Children and young people at Edinburgh’s Children’s Hospital are to benefit from a new multisensory musical garden which has been created in loving memory of East Lothian teenager Jess Mackie.
Thought to be the only one of its kind in a UK children’s hospital setting, The Jess Mackie Music Garden is a vibrant, interactive outdoor space which ensures children don’t miss out on the joy of creative play and music-making while in hospital.
Featuring five large, free-standing musical instruments – the Congas, Tembos, Rainbow Trio Chimes, Harmony Bells and Marimba – the garden pays tribute to Jess’ love of music and encourages children and young people to have fun making melodies together in a relaxing, non-clinical setting away from the wards.
The sensory space has been fully funded by the Jess Mackie Memorial Fund (JMMF), a tribute fund of Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity (ECHC).
The fund was set up by the Mackie family to support therapeutic music projects within the hospital in loving memory of their daughter Jess who passed away in 2018 aged 14.
Jess was a member of the National Youth Choir of Scotland and sang with Aberlady and Gullane Parish Churches, at care homes and for charities, and at school concerts.
Parents Michael and Jackie said: “Jess was a caring and compassionate girl who always sought to help others. At only 14, she had a sense of how powerful music could be in helping people when they were in need.
“Many children and young people in hospital feel vulnerable because they lack control over what’s happening to them. Music can have an enormous and positive impact, helping ignite a spark and give back a sense of control.
“It also gives children and young people a means of expressing themselves, making friends and building confidence. Jess knew this and would have loved to know she was a part of making this happen.
“We are absolutely thrilled with the wonderful music garden which is such a fitting tribute to our beautiful daughter. We hope lots of children, young people, families and hospital staff will enjoy it for many years to come.”
When Covid restrictions allow, the music garden will also be used as an outdoor performance space, where ECHC’s visiting musicians – also funded by JMMF – and artists will perform and do music making activities with children and young people all year round.
Rachel Baxter, Director of Fundraising at ECHC, said: “Music-making is a large part of the ECHC Arts Programme as it has such a positive impact on children and young people’s wellbeing. It’s fantastic to now have this brand new space in which we can do even more music, performance and arts activities and ensure children don’t miss out on the magic of music while in hospital.
“The Mackie family are incredible and we are enormously grateful to them and their family, friends and supporters for funding the wonderful Jess Mackie Music Garden and all music-making activities within the hospital. Thanks to their support, we can bring Jess’ passion for music and singing to so many more children and young people on the wards.”
Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity supports the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, as well as other children’s healthcare settings across the Lothians.
Environmental action charity Earth in Common (formerly Leith Community Crops in Pots) have launched an online fundraising campaign following an arson attack on the project.
Earth in Common’s premises were subject to a ‘devastating’ arson attack on Saturday evening.
They explained: “Fortunately no one was hurt, however as a small charity with the community at the heart of what we do this is devastating. The cost to our infrastructure, recycling facilties is over £2000 and the valuable time and effort put in by our staff/ volunteers is unmeasurable.”
Earth in Common have been overwhelmed by messages of support and have now set up a fundraising campaign on the Justgiving platform.
If you would like to make a monetary contribution please go to:
The Earth in Common team are also organising a Clear Up Day this Saturday (18th September) from 10am-4pm – check out their website for latest information.
Support for children and young people with mental health issues
Funding of £10.83 million has been allocated for the remainder of this year to help improve access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
The investment will also increase the numbers of trained professionals to support children and young people with neurodevelopmental support needs.
The allocation is part the of £120 million Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund announced in February 2021, and will help to deliver a number of improvements, including: · improve access to CAMHS assessments out of hours · help to put in place specialist regional CAMHS services including those with learning disabilities and those requiring secure care · Help provide access to CAMHS Intensive Home Treatment Teams · Support mental health liaison teams within paediatric services.
The Recovery and Renewal Fund supports many mental health measures contained in the Programme for Government.
Other policies include extra support for health and care staff, completion of the commitment to recruit 800 additional mental health workers this year and a pledge that at least 10% of frontline NHS spending will go towards mental health over this parliament.
Mental Wellbeing and Social Care Minister Kevin Stewart, who announced the allocation during a visit to the Young People’s Inpatient Unit at The Royal Hospital for Children and Young People Edinburgh said: “I am pleased to announce the allocation of £10.83 million health boards to support children and young people with mental health issues, and those with neurodevelopmental support needs.
“This funding will lead to substantial improvements in the mental health care that children and young people receive in Scotland, ensuring that the right support is available in the right place at the right time.
“We know the pandemic has had a negative impact on many people’s mental health – whatever their age or circumstances. That is why we committed £120 million to the recovery and renewal of mental health services in this year’s Programme for Government. I hope that the allocation I have announced today makes a real and lasting difference to children, young people and their families.”
Joanna Barrett, Associate Head of Policy for the Devolved Nations, NSPCC Scotland, said: “Before the pandemic hit, thousands of children referred to mental health services in Scotland were having to wait unacceptable periods of time for treatment to begin.
“The profound impact of the conditions of the past 18 months on children has compounded this by increasing the need. Our Childline counsellors have heard from children struggling with loneliness and isolation, worries about education, abusive home environments and suicidal feelings.
