the self-employed, front and centre.”
This morning, around 5.5 million families across the United Kingdom are waking up £1,040-a-year worse off due to the Prime Minister imposing the biggest ever overnight cut to social security.
Despite fierce opposition from across the political spectrum, his government has pressed ahead with this controversial cut which will cause immense, immediate and avoidable hardship.
As the cut comes into effect today, the Prime Minister must face the five most serious consequences of his cut:
Half a million more people pulled into poverty, including 200,000 children.
Makes social security wholly inadequate by reducing the main rate of out-of-work support to its lowest level in real terms since around 1990 and its lowest ever level as a proportion of average earnings.
Around 20% of all working-age families across the UK have lost £1,040 a year. 6 in 10 single parent families will be affected by this cut.
1.7 million people who will experience this cut to Universal Credit are unable to work – due to caring for others, disability, or illness – a promise of higher wages will do nothing to help them.
The cut takes £6 billion of spending power out of local economies. The cut has the most severe impact in Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East, North West and West Midlands, although no region will be left unscathed.
Helen Barnard, Deputy Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said:“Today the Prime Minister has imposed the biggest ever overnight cut to social security. It makes a mockery of his mission to level up.
“Despite overwhelming opposition, he is ploughing ahead with a cut which fundamentally undermines the adequacy of our vital social security system as we face a cost-of-living crisis. This is not building back better, it’s repeating the same mistakes made after the last financial crisis.
“The Government says a key test of levelling up is improving living standards, yet they have just made around 5.5 million low-income families £1,040 a year worse off. People’s bills won’t get £87-a-month cheaper from today, in fact they are going up. Ministers’ arguments in recent days beg the question: has the party that created Universal Credit forgotten the purpose of the system?
“The Prime Minister is abandoning millions to hunger and hardship with his eyes wide open. Low-income families urgently need him to reinstate this vital lifeline.”
Participants in the Covid Realities project responding to the Prime Minister’s comments on the eve of the cut:
“My husband has been in his job for 25 years +, he hasn’t received a pay rise in 5 years and has recently been told there’s no way he will get one anytime soon.
So I’m sorry but there’s no fix there for us. Once again the only option is to struggle and I’m tired of it.” – Emma, England, Covid Realities
“He has no idea how tough it is and how hard people are working to make ends meet!
It is sickness inducing that he completely misses the point that families will either be cold or hungry due to this cut.” – Kim, Wales, Covid Realities
“Fuel and food is on the increase and … families on a low income cannot afford to absorb these costs.
“It is short-sighted to not think of the long term costs involved when already impoverished working families cannot sustain themselves.” – Aurora, England, Covid Realities
“So our prime minister has said he knows it is tough for people on low incomes, does he honestly? … How as parents can we support our children when we are going without food, hungry and unable to concentrate and even sleep at night with worry and stress, do you really understand?
… I would invite any MP to come and actually experience the day to day drain of living on low income and the impact that has on our mental and physical wellbeing.” – Caroline, Northern Ireland, Covid Realities
Political consequences:
413 parliamentary constituencies across Great Britain will see over a third of working-age families with children hit by the planned £1,040-a-year cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit.
Of these 413 constituencies, 191 are Conservative – 53 of which were newly won at the last general election or in a subsequent by-election.
In 35 local authorities across Great Britain, 50% or more of working-age families with children will be impacted by the planned cut.
“THE NASTY PARTY IS WELL AND TRULY BACK”
Edinburgh Pentlands SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald has condemned the £20 a week cut to Universal Credit, which comes into force today. The First Minister of Scotland, the First Minister of Wales and the First Minister of Northern Ireland have also condemned the measure.
The previous week, the Scottish Parliament voted overwhelming to support cancelling the Tory UK Government’s planned £20 a week cut to Universal Credit.
Gordon MacDonald also raised the matter with the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, Shona Robison seeking information on what representations the Scottish Government has made to the UK Government.
Ms Robison confirmed that the Scottish Government had written to the UK Government on eight separate occasions since March 2020 to ask it to retain the much-needed £20 uplift. In addition on 30 August, Ms Robison joined colleagues from Wales and Northern Ireland to write to the UK Government to urge it to retain the uplift. They are yet to receive a response.
