“By far the best course of action for you and your baby is to get both doses of the vaccine”
Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer is urging pregnant women to get the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine to protect them and their baby.
Following a recent study showing evidence of increased hospitalisations, Dr Gregor Smith is encouraging all expectant mothers to discuss the vaccine with their healthcare professionals so they can make a fully informed choice.
The UK Obstetric Service (UKOSS) published research last month which showed the number of pregnant women being admitted to hospital with COVID-19 across the UK is increasing, with many experiencing acute symptoms.
The report also suggests the Delta variant is associated with an increased risk of severe illness among hospitalised pregnant women.
Dr Smith said: “Firstly I want to thank all our healthcare staff for everything they are doing across Scotland not just in relation to the wider vaccination programme but also for their efforts to ensure good outcomes for women, families and babies during the pandemic.
“We have written to heath boards and GPs to ensure they are aware of all the latest evidence-based advice and guidance to enable them to fully discuss the very clear positive benefits of the vaccine with their patients.
“Recent data shows the number of pregnant women being admitted to hospital with COVID-19 has risen, and that is concerning. Evidence suggests that the Delta variant may be associated with an increased risk of severe illness among hospitalised pregnant women.
“We want all pregnant women to have the information they need to make an informed choice, so if you have any concerns or questions, please speak to your midwife, GP, or go along to a drop-in clinic. By far the best course of action for you and your baby is to get both doses of the vaccine.”
Plans to improve health and reduce inequalities for women in Scotland have been published today by the Scottish Government.Women’s Health minister Maree Todd said the plans are an ‘ambitious vision’.
Scotland is the first country in the UK to have a Women’s Health Plan, which outlines ambitious improvement and change in areas including menopause, heart health, menstrual health including endometriosis, and sexual health.
The Women’s Health Plan sets out 66 actions to ensure all women enjoy the best possible healthcare throughout their lives. It takes on board the real life experiences of women who have given their feedback on what is important to them.
Key actions include:
appointing a national Women’s Health Champion and a Women’s Health Lead in every NHS board
establishing a Women’s Health Research Fund to close gaps in scientific and medical knowledge
providing a central platform for women’s health information on NHS Inform
setting up a Women’s Health Community Pharmacy service
commissioning endometriosis research to develop better treatment and management, and a cure
developing a menopause and menstrual health workplace policy, and promoting it across the public, private and Third Sector
improving information and public awareness of heart disease symptoms and risks for women
Women’s Health Minister Maree Todd said: “Our vision for women’s health is an ambitious one – and rightly so. It is clear that wider change must happen to ensure all our health and social care services meet the needs of all women, everywhere.
“Women’s health is not just a women’s issue. When women and girls are supported to lead healthy lives and fulfil their potential, the whole of society benefits.
“Together, we are working to address inequalities in all aspects of health that women are facing. The Women’s Health Plan signals our ambition and determination to see change for women in Scotland, for their health and for their role in society. We want Scotland to be a world leader when it comes to women’s health.”
Head of British Heart Foundation Scotland James Jopling said: “Coronary heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in women in Scotland and kills nearly three times as many as women as breast cancer.
“At every stage – from the moment they experience symptoms through to their cardiac rehabilitation – women with heart disease can face disadvantages. We need to improve understanding of the risks for women and increase their awareness of the symptoms of a heart attack.
“We must also promote equality of treatment for women with heart disease within the healthcare system, at every point in their journey. The publication of the Women’s Health Plan, with heart health as a priority, is a welcome step to tackle these inequalities and we look forward to working together to help save and improve lives.”
Vice President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Dr Pat O’Brien said: “We welcome Scotland’s commitment to this ambitious and detailed plan as a key marker to making improvements to healthcare services for all women from different backgrounds.
“We are pleased to see the Women’s Health Plan adopts an approach to prioritise the health and wellbeing of women throughout every stage of their lives, and ensure they can access care when they need it – something we called for in our Better for Women report.
“It is important that all women are included and consulted about how health services can fit their needs. This Plan has been developed with extensive consultation with a diverse group of women, ensuring that the health service is inclusive and respectful, and can work to focus on closing inequalities in women’s health experience and outcomes.”
Alcohol related deaths highest in 16 years in NHS Lothian
Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said: “My deepest condolences are with the families and friends across Edinburgh and the Lothian’s who have lost a loved one to alcohol.
“SNP Ministers have made it clear by their actions that supporting people with addictions is not a priority for them, which is why the Scottish Conservatives have called for a Right to Rehab across Scotland.
