St Andrew’s First Aid to deliver free CPR demonstrations at popular locations to mark Restart a Heart Day.
Scotland’s only dedicated first aid charity, St Andrew’s First Aid, is providing Edinburgh locals and tourists with a chance to learn lifesaving CPR skills at open demonstrations held in the heart of the city this month.
To mark ‘Restart a Heart Day’ (16th October), an initiative led by Resuscitation Council UK to increase the number of people who survive out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, St Andrew’s First Aid will be delivering free public demonstrations across three city centre locations.
Passers-by will be invited to get involved with CPR demonstrations, as well as learning how to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
They will also be encouraged to practice what they have learned, gaining insightful feedback from St Andrew’s First Aid Community Engagement Trainers and Volunteers, to ensure they are prepared to step in and help, if they witness someone having a cardiac arrest.
Jim Dorman, Director of Operations and Community Engagement at St Andrew’s First Aid said: “We usually mark Restart a Heart with one day – but this year we decided it needs to be noticed – so we’re carrying out a roadshow across the full month of October, with free demonstrations taking place up and down the country.
“The importance of knowing how to administer CPR correctly can really be the difference between life and death for those receiving it. It’s our ambition to have as many people as possible learning these vital skills that could ultimately save a life.”
St Andrew’s First Aid Community Engagement Trainers and Volunteers will be in attendance at the following locations:
Edinburgh Haymarket Train Station: Thursday 17th October – 11am-2pm
Edinburgh Waverly Station: Saturday 19th October – 11am-4pm
Between April 2022 and May 2023, there were 3,161 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Scotland*. Charities such as St Andrew’s First Aid are making it their mission to create a nation of lifesavers, by providing easy to access and free training to the public.
To find out more about St Andrew’s First Aid please visit: www.firstaid.org.uk
We strongly oppose the decision to restrict #WinterFuelPayment eligibility to only those in receipt of Pension Credit as it means 89% of Scottish pensioners will go without this vital support to stay warm this winter.
Childline delivered more than 8,000 counselling sessions with children in Scotland last year
This included 4,485 counselling sessions with children about their mental and emotional health and wellbeing concerns
This World Mental Health Day, the NSPCC is encouraging children to reach out to Childline for support on any issues
Over half (55%) of all counselling sessions delivered to young people in Scotland by the NSPCC’s Childline service last year were about mental health and wellbeing.
Between April 2023 and March 2024, Childline delivered 4,485 counselling sessions to young people in Scotland about mental and emotional health and wellbeing, equating to approximately 12 sessions a day.
When discussing their mental health, some of the top concerns that were raised were anxiety, stress, low mood, depression and loneliness.
To mark World Mental Health Day (Thursday, October 10th), the NSPCC is highlighting these figures to show the scale of children struggling with their mental health and to remind them that Childline is a safe place where they can seek help and support.
An 11-year-old girl from Scotland who contacted Childline, said: “I feel so lonely at school, I only really have one friend. What’s harder though is I feel I can’t talk about how much it upsets me.
“My parents seem annoyed or judgemental when I try to talk about my feelings. Speaking to Childline feels like a weight has been lifted.”
It is important for children and young people get help with their mental health at an early stage – through schools or in the local community – rather than waiting until they reach crisis point.
That is why the charity is calling on the Scottish Government to ensure communities have the resources they need to be able to support children’s mental health wherever and whenever they need it. This will require investment in specialist care, counselling in schools and support in community settings.
Any child or young person who is struggling can also contact Childline up to the age of 19 and have a confidential conversation with a counsellor over the phone or online, at any time of the day.
Adeniyi Alade, service head of Childline, who is based at Aberdeen Childline, said: “Growing up can be tough at times and our counsellors talk to children and young people every day to support them with their mental health and wellbeing.
“This Mental Health Day we’d like to remind young people that our friendly counsellors are here for them all day, every day, to talk about whatever is worrying them.
“They don’t need to struggle alone. We can help, whether they are feeling anxious, lonely, or depressed.
“At the NSPCC and Childline we also believe that mental health support should be available in all communities across Scotland and are calling on the Scottish government to implement this to reach every pupil who needs help.”
The Childline website also provides support to young people on the advice pages or resources, such as Art Box, which is a space for children to write or draw about their feelings. Children can also use the service’s Calm Zone, an area of the website with lots of tools and mechanisms to help young people cope.
