Tag: extra funding

Schools: Action to address behaviour and attendance issues

Funding to address problems at the root

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth has announced £900,000 in new funding for staff to tackle poor behaviour and attendance in schools. 

The funding will be provided directly to local authorities to train support staff to respond to new challenges and develop behaviour management strategies in schools post COVID.

It comes as part of a multi-year plan that is being developed in conjunction with key stakeholders and will set out actions at national, local and school level to improve behaviour and support better relationships.

Actions include:

  • the new Interim Chief Inspector being tasked with ensuring HMI inspections are accurately recording behaviour to ensure any issues are tackled as soon as possible
  • a call for more accurate and robust recording of any incidents of poor behaviour in schools
  • a dedicated approach to responding to issues regarding misogyny

Ms Gilruth said: “It is important we keep the big picture in mind, with research published yesterday showing staff reporting generally good behaviour amongst pupils. However, the status quo is not an option and the plan I am setting out today will provide the support necessary to help tackle these problems at the root.

“I am absolutely clear that our schools should be safe and consistent learning environments for all. No teacher, or support assistant should face violence or abusive behaviour at work. We cannot suggest that the pandemic has not exacerbated inequity and nor must we blame it for these challenges.

“Schools, equally, can’t do this all alone; they need help. We have to enact a national plan which better supports our teachers and support staff in the workplace; recognising the role of Local Government as employer.

“And that plan has to better protect the learning outcomes for our young people – the vast majority of whom are well behaved. That is the prize that better behaviour in our schools can deliver – and I look forward to working with our partners to deliver just that.”

Headteachers, teaching unions, local authorities, parents, carers and children and young people will help inform the national action plan to improve behaviour and support better relationships in schools. 

The plan will be developed in the coming weeks and published in the new year.

Behaviour and relationships in schools

More support for people with neurological conditions

Eight projects supporting people with neurological conditions are receiving a total of almost £440,000 to enable them to enhance and expand the services they provide.

NHS Lothian is one of the recipients. They have been awarded £58,763 to fund a Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) clinical network for NHS Lothian.

The project will establish an FND network which will: create an integrated clinical network for people with FND; provide education, training and support to health professionals involved in FND; and to provide a relapse service for people with to ensure a consistent point of contact for patients.

The Scottish Government funding is the fourth round of awards made as part of a five-year action plan to improve support for people living with neurological conditions.

A joint initiative by the Care Inspectorate and NHS Ayrshire & Arran is one of the successful bids – £35,000 will be used to develop a national care network for care at home staff who would use it to share their experiences of looking after people with different neurological conditions and how best to meet their needs.

Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health Jenni Minto said: “One million people in Scotland live with a neurological condition which is why we are committed to the neurological action plan as it supports various organisations to help these people to live well and on their own terms regardless of where they stay.

“The Framework contains £4.5 million investment over five years, and this latest allocation of funding will benefit a wide range of projects helping those living with a number of conditions including cerebral palsy, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis, and Functional Neurological Disorder. 

“All of these innovative projects seek to ensure seamless access to high-quality and co-ordinated health, social care and third sector support in the right place at the right time.”

Care Inspectorate Allied Health Professional Consultant Heather Edwards said: “We are delighted to have been awarded funding to establish a neurological care network for people experiencing care at home.

“This collaboration in Ayrshire and Arran will provide a co-ordinated approach to enable opportunities for shared discussions and learning for staff across health and social care and importantly with people and their families”

Funding recipients

Additional Winter support for NHS

Measures to help NHS deal with extreme pressure

Funding of at least £8 million for additional care home beds and efforts to boost NHS 24 capacity are among the measures outlined by Health Secretary Humza Yousaf to help the NHS and social care deal with ongoing extreme winter pressure.

Health and Social Care Partnerships will share £8 million to procure around 300 additional care home beds to help alleviate pressures caused by delayed discharge. The funding will allow boards to pay 25% over and above the National Care Home rate for beds. This is in addition to around 600 interim care beds already in operation across the country.

NHS 24 is taking forward plans to recruit around 200 new starts before the end of March. In the run up to Christmas NHS 24 had already recruited over 40 whole time equivalent call operators, call handlers and clinical supervisors.