“This funding by the Scottish Government to address young people’s mental health is therefore crucial. However, this investment must go alongside more preventative efforts, including the provision of mental health support in schools, to ensure children get the help they need before reaching crisis point.”
Boosters, testing and refreshed public health advice will help keep the virus under control in the coming months
Plan B prepared to protect NHS if necessary
PM continues to warn the pandemic is not over and public need to remain vigilant
The Prime Minister has today set out the government’s plan to manage Covid throughout autumn and winter.
Thanks to the ‘phenomenal success’ of the vaccination programme, the data continues to show the link between cases, hospitalisations and deaths has weakened significantly.
In England, the number of hospital admissions with Covid has remained relatively stable over the last month.
And although deaths increased at the beginning of the summer, they have remained far below the levels in either of the previous waves.
Over autumn and winter, the government will aim to sustain this progress through:
Building our defences through pharmaceutical interventions
Identifying and isolating positive cases to limit transmission
Supporting the NHS and social care
Advising people on how to protect themselves and others
Pursuing an international approach
Vaccines will continue to be our first line of defence. All those who were vaccinated during Phase 1 of the vaccine programme (priority groups 1 to 9) will be offered booster jabs from this month – to boost immunity amongst the most vulnerable groups during winter.
The Test, Trace and Isolate programme will continue its important work, with symptomatic PCR testing continuing throughout the autumn and winter.
Lateral flow tests will also remain free of charge but at a later stage, as our response to the virus changes, this will end and individuals and businesses will be expected to bear the cost. The government will engage widely on this before any changes are made.
The legal obligation to self-isolate for those who have tested positive and their unvaccinated contacts will continue, and the financial support payment for those self-isolating on certain benefits will continue in its current format until the end of March.
Our NHS will continue to get the support it needs, with an extra £5.4 billion recently announced for the next 6 months alone for the Covid response.
The public will be offered continued guidance on how to protect themselves and each other – including letting fresh air in, wearing a face covering in crowded and enclosed place where you come into contact with people you don’t normally meet, getting testing and self-isolating if required.
Our tough border policy will remain in place and genomic sequencing capability will be increased to help scientists update our vaccines to defeat new variants.
As the PM also set out, autumn and winter could pose renewed challenges and it is difficult to predict the path of the virus with certainty.
So as the public would expect, there will be a range of ‘Plan B’ measures kept under review to help control transmission of the virus while minimising economic and social damage.
Plan B would include:
Introducing mandatory vaccine only Covid status certification in certain, riskier settings.
Legally mandating face coverings in certain settings, such as public transport and shops.
Communicating clearly and urgently to the public if the risk level increases.
The government could also consider asking people to work from home again if necessary, but a final decision on this would be made at the time, dependent on the latest data – recognising the extra disruption this causes to individuals and businesses.
Ministers would only decide to implement these measures if necessary, and if a range of metrics and indicators mean the NHS is at risk of becoming overwhelmed.
Plan B recognises the success of our vaccination programme – meaning smaller interventions which are far less disruptive can have a much bigger impact on reducing the spread.
The Prime Minister committed to taking whatever action is necessary to protect the NHS, but stressed his belief that the combined efforts of the public and the vaccination programme mean we can avoid plan B and protect our freedoms in the coming months.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson made this statement at yesterday’s coronavirus press conference:
Good afternoon everybody.
I want to set out our plan for managing Covid this autumn and winter.
And I want you to cast your mind back exactly a year and think where we were last September, as schools went back and the colder months approached.
Because in one way our position today is actually more challenging.
We have higher levels of daily cases – thousands more.
But in many other crucial respects, the British people – all of us collectively and individually – are incomparably better placed to fight the disease.
We have more than 80 per cent of all over-16s now double jabbed, double vaccinated.
And we have Covid antibodies in around 90 per cent of the adult population.
And those vaccines are working.
We have seen the extraordinary vaccine-induced falls in deaths and serious disease.
And depending on your age, you’re up to nine times more likely to die, sadly, if you’re unvaccinated, than if you’ve had both jabs.
And the result of this vaccination campaign is that we have one of the most free societies and one of the most open economies in Europe.
And that’s why we are now sticking with our strategy.
In essence, we’re going to keep going.
We will continue to offer testing.
We will continue to urge everyone to be sensible, to be responsible.
Wash your hands.
Use ventilation.
Consider wearing a face covering in crowded places with people that you don’t know.
Stay at home if you feel unwell.
Download and use the app.
And we’re investing massively in our NHS to meet the pressures of Covid with an additional £5.4 billion in England over the next six months.
And that’s on top of almost £36 billion over the next three years to help our NHS recover and fix the long-standing problems of social care as well, as I was saying last week.
And we are helping to vaccinate the world with 100 million doses for developing countries by next June.
And I think this country should be proud, continue to be very proud, that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine remains the workhorse of global immunisation.
And we will keep further measures in reserve – a Plan B.
We do not see the need now to proceed for instance with mandatory certification.
But we will continue to work with the many businesses that are getting ready for such a scheme.
indeed over 200 events have already used Covid certification voluntarily.