“Drug and alcohol professionals work very hard to support those with addictions, however services have not been properly funded by SNP Ministers.
“SNP cuts to drug and alcohol partnerships have impacted on alcohol recovery services across Scotland. We need a new approach.
“We urgently need to see the focus switch towards sustainable recovery and long term rehabilitation, to support those who are dealing with addiction.”
Public Health Scotland supports retaining the £20 a week uplift to universal credit and working tax credits, brought in by the UK Government in April 2020, to help create a Scotland where everybody thrives.
The social security top-up payment was introduced in April 2020 to help low-income households deal with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is due to expire in October.
The evidence is becoming stronger that increasing the incomes of the poorest, including by increasing means-tested benefits, can help narrow the gap in life expectancy and improve mental health and wellbeing.
All of those families affected claiming working tax credits are already in employment, as are 35% of people claiming universal credit. Another 31% of people claiming universal credit have health problems or caring responsibilities which compromise their ability to secure and retain jobs. Therefore, focusing on getting people into work, in itself, will not be sufficient.
Martin Taulbut, Public Health Intelligence Adviser at Public Health Scotland said:“People with higher incomes are healthier and live longer. Experiencing material hardship can have a profound direct impact on health by affecting our ability to buy the goods and services that support good health and underpin healthy life expectancy.
“The increase in value of universal credit and tax credits has reduced poverty, protecting the physical and mental health of low-income families and supporting working-age adults’ ability to find and keep good work. Decreasing the value of means-tested benefits is likely to result in a decline in the (already poor) health of the unemployed and low-income families, particularly after the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As well as enabling families to live healthier lives now, action taken to improve and protect the health of children from early in life pays dividends for decades. By embedding health and wellbeing into policy decisions across areas of economy, employment and mental health, Scotland has an opportunity to make real progress on national outcomes.”
UNISON will be holding a static lobby outside the Edinburgh City Chambers tomorrow (Tuesday 17th August) from 9.30am to coincide with the meeting of the Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board (EIJB) meeting taking place at 10am.
Although this meeting will not be making a final decision on care home closures, they will be planning to move forward with wider consultation on the issue, with the purpose of coming to a decision at a meeting in September.
It was UNISON’s quick actions that ensured the EIJB did not move forward with the proposed closures at their meeting on 22nd June 2021.
UNISON will be making a deputation to the meeting tomorrow and will be calling for:
the saving of our care homes;
meaningful engagement with the trade unions;
call for proper impact assessments; and
the need to have a wide-ranging meaningful public consultation.
UNISON want care homes to remain run by and for the public and not run by private companies for private profit.
If publicly owned and run care homes are not up to standard, then investment in adaptation, or the building of new care homes must be done to ensure that any demand can be met.
Staff in care home must be paid a decent wage, have access to developmental training and feel secure in their employment.
The lobby outside the City Chambers on Tuesday 17th August is only part of the union’s campaign to ‘Save Our Care Homes’ and UNISON plan to build to a bigger event for the September meeting.
You can sign UNISON’s petition here and click here for a link to a ready-made email to your MSP.
The Another Edinburgh is Possible campaign group is also urging the capital’s citizens to support the fight against care home closures:
‘Join the protest rally outside the City Chambers as the Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board meets on Tuesday 17th August. It’s likely that the board will hold a special meeting in September to make the decision to close 5 out of the 9 local authority care homes in Edinburgh.
‘We want to build a campaign that is so strong that when that meeting takes place the board has no option but to drop its’ closure plans. Three Edinburgh City Councillors sit on the board. We’ve written to the leaders of all five party groups on the council demanding that their group takes a clear and unambiguous public position in opposition to the closures.’
‘Lucky 7’ is the world’s favourite number. There are seven days of the week, seven colours of the rainbow, seven notes on a musical scale, seven seas, seven continents and footballers Ronaldo and Messi favour the number seven shirt.
If you’ve been inspired by the last few weeks of the Olympics, Edinburgh Leisure is inviting lucky non-members to rediscover getting active, by offering a 7-days’ fitness pass for only £7, where you can enjoy all the benefits of their ‘Full Fitness’ membership.
With 12 gyms, 8 swimming pools, and over 800+ fitness classes per week, customers can take advantage of all the benefits of Edinburgh Leisure’s ‘Full Fitness membership at the biggest club in town.