Guidance has been issued to all Boards making it clear they can take necessary steps to protect critical and life-saving care.

Mr Yousaf said: “This is the most challenging winter the NHS in Scotland has ever faced and the immediate pressure will continue for the coming weeks. My thanks to all health and social care staff for their incredible efforts during these exceptionally challenging times.

“We are ensuring all possible actions are being taken to support services, and the additional measures I have outlined today will help relieve some of the extreme pressure Health Boards are facing. We know one of the most significant issues our NHS is facing is delayed discharge, that is why I have announced further support to buy additional capacity in the care sector.

“NHS 24 has a vital role in referring people to appropriate urgent care services outside of hospitals and plans to increase staff numbers over the course of winter,  will help the service deal with increases in demand.

“Emergency care will always be there for those who need it, but for many people, the best advice and support might be available on the NHS Inform website or the NHS 24 App, or by calling NHS 24, so I would encourage people to make use of these services as many are already doing.”

Responding to the Scottish Government NHS briefing on Monday, Dr Iain Kennedy, Chair of BMA Scotland said: “”Scotland’s NHS is not just being pushed to the limit, in many places it is well past that.

“Bed occupancy of 95% across our hospitals is just not sustainable in terms of providing the safe and effective care that patients need on a daily basis either in A&E or across all wards. And we know demand is far exceeding capacity at GP surgeries too and has been for some time.

“In that context, the very fact that the First Minister and Health Secretary provided today’s briefing should emphasise the seriousness and urgency of the situation. Our members provided us with first hand testimony from all across the health service just before Christmas, and the picture that painted was really harrowing. Services and staff are on their knees.

“In terms of the short term actions that the Government indicated today, we have long emphasised the need to focus on ensuring people who are able to leave hospital, can do so – freeing up desperately needed capacity and therefore ensuring those who need to can be admitted from A&E more quickly and safely. So the focus on this is welcome, but we will need to see the details and extent of the proposals to make any judgement on the immediate impact it may have. Extra interim care beds – while something which could help as part of the overall plan – will also deliver nothing unless there are people there to staff them, which we know is a huge issue in social care.

“More fundamentally, many doctors remain to be convinced that the Scottish Government’s practical response matches up to the huge scale of the problems the NHS is facing. In particular, staffing shortages will only get worse as more staff burn out and dread going to work, unless there is a more comprehensive and urgent package of investment in staffing to support and retain them in our NHS for good.

“Longer term, these pressures are the culmination of the warnings the BMA and many others have delivered for some time, that Scotland’s NHS isn’t sustainable within the resources – both staffing and financial – we are willing to provide it with.

“We have to get serious about this and have a proper long term discussion about the future of our health service rather than just struggle to survive from crisis to crisis as the NHS and its staff endure the kind of perpetual pressures which in the past were reserved for the worst of winter.

“We absolutely agree with the assessment of the First Minister that there are no easy solutions, so the sooner we truly get to grips with the big picture issues, the sooner we can get away from having to implement short term measures in the desperate hope of bolstering collapsing services and begin actually start talking about an NHS fit for the future. That’s why a national conversation on the NHS in Scotland is required without delay.”

Extra Time for The Changing Room health initiative

Scottish Government funding to boost men’s mental health football programme

A programme to use the power of football to help support people experiencing poor mental wellbeing, using the connection to professional football, has been enhanced by funding from Scottish Government.

The Changing Room – Extra Time has been awarded £100,000. The new programme builds on The Changing Room, an existing support service which uses football to bring men together to tackle mental health.

The Changing Room, which is funded by Movember and supported by the Scottish Professional Football League Trust (SPFL Trust), was first created in 2018 at Hibernian Football Club, and rolled out to Heart of Midlothian Football Club later that year.

Aimed at men in their middle years, the Changing Room is a 12-week programme which uses football to bring men together to tackle mental health.

Extra Time aims to give people the opportunity to speak in more depth about their mental wellbeing and to come together to explore areas which are giving them particular challenges or concerns.