Drawing or writing can be a helpful way for children to process their emotions, as it can enable them to express themselves and make sense of their situation.
One primary school aged girl from Scotland who contacted Childline, said: “I’m so self-conscious of how I look, my personality, what people think about me.
“It makes me feel anxious. I know everyone is different, but I feel different in a bad way. Reading and drawing are my ways to escape.”
With this in mind, Lidl GB in partnership with Crayola is supporting the NSPCC in their mission to be there for every child needing support with their mental health by launching the Crayola Cosmic Creations and Fantastic Fantasy Activity Tube.
The activity tubes – of which £1 per item sold will be donated to Childline – are designed to give children a creative outlet for their emotions using colouring pencils, colouring rolls, foil art posters and stickers, all with vibrant designs.
Charlie Day, CSR Team Manager at Lidl GB, said: “Supporting young people’s mental health matters hugely to our colleagues and customers.
“That’s why at Lidl GB we’re committed to building on the over £9 million we’ve donated to the NSPCC since 2017, however we can.
“We’re delighted to sell activity tubes in Lidl GB stores that provide children with a calming activity and help them to express their feelings.
“Co-created by Crayola and Hunter Price International, the product will raise vital funds for Childline, and with the contact details on-pack, will help ensure young people have somewhere to turn when they’re ready to open up.”
Young people can contact Childline on 0800 1111 or via 1-2-1 chat on:
5,340 people tuned in to the Restart a Heart Live YouTube livestream on Thursday 10th October, smashing the previous GUINNESS WORLD RECORD – 1,500 – for the most views of a CPR Lesson on YouTube in 24 hours.
Restart a Heart Live aimed to train as many people as possible in lifesaving CPR and was pioneered by Lee Myers, a Paramedic Clinical Team Leader at the Scottish Ambulance Service and co-produced with Save a Life for Scotland and Save a Life Cymru. Lee has undertaken in-person CPR training for schools across the Borders and wanted to find a way to make this training accessible to everyone.
Lee said: “I am incredibly proud of the GUINNESS WORLD RECORD achievement, of the entire team behind this concept, but most importantly all the people that we managed to train yesterday.
“Restart a Heart Live has been a tremendous success, and we are grateful for all the support we’ve received. We hope that through this event it’s given people confidence to perform CPR if they witness an out of hospital cardiac arrest. Even if one person survives from someone attending the event, then it has been successful.”
Lee was joined on the day by his twin brother, Liam Myers, Police Scotland Constable, who helped deliver the CPR training.
Liam said: “I am overwhelmed to have been part of a team that has achieved a GUINNESS WORLD RECORD. I believe it is really important to learn CPR as there is no doubt it saves lives.
“The response from the public has been amazing in term of the numbers taking part in the training sessions. I want to thank everyone who tuned in to learn CPR, every little helps when it comes to saving a life.”
Susan Gardner, National Program Manager of the Save a Life for Scotland campaign said: “Restart a Heart has been an amazing event! Working with our local and national partners from across the UK allowed us to highlight the importance of CPR to people right into their homes, workplaces, and schools.
“We need each other to be ready to do CPR if we should ever have to do it. By starting CPR people in Scotland can double or even triple the chances of someone surviving and play an essential part in bringing someone back home to their loved ones.”
Julie Starling, Save a Life Cymru Clinical Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Programme Manager, said: “We are delighted to be a part of this GUINNESS WORLD RECORD and the Restart a Heart Live event. If one life can be saved through this collaboration – that is a mark of success for us.
“It has been a privilege to work alongside our Scottish colleges and other organisations in Wales on this event. CPR is a life skill, and no one should be frightened to give it a go.”
Letters for new eye clinic appointments will begin “landing on doorsteps” in Lothian in two weeks’ time
NHS Lothian said it was making progress with plans for the continued delivery of services normally housed at the Princes Alexandra Eye Pavilion, while the facility is closed for urgent repair work.
It comes after the health board announced two weeks ago that the specialist eye hospital would have to be temporarily vacated for around six months to allow for extensive work.
All appointments scheduled to take place from October 28 are being moved in the interim to other NHS Lothian facilities while the work on the plumbing system is carried out.
Services will be distributed across five locations in NHS Lothian – St John’s Hospital, Livingston, the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, East Lothian Community Hospital and the Lauriston Building which is adjacent to the Eye Pavilion.