Edinburgh Leisure’s gyms feature some of the latest equipment with on-hand instructors who are happy to show customers ‘the ropes’ and how to use the equipment and have a range of swimming pools from five historic Victorian ‘baths’ to the famous Olympic-sized Royal Commonwealth Pool.
Their range of fitness classes has something for everyone, no matter what your fitness level is, including gym, water-based and virtual sessions, meaning you can work out at a time that suits you.
The 7-days for £7 pass is available to buy online and on the Edinburgh Leisure tablets located in venues from Monday, 16th August until 31st August.
The pass is available for 7 days starting from the day of registration. Other terms and conditions apply.
The Scottish Government are hosting a Public Health ‘Blether’, facilitated by Education Scotland, aimed at staff working in the Early Learning and Childcare sector to support the understanding of new public health guidelines for the sector.
During the session you will have an opportunity to hear from leading public health professionals, who will aim to provide reassurance and an opportunity for those participating to ask questions and share thoughts.
This event will be held on Microsoft Teams and as there are a limited number of spaces. If you are unable to attend the live event, a recording will be made available for you to watch.
When registering, there is an option to pose a question to the Public Health panel, these questions will then be collated and arranged by theme. A representative will present these questions on the audience’s behalf or we may ask you to unmute your mic and ask your question directly.
This is your chance to hear about updated guidance, connect with colleagues and ask public health officials questions
Parents have overwhelmingly backed Scotland’s Baby Box. In an independent evaluation, 97% of parents rated the box and its contents as good.
Around 186,000 Baby Boxes will have been delivered to families by its fourth anniversary on Sunday (15 August). Uptake among expectant parents hit a record high of 98% in 2020.
In the evaluation, parents highlighted benefits of the box, including saving them money on essential items for newborns and helping with information on child health and development.
In the evaluation:
91% parents agreed that getting a baby box had saved them money on items they would otherwise have to buy
84% of parents said they had found the leaflet on safe sleeping useful
60% of parents felt the inclusion of books in the baby box had encouraged them to start reading with their baby earlier – younger, first-time and lower income parents were particularly likely to say this
66% of parents said they found the leaflet on breastfeeding useful and 68% found the leaflet on post-natal depression useful
Children’s Minister Clare Haughey said: “The Baby Box is part of our commitment to making sure that every child, no matter what their circumstances, has the best start in life. I am delighted that so many parents continue to value the box, and that they and their babies are benefitting from it and its contents.
“It is encouraging to see that the positive impacts of the Baby Box are felt right across all families, but particularly among first-time parents, younger parents and families on lower incomes.
“This evaluation really highlights the positive impact it is having on parents and their newborns – a fitting tribute on its fourth birthday.”
Jackie Tolland, from Parent Network Scotland, said: “As a parenting organisation, we were delighted to be part of the launch of the Baby Box in 2017. Since then, we have heard many stories about how helpful and very much-needed the Baby Box has been to families.
“We continue to promote the Baby Box and thank the Scottish Government for keeping parents in mind at the start of their parenting journey. We appreciate all the support.”
‘the reality is that the NHS is really struggling’
Responding to the latest set of performance figures released by NHS England for July 2021, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Katherine Henderson, said: “The NHS has been running hot for months now and these figures show we are nearly at boiling point.
“We are worried that the public think that things are getting back to normal on the virtual eve of a further reduction in restrictions, and messages from the centre that says things are OK are disingenuous – the reality is that the health service is really struggling.
“Four-hour performance has sunk to its lowest ever level, we have levels of 12 hour waits we would usually associate with winter, and July saw the second highest ever number of attendances across emergency care units. Yet there is no sign of rescue ahead of winter. Despite our calls for action, crowding is back with us and is compromising patient care.”
there were 1,431,499 attendances at major Emergency Departments – the second highest on record
67.7% of patients waited less than four hours from arrival to admission, transfer, or discharge in Type 1 EDs – the lowest percentage on record
the number of patients waiting more than four hours after a decision to admit them stood at 89,768 – this is a 30% increase compared to June 2021 (66,619) and is the third highest ever
the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours after a decision to admit them stood at 2,215 – by far the highest July figure on record (second highest is 451 from July 2019).
Dr Henderson said: “The NHS was in a pretty dreadful state going into the pandemic – we were seeing record waits across the board, due to insufficient resourcing – but the sheer determination of an overstretched workforce, combined with a ‘whatever it takes’ approach, got us through.
“The problems that were with us before the pandemic have not gone away. Not only do they remain but are now much worse due to the impact of Covid, as these figures make crystal clear.