And it is just not sensible to rule out completely this kind of option now when we must face the fact that it might still make the difference between keeping businesses open at full capacity or not.
We will also keep open the option of mandating face coverings as they have elsewhere, or advising people again to work from home, reflecting the fact that when you’ve got a large proportion of the country as we have now with immunity, then smaller changes can make a bigger difference and give us the confidence that we don’t need to go back to the lockdowns of the past.
And of course, we will continue to update our advice to you based on the latest data.
But in the meantime, we are confident in the vaccines that have made such a difference to our lives.
And we are now intensifying that effort, offering jabs to 12 to 15 year olds on the advice of the Chief Medical Officers, who’ve given that advice based on the health, wellbeing and educational prospects of the children themselves.
And for over 50s – and the under 50s who are at risk, or more at risk, we’re now motoring ahead with the booster programme.
A third dose six months after your second dose.
So that’s going to mean we’re going to be building even higher walls of immunisation of vaccine protection in this country.
And the UK government has procured at scale jabs for every part of the UK.
And we will be sending doses to the Devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Covid is still out there.
The disease sadly still remains a risk.
But I’m confident we can keep going with our plan to turn jabs jabs jabs into jobs jobs jobs.
Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) and its subsidiary Persevere Developments Ltd (PDL) are marking Scottish Housing Day 2021 today by celebrating the opening of 104 affordable homes on Edinburgh’s waterfront.
The properties at Heron Place, Heron View, Heron Lane and Hesperus Crossway are situated at Granton Harbour and make up a stretch of the city’s large-scale waterfront regeneration programme.
The development has been designed with existing and new communities in mind and has a sunlit central courtyard which residents will be able to enjoy together. In total there are 46 homes for social rent, including two wheelchair accessible flats, and 58 homes for mid market rent.
The completion of this development brings the number of affordable homes provided by PoLHA in north Edinburgh to over 3,000.
Heather Kiteley, Group Chief Executive said: “It was a pleasure to visit our new development on Granton’s waterfront and to meet some of its new residents this Scottish Housing Day.
“The location is close to various paths and networks that interconnect north Edinburgh’s greenspaces. I am sure the community here will enjoy making the most of the city’s coastline and all the sustainable transport options it offers.
“That Scottish Housing Day is focusing on housing and the climate emergency this year is of personal importance to me. This new development has the lowest Environmental Impact Rating, good insulation, and is fitted with air quality monitors throughout.
“We as an industry have a long way to go to reach net-zero, and I am committed to working closely with colleagues on even more ambitious solutions to the climate challenges we face in the months and years to come.”
CCG Managing Director, David Wylie, said:“The Granton Waterfront Regeneration is one of the most significant of its kind in Scotland with housing being a key part of the City’s vision for its transformation.
“CCG’s journey at the waterfront began at Heron Place and works continue to be progressed with Port of Leith HA on a further 304 homes on an adjacent development.
“It’s an exciting time for the area and the wider housebuilding programme in Edinburgh and we are delighted to be playing our part as we embark on a further 600+ homes which are set to commence in 2022.”
Cezary Grabski, 27, works in Customer Operations for Standard Life. Originally from Poland, he is moving from elsewhere in the Granton area, and says: “I feel very lucky to have found this housing association and this beautiful development.
“The flats are brand new, finished to a very high standard, in a great location and with stunning views of the water and Edinburgh Marina.”
Sarah Watson, 25, a Clerical Officer working with NHS Lothian, is moving to one of the new mid market properties from the Saughton area of the city. Sarah said: “I immediately fell in love with the area and the picture of the flats were to die for!
“I can’t fault anything in regard to the process of applying for a mid market property and would highly recommend anyone to have a look at some for yourself. I can’t wait to move in and make my new flat a home.”
John Donald, 47, is an Accounts Assessor for the Scottish Legal Aid Board. He is moving from Great Junction Street in Leith and says: “I am delighted to have found this mid market rental property in such a great location. I have lived in private rentals since moving to Edinburgh 16 years ago.
“With my youngest heading to university this year I had been thinking I would probably have to move out of the city to find something more affordable. Thankfully I saw the mid market flats available in this development and I am now excited to be moving into a brand new home in a great and developing part of Edinburgh.”
Port of Leith Housing Association has ambitious plans to deliver more than 600 high-quality, affordable homes by 2025.
You can read more about this in its strategic plan polha.co.uk/2025.
Children and young people aged 12 -15 years old will be offered a dose of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination from Monday (20 September) after Scottish Ministers accepted advice from the four UK Chief Medical Officers (CMOs).
As a result, a dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be offered to all children and young people aged 12-15 who are not already covered by existing advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) in a move to reduce the disruption caused to education by COVID-19.
This group will be offered their injections in drop-in clinics and community settings followed by each young person receiving a letter inviting them to attend a community clinic.
For some rural Health Boards, those aged 12 to 15 will first be offered the vaccine at school.
Following the initial phase, vaccines will be offered in both communities and schools so that anyone who hasn’t been vaccinated but would like to be has the opportunity to take up the offer.
Meanwhile, people who received their vaccination during phase one of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme in Scotland will start to receive booster injections from 20 September.