Inpatient services and day surgery appointments will be located at St John’s, while referrals for emergency ophthalmology cases will be treated at the Lauriston Building, a major outpatient centre which will also serve as temporary home to many of the Eye Pavilion’s clinics.
Jim Crombie, Deputy Chief Executive, NHS Lothian, said great care was being taken to keep disruption to a minimum, but said there is likely to be some knock-on impact of such a busy facility being relocated.
He added: “We are devising a plan that allows us to vacate the PAEP building during this essential work, while ensuring that patients can continue to be seen and treated throughout.
“So far, we have identified five locations with the necessary clinically appropriate facilities where we can relocate outpatient clinics, however we are still working through the complex logistics this will involve.
“Patient and staff safety are always our chief consideration, and our teams are working hard to minimise disruption. Please be assured, patients will be given the details of their new appointment with updated times and locations as soon as we can, and we expect that to be within the next fortnight. They can expect to receive physical letters or electronic letters on the e-comms portal.
“However, the PAEP was our busiest location for outpatient appointments, with up to 1,600 slots every week, as well as more than 130 inpatient appointments. There is likely to be an impact on waiting times in ophthalmology, but also in other specialties where the new clinics are being relocated.
“Our migration plan has tried to spread the numbers evenly across our facilities and our clinical teams are working to prioritise patients with the most urgent need for treatment soonest.
“I would like to thank our patients for their understanding and patience and our teams at the Eye Pavilion and in other services which will also be affected for their hard work and co-operation. Moving a hospital is a massive logistical exercise and I want to acknowledge that this is a whole system effort that reaches far beyond ophthalmology.”
The extensive work will begin at the end of October and will involve the removal of two waste pipes as well as asbestos material from a sealed cavity where the pipework is located.
Contractors have advised that the work can be carried out more quickly and safely if the building is vacant for the duration.
The vast majority of patients due to be seen at the PAEP between now and Friday October 26are unaffected.
A small number of appointments due to take place before then will also need to be rescheduled in order to begin preparations for the temporary closure of the Eye Pavilion. These patients will be contacted individually by their clinical teams at least two weeks in advance, and do not need to do anything.
Those who already have appointments booked for dates from Monday October 28 will be contacted by letter, text or both in good time to arrange their new appointments, starting with patients who have appointments in the week beginning October 28.
Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart UK
Healthy Heart Tip: Dancing for heart health
Strictly Come Dancing is now back on your screens and regularly being watched by around 10 million people. Dancing is a fun and enjoyable form of exercise that is great for your heart, but only 17% of adults in the UK engage in it.
Whether you’re dancing at home in the kitchen, in a dance class or out with your friends, it is a great way to keep your heart, body and mind healthy.
Dance is an accessible sport that can be cheap and fun to do at your own desired intensity and has an added social benefit of bringing people together.
This healthy tip shares the benefits of dancing for your health:
Heart health benefits
Dancing is an endurance activity that increases your heart rate and improves your cardiovascular fitness.
When carried out regularly it increases your heart’s strength and helps you to maintain a healthy body weight, which supports healthy blood pressure. Dancing is also great for keeping your arteries clear from plaque build-up through increasing your HDL (good) cholesterol levels.
Other health benefits
There are many other benefits to dancing too. The physical benefits include increasing muscle mass, energy, balance and flexibility.
Other health benefits include improvements in mental health such as reducing depression, decreasing anxiety levels and enhancing both sleep and stress.
Recent studies have found an association between dancing and improved brain health through reductions in the risk of dementia.
Socialising
Dancing is a great way to socialise with your friends and family, whilst being able to meet new people.
Why not make an evening of it?
Put on some music and de-stress from life allowing the music to take control.
Salvesen Mindroom Centre, a charity championing all forms of neurodiversity, is marking ADHD Awareness Month by presenting in-depth research on female Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
“The neurodevelopmental condition affects approximately 2-7% of people worldwide but is less likely to be identified, diagnosed and treated in women and girls”, says pioneering global expert on the subject, Lotta Borg Skoglund.
The distinguished Swedish psychiatrist will deliver her findings at the annual Salvesen Lecture in Edinburgh this month (October 30). She believes symptoms are being misinterpreted and that a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms is required to reduce stigma, relieve suffering and improve the lives of females with ADHD.