“The ambulance service saw thehighest ever number of ambulance callouts for life threatening conditions in July, and we saw ‘trolley waits’ in hospitals go up by 30% on the previous month. This means there have been delays offloading ambulances and patients have experienced long waits to be seen and moved to a bed if they need admission.
“Emergency Departments are very, very busy.
“There has also been a steady rise in Covid presentations and even though numbers are still low all the infection risk concerns remain in hospitals, further depleting capacity. Staff have had no let up and are worried about what the winter will be like if this is where we are in the summer.
“Demand is driven by multiple factors – difficulties accessing primary care, complications of chronic conditions, new presentations of significant illness and waiting list patients with on-going symptoms and no sign of getting their care sorted any time soon.
“NHSE recommends patients to access help via 111 but unless the system is responsive and clinically supported and other options available that advice too often defaults to go to the Emergency Department. Local health systems must ensure adequate urgent care facilities for their communities, letting Emergency Department have capacity to treat the seriously ill and injured.
“The other side of this is problems with supply – we do not have enough staff, beds, or equipment. There is still no plan for social care, which has a huge impact on the NHS. These have been issues for some time, but on top of this is the growing waiting list for elective care, staff absence due to a combination of leave and necessary self-isolation, and an even lower bed capacity due to infection prevention control measures.
“We fear for what winter may hold; we know it will be worse than now but a heavy flu season, another potential Covid surge and an understandable desire not to cancel elective care this winter could cripple us and put patient safety at risk.
“NHS Trusts must do all that they can to wring out every drop of capacity ahead of winter and the Department of Health and Social Care must extend ‘discharge to assess’, which made a significant difference freeing up beds during the pandemic. There has been a sustained rise in the number of patients experience long stays in hospital, and this funding is critical to freeing beds and maintaining flow in hospitals.
“We also need clarity in terms of performance – we are currently in a performance vacuum with Trusts uncertain about what they need to focus on. Implementing some of the metrics proposed by the Clinical Review of Standards is vital ahead of winter. We need to operationalise the metric of a maximum of a 12 hour stay from point of arrival. This will be a small step to reducing exit block, and allow timely ambulance offloads.
“While the NHS rollout of the vaccine has been an incredible success, parliament must not take its eyes off the ball regarding the state of the NHS. This autumn’s spending review – one which has not been put out to consultation – is an opportunity for the government to further signal it’s ‘peace time’ commitment to NHS funding and help prevent the NHS from boiling over this winter.”
The situation in Scotland is also giving cause for alarm. Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs is ‘very concerned’ A&E waiting times aren’t showing signs of improvement.
Miles Briggs MSP said: “NHS Lothian is in desperate need of an injection of funds to alleviate pressure on services.
“Years of chronic underfunding and a global pandemic has left staff on their knees, struggling to meet the increased numbers of patients attending A&E.
“SNP Ministers must take responsibility for allowing the situation to get to this point and immediately fund NHS Lothian properly to start getting services back to normal.”
More than 120 projects across Scotland will share £38 million to support survivors of gender-based violence and focus on prevention.
The Delivering Equally Safe Fund (DES) is a new two-year funding programme to support third sector organisations and public bodies contribute to the objectives, priorities, and outcomes of the Equally Safe strategy.
The Fund includes more than £28 million for frontline services which provide direct support to women and girls, prioritising services that maximise their safety and wellbeing.
The two-year fund has also been increased by an additional £1 million per year to support projects which focus on early intervention and preventative measures.
Funding will be distributed to 121 projects, including Respect, which provides helpline services for perpetrators of domestic abuse, Kingdom Abuse Survivors project and Moray Women’s Aid.
Equalities Minister Christina McKelvie said: “Violence against women and girls is appalling and unacceptable which is why we are funding organisations that are tackling the issue head on, including frontline services that support survivors and get to the root of abusive behaviour.
“These organisations are offering new and innovative ways to aid recovery, encourage education, and increase prevention awareness.
“I am also pleased that we have been able to increase our funding by more than £1 million a year more than our original fund to increase our support to these important initiatives.
“I look forward to seeing the results of the important the work that Equally Safe Fund will deliver.”
Melanie Wood, from Moray Women’s Aid said: “We are delighted to receive funding through the Delivering Equally Safe fund. It will allow us to continue to deliver essential services to vulnerable women, children and young people experiencing domestic abuse when they most needed it.
“The funding will support the work of our Community Outreach Project and the Children and Young Person’s Service.”