SNP MSP Gordon Macdonald for Edinburgh Pentlands said: “The Scottish Parliament overwhelmingly spoke and demanded the Tory UK Government halts their plans to scrap the uplift to Universal Credit.
“Sadly, we also witnessed every single Tory MSP failing to stand up to their Westminster bosses in opposing the £20 a week cut – the biggest welfare cut since the 1930s at the worst possible time. Even former Scottish Tory leader, Ruth Davidson and six former Tory DWP Secretary of States, opposed the cut.
“I am standing up for the 32,022 households impacted across Edinburgh, but the Tory Government at Westminster has now implemented their plans that will rip more than £1,000 a year out of the hands of the most vulnerable at a time when they need it most.
“I am quite frankly shocked, but not surprised, that the Scottish Tory MSPs not only voted to back the Universal Credit cut which will condemn thousands of families to poverty, but actively defended it – the Nasty Party is well and truly back.
“History will remember them for this – Scottish Tory MSPs are letting down thousands of families and children with this callous cut in favour of propping up their Tory chums in the UK Government who are imposing these policies on the people of Scotland.
“This demonstrates once again how the people of Scotland cannot afford to continue to suffer under Westminster control. We need to have the option of choosing a different path in a referendum which can give us the full powers of independence where we can build a fairer Scotland.”
“The current situation is not sustainable; it is dangerous for patients and becoming incredibly difficult for staff.” – Dr John Thomson, Vice President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland
A substantial new investment of over £300 million in hospital and community care has been unveiled to help tackle what is anticipated to be the toughest winter the NHS and social care system has ever faced.
The new multi-year funding will support a range of measures to maximise capacity in our hospitals and primary care, reduce delayed discharges, improve pay for social care staff, and ensure those in the community who need support receive effective and responsive care.
The NHS and Care Winter Package of additional funding includes:
Recruiting 1,000 additional NHS staff to support multi-disciplinary working
£40 million for ‘step-down’ care to enable hospital patients to temporarily enter care homes, or receive additional care at home support, with no financial liability to the individual or their family towards the cost of the care home
Over £60 million to maximise the capacity of care at home services
Up to £48 million will be made available to increase the hourly rate of social care staff to match new NHS band 2 staff
£20 million to enhance Multi-Disciplinary Teams, enable more social work assessments to be carried out and support joint working between health and social care
£28 million of additional funding to support primary care
£4.5 million available to Health Boards to attract at least 200 registered nurses from outwith Scotland by March 2022
£4 million to help staff with their practical and emotional needs, including pastoral care and other measures to aid rest and recuperation
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “As the winter period approaches, it is vital that we do all we can to maximise the capacity of the NHS and social care system. That’s why I’m setting out our £300 million NHS and Care Winter Package today.
“We cannot look at the NHS in isolation we must take a whole systems approach and these measures will help alleviate pressure across the NHS and social care.
“This significant new investment will help get people the care they need as quickly as possible this winter. Bolstering the caring workforce by increasing their numbers, providing them with additional support, and increasing the wages of social care staff.
“We’ve previously provided funding to ensure that adult social care staff are paid at least the real living wage. Today we’re going further and our new investment will ensure that adult social care staff who are currently paid the real living wage will get a pay rise of over 5%
“Measures I have announced today will help patients whose discharge has been delayed waiting for care and help get them out of hospital and on to the next stage in their care. This helps the individual by getting them the right care, and helps the wider system by ensuring the hospital capacity is being used by those who need that specialist level of clinical care.
“This £300 million of new funding will also fund increases in social care capacity in the community and in primary care – helping to ease the pressure on unpaid carers.
“Our NHS, social care staff and social work staff have been remarkable throughout the pandemic and today’s additional investment will help support them to deliver care to people across Scotland this winter.”
Meanwhile,the latest Emergency Department performance figures for Scotland published by the Scottish Governmentyesterday for August 2021 show that four-hour performance has deteriorated for the fourth consecutive month, again reaching a record low – while the number of patients staying in a major Emergency Department for 12-hours or more reaches a record high.