She will present her inspiring research challenging outdated views on female ADHD and highlight the knowledge gaps in ADHD for women and girls – reflecting the theme of this year’s ADHD Awareness Month “Awareness is the Key!”
Lotta Borg Skoglundsays: “Most of what is known about the challenges of living with a neurodivergent brain comes from research conducted around boys and men. Neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD, ADD and autism are less likely to be diagnosed and treated in females, due to a difference in symptom display, co-occurrence, and societal gender expectations.
“Girls and young women with these conditions mask their difficulties and compensate with energy-consuming strategies. They are not invisible if we know what to ask for and listen to.”
Alan Thornburrow, CEO of Salvesen Mindroom Centre said: “We are dealing year-round with unprecedented levels of people seeking help for neurodivergent conditions, including ADHD. In the Edinburgh region alone, ten adults are being referred for diagnosis every day.
“ADHD Awareness Month provides a vital opportunity to raise the profile of these conditions – and the support available – across wider society. Anyone with undiagnosed ADHD can face significant difficulties in various aspects of their lives yet it can also enormously validate and enable understanding more about how we are “wired”, our inherent strengths and our ability to contribute. That’s why it is so vital to raise awareness to move from a deficit model which is all about what’s difficult or challenging towards a more positive and hopeful message about strengths.
“Lotta is an internationally acknowledged expert in her field and we’re delighted she has agreed to share her expertise. This is an important opportunity to learn about the neuroscience and epidemiology behind female ADHD and to discover how we can address the gaps in knowledge to improve life for women and girls experiencing this condition which can impact lives so significantly.”
A senior consultant physician trained in general medicine and psychiatry, Lotta Borg Skoglund is also an associate professor in psychiatry at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health at Uppsala University and the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet.
The free-to-attend event is being hosted by the Salvesen Mindroom Centre in collaboration with the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre at Edinburgh University, a longstanding partnership that seeks to combine research and practical approaches to improve the lives of neurodivergent people and their families.
In addition to this, research conducted by Salvesen Mindroom Centre also highlighted that, while ADHD comes with its challenges, it may confer certain strengths that make life more enjoyable.
Some individuals with ADHD – male and female -have the ability to achieve intense, immersive, and long-lasting states of concentration when doing things that they particularly enjoy. In the ADHD community, this mental state is known as hyperfocus.
Researchers are only starting to look into the cognitive and neural underpinnings of this phenomenon, but those who have discussed their personal experiences with hyperfocus have emphasised the cognitive energy and boost in creativity that tend to accompany this state.
Many people with ADHD explain that they use these periodic states of intense focus to cope with the demands of modern working life and compensate for their general difficulties with attention.
The Salvesen Lecture is open to the public both in person and online and will be followed by a Q&A moderated by Salvesen Mindroom Centre’s CEO, Alan Thornburrow. It takes place between 6pm and 8pm on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, at The Larch Lecture Theatre, The Nucleus Building, University of Edinburgh.
For more information and to book a place in-person visit:
This Challenge Poverty Week, Public Health Scotland’s CEO, Paul Johnston explains how PHS are advocating for a Scotland where everyone has access to an adequate income to enable a healthy standard of living:
Living in poverty is detrimental to health and one of the main causes of poor health and health inequalities, with negative consequences for children and adults. Policy changes which impact on the drivers of poverty (income from employment, income from social security and the cost of living) have the potential to impact on population health and health inequalities.
Since 2010 a series of changes have been implemented to the UK (reserved) social security system. An intention of The Welfare Reform Act 2012 which triggered these changes was to help people into work and reduce poverty for adults and children, which in turn would lead to improvements in health.
Policies included reduced financial support to low-income families with three or more children and increased conditionality for lone parents. These are families who already have an increased risk of living in poverty.
Since 2013, Public Health in Scotland (PHS) has been monitoring the economic and health trends associated with Welfare Reform. Our latest report Improving Lives? highlights that the anticipated improvements to income and health from Welfare Reform have not been realised for people in Scotland.
Aspects of health have worsened or remained unchanged since 2010 and importantly, many of these trends pre-date the COVID-19 pandemic. These trends were also observed for the rest of the UK. A forthcoming PHS systematic review found that for people exposed to the changes, UK Welfare Reform made mental health worse, and had no positive effect on physical health.