This follows advice from the JCVI which has advised that the booster dose can be given alongside the flu jab and should be offered no earlier than six months after completion of the primary vaccine course.
Frontline health and social care workers will be able to book their appointment online at NHS Inform from 20 September and from that date, residents in care homes for older people will be offered both flu and COVID-19 booster vaccination.
Adults aged 70 years and over and adults aged 16 years and over who are on the highest risk list (previously known as the shielding list) will be contacted soon, either by letter or by their GP.
People on the highest risk list who were severely immunosuppressed at the time of their last COVID-19 vaccination will be offered a third primary dose instead. Other eligible groups – including all those aged 16 to 49 years with underlying health conditions, adult carers, unpaid and young carers, adult household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals and all adults over 50 – will be able to book online from October.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “I want to thank Dr Gregor Smith and the other three UK CMOs who have taken the time to consider the benefits of offering a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination to 12-15 year olds.
“I recognise the impact disruption to education can have and am keen that we do all we can to reduce this so I am happy to accept the recommendation to proceed.
“As the CMOs recommended, informed consent must be at the heart of decision making so we will ensure that there is clear communication with this age group and their parents so they understand the potential benefits, potential side effects and the balance between them.
“A new leaflet from Public Health Scotland will be circulated to ensure parents, carers and young people have all the information they need. Individual choice is central to this, and the decisions of parents, carers and children will be respected.
“Alongside the booster programme this will be a busy period for our largest ever vaccination programme but work has been underway for some time to plan for this and I am confident our roll-out will continue to be a huge success.”
Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday 14 September 2021
Thanks, Presiding Officer,
I will give an update today on the latest COVID situation.
I can confirm that the Cabinet met this morning, and decided not to make any immediate changes to the current regulations in place.
I will also give an update on certain other issues, most notably the mitigations in place for schools, including of course our approach to vaccination of 12 to 15 year olds, and the issue of a vaccine booster programme, which we have received final JVCI advice on this morning.
Firstly, though, to recap on today’s statistics.
3,375 positive cases were reported yesterday – 11.4% of all tests.
1,064 people are currently in hospital with COVID – 16 more than yesterday.
And 89 people are receiving intensive care – that is one fewer than yesterday.
Sadly, a further 21 deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours, and the total number of deaths under the daily definition is now 8,263.
And, as always, I send my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one.
Good progress continues to be made in the vaccination programme.
As of this morning, 4,144,904 people have had a first dose and 3,788,551 have now had both doses.
95% of people over 40 are fully vaccinated with two doses now, as are 73% of 30-39 year olds, and 60% of 18 to 29 year olds.
Around 76% of 18-29 year olds have, though, had a first dose, so the proportion in that age group who become fully vaccinated will continue to increase in the weeks ahead.
In addition, 65% of 16 and 17 year olds have now had the first jag – which is five percentage points higher than at this time last week.
Presiding Officer,
Although the level of infection in Scotland remains too high, there are continuing signs that the recent spike in cases is now slowing down.
Indeed, we are now seeing early signs – not just that the rate of increase is slowing – but that cases are now actually starting to fall slightly.
This can be seen in the last three weeks’ data
In the week to 28 August, there were an average of 5,651 new cases a day – which was an increase of more than 80% on the previous week.
In the week to 4 September, average daily cases were 6,290 – still an increase, but one of just 11%.
However, in the seven days to 11 September – so the most recent seven-day period – cases have fallen to an average of 5,506 per day – which is 12% lower than last week.
It might also be worth providing some detail on the age breakdown of cases.
In the past week, more than 70% of cases have been in the under 45s.
And that’s consistent with the pattern we’ve seen throughout this latest wave.
However, the picture varies across different age groups – that said, there are broadly positive signs now in all of them.
Two weeks ago – in the week to 4 September – the number of cases in the 0-14 year old band rose by 51%. However in the past week, cases in that age group have fallen by 5%.
Amongst 15-24 year olds, cases fell by 16% two weeks ago, and have now fallen even further – by 34% – in the most recent week.
Two weeks ago, cases in the 25-44 year old age group rose by 7%, and last week, they fell by 14%.
Finally, the number of cases amongst the over 65s has risen slightly, but again the rate of increase has slowed down over the past week.
This most recent data underpinned Cabinet’s decision earlier today not to reintroduce any restrictions.
I am very grateful to everyone – organisations, businesses and individuals – who has taken extra care in recent weeks to try to stop this spike.
It does seem that these efforts are making a difference.
That said, of course, our position does remain challenging.
Even though new cases have fallen, they remain five times higher than at the start of August.
Universities are now returning for a new term. That is very welcome – but it also creates some additional risk, and I will say more shortly about how we are working to mitigate that risk.
Overall, though, the key point is this – the recent fall in cases is very welcome, but we cannot take it for granted. We must continue efforts to keep cases on a downward track.
The NHS is already under considerable pressure and any further rise in cases would intensify that.
As we know, vaccination has significantly weakened the link between cases of COVID and serious health harm from COVID.
The proportion of people with the virus who end up in hospital remains much lower now than before the vaccine programme started.
But current case numbers reflect how transmissible the Delta variant is.
So as we can see already – even a lower percentage of a large number of cases results in a high number of hospitalisations.