In August 2021 there were 117,552 attendances to major Emergency Departments across Scotland.
Data show that four-hour performance reached a new record low, with 75.4% of patients being seen within four-hours. One in four patients stayed in a major Emergency Department for four-hours or more before being admitted, transferred or discharged.
The number of 12-hour stays in August 2021 nearly doubled when compared to July 2021. 1,346 patients stayed in a major Emergency Department for 12-hours or more, compared to 760 in July 2021. This figure increased for the fourth consecutive month and it is the highest number of 12-hour stays since records began.
Data also show that 5,279 patients spent eight hours or more in a major Emergency Department. This is the highest figure since records began. The number of patients delayed by eight-hours or more increased for the fourth consecutive month.
Dr John Thomson, Vice President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland, said: “The challenge for health care workers is growing significantly. In Scotland, the army have been called in to assist the ambulance services.
“In Emergency Departments, long stays are rising drastically, and one in four patients are staying in an Emergency Department for more than four-hours. It is extremely worrying. These pressures are likely to mount further, and performance deteriorate even more as we head into winter.
“We are seriously concerned about patient safety. Long stays put patients at risk, particularly vulnerable patients, and especially with covid still present in the community. We urgently need a plan to increase flow throughout the hospital, to reduce exit block, to prevent crowding, and to ensure that patients who need it can quickly be moved into a bed for their care.
“The current situation is not sustainable; it is dangerous for patients and becoming incredibly difficult for staff.
“We welcome this afternoon’s announcement by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Humza Yousaf MSP, including the recruitment of more staff and funding for hospital and community care. We hope that these measures will begin to alleviate pressures across the health system, and in particular reduce ambulance handover delays, long stays in Emergency Departments and exit block in our hospitals.
“However, while we welcome this investment, short-term cash injections do little to resolve long-term problems. We must see a long-term workforce plan that includes measures to retain health workers, particularly Emergency Medicine staff, as well as a long-term strategy for social care.”
Responding to the Scottish Government’s announcement to uplift care workers pay to just over £10 an hour, GMB Scotland Secretary Louise Gilmour said:“If we want to tackle the understaffing crisis in social care then we need to substantially increase the basic rate of pay, and for GMB that mean’s a £15 an hour minimum.
“Many of our frontline services are already being delivered on the back of wages of just under or over £10 an hour, and we know this isn’t nearly enough.
“To transform social care for the people who need it and the people who deliver it, particularly as we roll-out a national care service, then we must go further.”
The Scottish Government may also be facing industrial action from nursing staff over the winter …
NHS pay dispute in Scotland: Royal College of Nursing members to be asked about willingness to take industrial action
RCN members working for NHS Scotland are to be asked what industrial action they would be willing to take in support of their ongoing trade dispute with the Scottish government and NHS employers over pay.
The indicative ballot will open on 12 October and close on 8 November.
Eligible members will receive information on the different forms of industrial action.
The indicative ballot will be run by Civica, the independent scrutineer that organised the consultative ballot earlier this year. Eligible members will receive an email from Civica with a personal link to the online voting site on Tuesday 12 October. Weekly reminder emails will also be sent.
The result of the indicative ballot will not formally authorise industrial action. It will be used to inform the next steps RCN members might take.
Julie Lamberth, Chair of the RCN Scotland Board, said: “Industrial action is always a last resort but the current staffing challenges are causing unacceptable risks to patients and staff. The Scottish government has the opportunity to do the right thing by nursing.
“I would urge all eligible RCN members to seek out the available information on what taking industrial action means and what the implications of doing so might be. We need each member to make up their own mind and have their say in the ballot.”
Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland Director, added: “This is your chance to speak up – for your patients and your colleagues. Many of you rejected the pay offer and you know the link between fair pay and safe staffing.
“This is your opportunity to tell us what action you are prepared to take. To let the Scottish government know that the time to protect patient safety and value the safety critical role of nursing is now.”
Our Summer newsletter is out!