This is concerning, especially as our report shows that population groups most likely to be affected by these changes are the groups who are already more likely to be at risk of or experiencing poverty. We know from 2013 that the relative child poverty rates in Scotland increased after a period of decline.
Evidence also tells us that mental health problems became more prevalent, especially after 2015, while health inequalities have risen. The period also saw stalled improvement or worsening trends in financial insecurity and long-term sickness.
This Challenge Poverty Week, we are advocating for a Scotland where everyone has access to an adequate income to enable a healthy standard of living. This will help to create a Scotland where everybody thrives.
A number of changes are needed to make this happen. These include promoting quality employment which supports good health. Almost 19% of employees in Scotland aged 18-55 are in poor quality work, and most working-age adults and children in poverty live in a household where someone works.
We also need to ensure our social security system protects people’s mental health and wellbeing. This could include an Essentials Guarantee to protect people from hardship, supported by 72% of the population.
During 1997–2010 policy choices by the UK government directed financial support at children and pensioners and as a result poverty fell for both of these groups. This period also saw increased employment rates translate into improved mental health for lone parents. This proves that we can make a difference to people’s lives through social security and employment policies.
In Scotland, child poverty rates are lower than many other UK nations. In Scotland, we are doing things differently to tackle child poverty.
Scotland is delivering a strengthened employment offer to parents, to provide holistic support and address specific barriers to enable more parents to gain and progress in work. This along with focussed action to create a Fair Work Nation, which includes supporting more employers to pay the living wage, provides a platform to build on, to support more parents to escape poverty.
Learning and evidence from past UK policy approaches and Scotland’s actions to tackle child poverty should be used to inform further policy changes to address poverty and improve health.
It is imperative that providing an effective social security safety net for when families need it and creating high quality, flexible employment opportunities for parents, will be central to the UK’s child poverty strategy going forward.
Dementia specialist Admiral Nurses will host clinics at Nationwide’s Edinburgh and Inverness branches to offer tailored support and guidance to anyone affected by the condition
Nationwide and Dementia UK are bringing free face-to-face specialist dementia care to Scotland.
The clinics will be hosted by Dementia UK’s Admiral Nurses in Nationwide’s Edinburgh and Inverness branches to support anyone impacted by dementia, offering life-changing support to families and individuals living with dementia in the area.
Support includes practical and emotional advice on all aspects of dementia – from worries about memory problems and understanding a diagnosis and how the condition can progress to help with financial and legal issues.
Nationwide branches offer a safe, comfortable and private space for families to discuss any aspect of dementia, which aims to help 100,000 people affected by dementia.
As part of the partnership, Nationwide will host 200 pop-up clinics in branches around the UK, and the building society and fund 30 dementia specialist Admiral Nurse posts through Dementia UK.
The clinics form part of Nationwide’s new social impact programme, Fairer Futures, which addresses three of the UK’s biggest social issues through charity partnerships – dementia (Dementia UK), youth homelessness (Centrepoint) and family poverty (Action for Children).
Latest research from Nationwide found that:
One of the main asks of banks and building societies by dementia carers was for a dementia-friendly environment in branches (48%).
Over four in ten (43%) wanted help to better understand care costs and options.
Nearly six in ten (59%) of those caring for someone with dementia were concerned about the impact the disease would have on their finances.
50% of dementia carers are worried by the cost of residential care, with older people (55+) being the most concerned about this. 49% are worried about other costs, such as costs at home.
Sarah Priestley, Admiral Nurse at Dementia UK, said:“We’re looking forward to bringing specialist face-to-face support for people affected by dementia to Edinburgh and Inverness. By partnering with Nationwide, we are able to provide a safe space in towns across the county to ensure our Admiral Nurses are able to reach as many people affected by the condition as possible.
“Dementia is a huge and growing health crisis – someone in the UK develops dementia every three minutes and the condition is the leading cause of death in England and Wales.
“It’s more important than ever that we reach families and individuals affected by dementia and offer one-on-one support from our dementia specialist Admiral Nurses.”
Debbie Crosbie, Chief Executive Officer of Nationwide, said: “Nationwide wants to help people live their best life possible, for as long as possible.
“By working with Dementia UK to fund more Admiral Nurses and turning our branches into dementia clinics, we’re helping to tackle the country’s leading cause of death.
“As a mutual, we work for the good of society as well as our members. We believe this and Nationwide Fairer Futures will change hundreds of thousands of lives for the better.”