To illustrate that, on 20 August, there were 312 people in hospital with COVID. Today, there are 1,064.
The number in intensive care has also increased – from 34 on 20 August to 89 today.
Of course, these figures do not include people who don’t need hospital care, but nevertheless suffer long COVID.
It is also important to remember that the pressure that the NHS is experiencing falls on staff who have in many cases been working flat-out since the start of this pandemic.
And it comes at a time when the NHS is working to catch up on a backlog and care for everyone who needs it, not just COVID patients.
The Government continues to work closely with health boards to help manage these pressures.
But – as has been the case throughout the pandemic – everyone has a role to play.
At the start of the pandemic, we constantly emphasised the need to “protect our NHS”.
That is still necessary, and should give all of us even more incentive to get vaccinated, test regularly, and take all the basic precautions that we know can slow down transmission.
An additional reason for continued caution is that it helps protect those most at risk.
The UK Government announced earlier today that it will no longer use its Shielding Patient List.
In light of that – and to avoid any mistaken assumption – it’s important for us to confirm that the Scottish Government is not following suit at this stage. We will continue to use our equivalent list – which is the Highest Risk List.
We have used this throughout the pandemic to communicate with all those at highest risk and ensure that they have advice and support.
We will continue to keep this under review, but for the moment we believe it is important to retain it.
I will now provide a brief update on some specific strands of work.
Firstly, I can confirm that Cabinet Secretaries are continuing to engage with representatives from business, the public sector and wider civic society to encourage maximum compliance with the mitigations still in place.
I will be taking part in a roundtable meeting with a range of stakeholders immediately after this statement to underline the importance of this work.
I am, again, grateful to all businesses and organisations for the efforts being made to follow and promote measures like the wearing of face coverings; good ventilation and hygiene; and wherever possible, continued home working.
In addition, as I mentioned earlier the university term is now starting – colleges began their return a few weeks ago. And we have been working closely with universities, colleges and the wider sector to make the return as safe as possible.
As a precaution at this stage, colleges and universities won’t be holding large in-person lectures for now.
Instead, there will be a mix of online and in-person learning – with institutions themselves deciding the level of in-person teaching that they will offer during this term.
In addition, physical distancing will remain in place on campuses and face coverings will be required in indoor public spaces.
We are also – of course – encouraging students to get tested regularly. Test kits are available on campuses, and students who are moving to term-time accommodation should book a PCR test before making that move.
Above all, we are strongly encouraging students to get vaccinated if they haven’t done so already.
Mobile vaccination units are being deployed in universities and colleges during freshers’ weeks, and vaccination will continue to be made available throughout the term.
Health Board web pages will contain details of local drop-in clinics and also clinics operating within colleges or universities.
We are also continuing to work with local authorities to make schools and childcare centres as safe as possible – for example, though support for the use of carbon dioxide monitors and improved ventilation.
We have also received further advice from the Advisory sub-group on Education, and I want to take the opportunity today to highlight two points arising from that advice.
First, we indicated at the start of term that secondary schools pupils would need to wear face coverings in class for the first six weeks of term, subject to a review at that point.
Given the continuing high levels of infection still being experienced at this stage, the Advisory sub-group has advised that this requirement should remain in place until the October holidays, and be reviewed again then.
I know how unpopular this is with many pupils and I completely understand why.
But for now, it remains a prudent and a necessary precaution.
Second, we intend to clarify an aspect of guidance on contact tracing in schools, to help ensure fuller understanding of the process.
There is no change in advice for close contacts thought to be at high risk of having COVID. They will continue to be advised to self-isolate until they have returned a negative PCR test. For children and young people, a high-risk contact is most likely to be a household member, or someone they have stayed overnight with.
However, we will clarify guidance on the letters that schools send to lower-risk contacts. These letters should be sent on a targeted basis to those who are most likely to have had low risk contact with someone who has tested positive. They ensure that parents, staff and pupils are aware of those cases – and the letters offer advice on issues like looking out for symptoms, and using lateral flow testing.
Our updated guidance may mean, for example, that it is appropriate to send letters to the classmates of a pupil who has tested positive, but not necessarily to everyone in their year group.
We hope that better targeting will help reinforce the importance of the messages in these letters while minimising undue anxiety.
In addition, the advice in the letters will be strengthened in one respect.
They will recommend – to primary and secondary school pupils and staff who receive them – that a lateral flow test is taken before they next return to school. That test should be in addition to the regular twice weekly lateral flow testing which is recommended for all secondary school pupils and staff.
Presiding Officer,
All of these measures reflect our commitment to prioritising the wellbeing of children and young people – and our determination to minimise disruption to education.
That consideration was also, of course, central to the advice that the Scottish, Welsh, and UK Governments – and the Northern Irish Executive – received yesterday from our Chief Medical Officers.
Members will recall that the JCVI had concluded that the benefit of vaccination – the health benefit – for 12-15 year olds did outweigh any risks, but that because this was marginal they could not recommend a universal offer of vaccine to this age group on health grounds alone.
However, they indicated that it would be appropriate for Chief Medical Officers to consider whether any wider issues might tip the balance in the other direction.