The project will be delivered by SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health) in partnership with the SPFL Trust and associated community trusts at Aberdeen (AFC Community Trust), Rangers (Rangers Charity Foundation), Heart of Midlothian (Big Hearts) and Hibernian (Hibernian Community Foundation) football clubs.

The Extra Time initiative will provide an opportunity for people to explore specific areas that often challenge them including how they view themselves, think and feel – all of which impacts on their mental wellbeing. 

Mental Wellbeing Minister Kevin Stewart, who launched the initiative at Pittodrie, home of Aberdeen FC, said: “Mental wellbeing has never been more important especially as we continue to deal with the ongoing pandemic and I am pleased to see this programme grow and develop.

“Although the focus is on four of our biggest clubs, which are all situated in urban areas, there is significant reach within those clubs across wider Scotland. My message is simple, we shouldn’t be afraid to talk about how we are feeling. This is an excellent way to combine football to improve mental wellbeing.”

Billy Watson, Chief Executive at SAMH said: “We’re delighted that the Scottish Government is funding The Changing Room – Extra Time, which will provide people with an opportunity to focus on resilience and self-care by exploring areas that often challenge them.

“It can be a struggle for many of us to talk about how we feel, and football is a really powerful way of bringing them together and encouraging them to open up.

“The Changing Room pilot projects have shown the difference the right support can make. Extra Time is a result of the value of this unique form of support being recognised not only by our pilot partners, but now also the Scottish Government and our new football club partners.

“Together, we’ve designed this expanded programme to fit the needs of people across the country, and we look forward to starting the next chapter of The Changing Room.”

SPFL Trust operations manager Fiona Taylor said: “Football has an extraordinary power to inspire people to make changes for the better. We’ve seen this with other programmes such as Football Fans in Training, and the pilot of The Changing Room at Easter Road and Tynecastle.

“The Changing Room Extra Time brings together the expertise of SAMH and our brilliant community trust partners to deliver something which we know people are looking for; interaction, safe spaces and friendship. What better place to provide this, than in the sanctuary of a club’s changing room?”

Aberdeen FC Community Trust chief executive Liz Bowie said: “We’re absolutely delighted that The Changing Room Extra Time is coming to Pittodrie, because this programme has a track record of success in supporting men to improve their mental health. We are sure that the Red Army will get right behind the project.”

Support for GP Practices

Additional funding of £15 million will be provided to GP practices to help them cope with extra pressures arising from coronavirus (COVID-19).

Around a third of the funding is intended to allow practices to remain open on Good Friday and Easter Monday if it is safe to do so – helping to alleviate pressures on out-of-hours services.

The remainder will help to cover costs of equipment, additional non-clinical staff, GP partners and locum cover for sickness leave.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “I want to thank all GP practice staff for their incredible hard work throughout this pandemic. They are doing an invaluable job to keep crucial primary care services going in very challenging circumstances.

“Given the unprecedented situation we are in, I have taken the unusual step of asking GP practices to remain open on Good Friday and Easter Monday – but only if it is safe to do so. This will help to alleviate some pressure from out-of-hours services.

“Working with the Scottish GP Committee of BMA Scotland we have agreed a package of additional funding for GP practices to help them meet some of the costs of responding to COVID-19.  Part of this will help to cover the cost of remaining open on Good Friday and Easter Monday and the remainder will help to meet other costs being faced by practices during this difficult time.”

Chair of the BMA’s Scottish GP Committee Dr Andrew Buist said: “This is an unprecedented time for all of us, and asking GPs to keep their practices open over public holidays is not a request we have taken lightly.

“Practices and out of hours services are working under more pressure than ever during this pandemic and I know GPs across Scotland are willing to put in the extra work required to help the NHS fight this virus.

“Our NHS is changing, and at the forefront of that change is the primary care response. General practice is part of that protective ring around the hospital system that will help us all cope with the surge in demand we are expecting.

“I am extremely proud of how quickly GPs have responded to this challenge with flexibility and ingenuity. There is a huge amount of work being put in from the Scottish Government and across the system and now is the time for us to pull together, for clear thinking and strong leadership.”