The CMOs have now done so and concluded that vaccination could reduce disruption to education and that, taken together with the health benefits previously identified in the JCVI advice, extending the offer of vaccination to all 12 to 15 year olds is justified.
Taking this broader view of the benefits and risks of vaccination, the CMOs are recommending that 12 to 15 year olds should be offered one dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
This advice has been broadly endorsed by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
I am very grateful to all of the four Chief Medical Officers for assessing the evidence on this issue with such pace and also with such rigour.
I can confirm to Parliament today that the Scottish Government welcomes and accepts this recommendation. We believe that vaccination of 12-15 year olds is important and we will therefore move to implement the advice as quickly as possible.
Our supplies of vaccine are adequate to allow us to do this.
It is, of course, important to stress how important informed consent is.
I know that many young people and their parents will have questions.
Material will be made available online later this week.
It will be appropriate to both young people and adults. It will seek to answer questions and provide balanced information to help young people and their parents make informed choices.
And I can confirm that from Monday 20 September, so Monday coming, drop in clinics will be open for any 12 – 15 year old who has read the information and – in discussion with parents and carers – decided that they do wish to be vaccinated.
It will of course be appropriate for parents or carers to accompany their children to clinics, and vaccinators will be on hand to answer any further questions or address any concerns.
And then, starting in the following week – so week beginning 27 September – letters will be sent to all 12 to 15 year olds inviting them to an appointment at a drop-in centre or vaccination clinic.
Again, parents and carers will be invited to accompany their children. And again the appointment will include an opportunity to ask questions and discuss concerns.
Finally, after the scheduled community sessions, there will be a programme of vaccination in schools, to ensure that anyone who hasn’t been vaccinated, and who decides that they want to be, gets a further opportunity.
Presiding Officer,
I know that these are important decisions for young people and their parents, and that many will have questions. I would encourage everyone to read the information that will be provided, and do not hesitate to visit a drop in clinic to ask any questions or raise any concerns.
Vaccination is a vital part of our overall protection against this virus. That is why it is important to support people – perhaps especially young people – to make informed choices that they feel comfortable with.
In addition to the CMO advice on 12-15 year olds, we have received this morning the final JCVI advice on a vaccine booster programme.
This is in addition to the third doses already being offered to people who were severely immunosuppressed or immunocompromised at the time of their first or second vaccination.
I can confirm that the Scottish Government is also accepting this advice, and again we have adequate supplies to move ahead with this.
The booster programme is intended to prolong the protection that vaccines provide against severe COVID illness.
It will run alongside our biggest ever flu vaccine programme – since, of course, both of these programmes are important for individual and for public health. Wherever possible, eligible people will be offered COVID and flu vaccines together.
Booster vaccines will be offered to all adults over 50; to frontline health and care workers; and to younger adults with certain health conditions that put them at higher risk; and to adult household contacts of people with suppressed immune systems. The JCVI has also advised that there should be an interval of at least six months between a second dose and a booster dose.
So let me now give a broad outline of the order in which we will now move to implement the booster programme. And of course we will set out more details shortly.
Frontline health and social care workers will be able to book their booster appointment online through NHS Inform from Monday 20 September – so that again is Monday coming.
Also from next week, residents in care homes for older people will be offered both flu and COVID booster vaccines.
Adults aged 70 or over, and everyone aged over 16 on the highest risk list will be contacted very shortly, either by letter or by their GP.
Other eligible groups – that’s all adults over 50, all those 16 to 49 with underlying health conditions, adult carers, unpaid and young carers, and adult household contacts of people who are immunosuppressed – will be able to book online from October.
These two announcements today, Presiding Officer, represent a very significant, and a very welcome, extension of the vaccine programme – and will help us considerably in our ongoing efforts against this virus.
So – to anyone eligible for vaccination – please do take up the opportunity.
The final point about vaccination I want to touch on very briefly is certification for certain venues – which, of course, Parliament approved in principle last week.
We are now working with businesses, events organisers and sports governing bodies to finalise the detail of the regulations and sector-specific guidance.
COVID certification has of course already been introduced in many countries across Europe. Indeed, many of them have already gone much further than we are proposing.
We know that this is not a magic wand – but we do believe that as part of a package of measures, it can help reduce transmission while keeping our economy and our society open, which is of course what all of us want to see.
Presiding Officer, I will close by emphasising again the key things all of us can do to help, and to ensure that we keep infections on a downward track.
Firstly, as I’ve already been talking extensively about – please get vaccinated if you are eligible and you haven’t yet done so.
Secondly, please continue to test yourself regularly with lateral flow devices. You can order these through NHS inform or collect them from a local test site or pharmacy.
And if you test positive, or you are identified as a close contact, or if you have symptoms of COVID, please self-isolate, and book a PCR test.
And thirdly and finally, please continue to comply with the mitigations still in place.
Please wear face coverings in indoor public places, such as shops, public transport and when moving about in hospitality settings.
Think carefully about the number of contacts you are having – and perhaps reduce any that are not strictly necessary.
Meet outdoors as much as possible.
Indoors, open windows if you can.
And, although it’s not the law anymore, try to keep a safe distance from people in other households – especially when you are indoors.
And remember to continue to wash your hands and surfaces thoroughly.
All of us this – as we can see in the most recent data – really does make a difference. So please stick with it and let’s get cases down even further.
Thank you, Presiding Officer.
Teaching union the EIS has welcomed the decision by the UK’s Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) that young people aged between 12 and 15 should be offered a COVID vaccination.
Infection rates have increased substantially in recent weeks, and we have seen record levels of both pupil and staff Covid related absences particularly amongst young people, as schools have returned. This is having a serious impact on education provision and has been a cause for concern for teachers and other school staff.
EIS General Secretary Larry Flanagan said, “The EIS welcomes this decision by the CMOs as the latest step in the battle against Coronavirus. Offering the vaccine to young people in the 12 to 15 age group will make secondary schools safer by reducing the risk of the virus spreading through school communities and will help reduce the level of disruption to education.
“Whilst we know that young people are less likely to become hospitalised through COVID, offering the vaccine will offer important additional protection against the virus.”
Mr Flanagan added, “In the few short weeks since our schools returned after the summer, we have already seen significant outbreaks in some school communities. This has led to an increase in enforced absences from school, with record numbers of students and staff forced to stay at home due to Coronavirus.
“Rolling out the availability of the vaccines to a wider group of young people will reduce the risk of further outbreaks linked to schools and help ensure that education provision can continue on as normal a basis as possible.”
School Safety Mitigations Extended
Safety mitigations to keep children, young people and staff safe in schools will be extended until at least the October holidays.
Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville confirmed that all current mitigations, including the use of face coverings by pupils in secondary school classrooms, will still be required to help keep schools as safe as possible.
In addition, updated guidance will be provided in the information letters that schools are asked to send to staff and the parents of primary and secondary pupils when they are in low risk contact with positive cases in schools.
These will now include a strengthened recommendation to take a lateral flow test before returning to school. This is in addition to current advice for staff and secondary pupils to take a lateral flow test twice a week, with a few days apart, and record the result before returning to the classroom.
There will be a continued requirement for staff to keep at least a metre distance from each other and from children and young people when they are at schools.
Revised guidance to reflect these changes will be published as soon as possible.
Ms Somerville said: “Throughout this coronavirus pandemic, the safety of school pupils and staff has been my top priority. Every decision is underpinned by our determination to keep children and young people in schools when is safe to do so.
“In light of the latest data and evidence, we have decided to extend the period for these mitigations to remain in place. This decision has been informed by expert medical advice and will be kept under close review to ensure it remains appropriate.
“We owe a debt of gratitude to our young people, for their continued compliance with the public health measures that keep us all safe. I promise that if we can remove the restrictions sooner, we will. For the moment though, we consider this an important protection for them, and for others in the school.”
Coming up this Autumn with a splash of local Edinburgh market colour! – a new magazine Market Scene is being launched this week by publisher Tania Pramschufer, director of LocalMotive Markets as a platform for the thriving market scene in and around Edinburgh.
The first edition of the magazine, coming out this week, will showcase the individuality and history of the markets in and around Edinburgh – from the farmers’ markets from Balerno and Portobello markets and everywhere in between.
Market Scene includes producer spotlights – this month meeting Michele and Gabriela from Tipico; Edinburgh Farmers’ market 21st birthday celebrations; local market heritage and a trip up north; as well as a free map with times, dates and locations making it easier for shoppers to buy handmade gifts and artisan products in a lively local market atmosphere.
Features also look at famous bagpiper Lou Marshall and her piping travels, as well as her favourite markets and a catch up with celebrity chef Tony Singh MBE to find out more about his newly opened food enterprise Radge Chaat and a visit to Exclusively Highlands and their amazing markets in woods and castle locations.
Tania Pramschufer, director of LocalMotive Marketssaid: “With all the troubles of shop retail over the last year, the thriving market scene continues to grow and helps support producers, artists and artisans – so we decided to launch Market Scene to make it easier for visitors and local shoppers find where and when to buy great handcrafted gifts, local artisanal food and drink on their doorstep.
“We have built a strong market following from the artists, producers and local people involved. The markets are a real community tonic for all of us – when people were not able to mix widely – they could buy some lovely things and converse with the producers directly, and anecdotally we know that has made a distinct difference to people coping with isolation and mental health issues and is something we need to consider more – going forward.
“Throughout this year, we are supporting local independent businesses at our markets, and we are very hopeful that our international producers will be able to return in due course and add their wonderful gifts and produce – they are much missed having been attending our Castle Street & Ocean Terminal Christmas Markets for over twelve years, but local producers continue to benefit and develop their businesses at our markets, as well at the many markets across Edinburgh.”
Roddy Smith, Chief Executive, Essential Edinburgh said: “Essential Edinburgh is, as always, supportive of markets and events that drive footfall and create interest in our city centre.
“LocalMotive Markets have delivered, both of these, successfully, on Castle Street over a number of years and are now part of the fabric of the city centre offering. We look forward to continuing our partnership in the years to come”
Producer, Sarah Allen, Slaped Toasties: “The magazine is great, it’s a huge platform to help promote a small business out to a wider public audience.
“Most people are trying to actively support small independent businesses and this magazine is a great way to do this.”
Artisan producer, Jonny Amos, Gecko Gifts: “A magazine like this is long overdue and it is an all-inclusive spotlight on all traders and operators. A positive addition to Edinburgh’s publications.”
The next magazine will be a Christmas edition coming out in November.
Check out Facebook: Market Scene and @marketsceneedinburgh to find out what our team are up to next.
A UK-wide study, led by Queen’s University Belfast, has shown how a new surveillance pathway for people with stable diabetic eye disease is safe and cost-saving, freeing up ophthalmologists to evaluate and treat people requiring urgent care.
The new health care surveillance pathway may help ophthalmic units across the world to improve their capacity whilst saving patient’s sight. It is already having a positive impact on the re-design of NHS services across the UK, having been implemented successfully in several hospitals.
The research, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), has been published in leading journals including Ophthalmology, BMJ and NIHR’s Health Technology Assessment.
The EMERALD (the Effectiveness of Multimodal imaging for the Evaluation of Retinal oedemA and new VesseLs in Diabetic retinopathy) diagnostic accuracy study tested a new “ophthalmic grader” pathway. Rather than ophthalmologists, this pathway involves trained graders monitoring people with previously treated and stable complications of diabetic eye disease, namely diabetic macular oedema (DMO) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), based on the reading of images and scans of the back of their eyes.
The grader’s pathway can save £1390 per 100 patients, and the real savings are the ophthalmologist’s time, which can then be redirected to the evaluation of people at high risk of visual loss.
Professor Noemi Lois, lead researcher and Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology from the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine at Queen’s University Belfast, explains: “Diabetic macular oedema and proliferative diabetic retinopathy, the main sight-threatening complications of diabetic retinopathy can cause blindness if left untreated. It is therefore important to diagnose them and to treat them timely.
“NHS hospitals eye units are under significant pressure given the extremely high number of people that need to be examined and treated and given the insufficient number of ophthalmologists in the UK. Currently, ophthalmologists need to evaluate all patients, even those that are stable after treatment and who are doing well.”
In EMERALD, trained ophthalmic graders were found to achieve satisfactory results when compared to standard care (i.e., ophthalmologists evaluating patients in clinic) while releasing ophthalmologist’s time.
Professor Lois added: “EMERALD showed trained ophthalmic graders are able to determine whether patients with diabetic macular oedema or proliferative diabetic retinopathy previously successfully treated remain stable or if on them the disease has reactivated.
“Thus, they would be able to follow people that have been already treated, releasing ophthalmologists’ time. Ophthalmologists could then use this time to treat timely other patients, for example, those who have indeed diabetic macular oedema or active proliferative diabetic retinopathy and who have not yet received treatment saving their sight.”
Dr Clare Bailey, consultant ophthalmologist at the Bristol Eye Hospital, said: “The important data from the EMERALD study has helped us to significantly increase the numbers of people with diabetic retinopathy being seen in ‘imaging/grading’ pathways.
“This has hugely increased our follow-up capacity, whilst allowing ophthalmologists’ time to be directed to the people with diabetic retinopathy who need treatment or further assessment.
“This has helped us to deal with the capacity pressures as a result of Covid -19 as well as the longer-term capacity demands due to the increasing prevalence of diabetic retinopathy.”
Dr Caroline Styles, Consultant Ophthalmologist with NHS Fife, added: “Emerald provided us in NHS Fife with the relevant evidence that allowed us to redesign our pathways for people with diabetic eye disease.
“The involvement of people with diabetes in this study reassures our population that these are safe and appropriate changes, and not just based on cost.”
The EMERALD study was set in 13 National Health Service (NHS) hospitals across the UK and is a large multicentric, UK-wide, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-funded diagnostic accuracy study.
A group of wild swimmers decided to use their chilly hobby to support charity – by holding a coffee morning in the sea!
The group of Edinburgh sea dippers took to the waters at Portobello beach at sunrise and enjoyed some coffee and cakes while getting their daily cold water therapy.
The swimmers hope others will join them by taking part in this years World’s Biggest Coffee Morning on September 24. Although going into the sea is of course optional!
Cold water enthusiast, Lynsey Taylor Pittman said: “I lost both my mum and dad to cancer so I know how important supporting those going through something similar is.
“It was incredibly hard losing my mum when I was only 23 and my Dad just at the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Being in lockdown meant I couldn’t see anyone and that was really difficult. I was still allowed my daily exercise so that’s when I took to the sea.
“The benefits both on my physical and mental health are huge for me. Getting into the cold water shocks your system and then it begins releasing all the happy hormones. When you come out you get this euphoria and just like exercise it gets addictive. I have been doing it for 2 years now and I love that we can do it as a group again.
“Getting into the sea with others gives you a real connection and amplifies the feelings. It makes it even more special. The connection with nature and friends is exactly what we all need right now. So, get your coffee and cake and give it a go!”
Macmillan relies almost entirely on donations from the public to fund its services, and since the pandemic hit, has seen its fundraising income drop.
The charity is hoping that after 18-months of cancelled fundraising events, people across Aberdeen will sign up for its World’s Biggest Coffee Morning on September 24.
To find out more about the financial impact of cancer, or to find support please visit www.macmillan.org.uk.
