Health and wellbeing – Page 25 – The NEN

Learn to Swim partnership goes from length to length

A VITAL national swimming framework has celebrated its fifth year, creating the next generation of safe swimmers with over 76,000 children from across the country taking part in weekly lessons.

The National Learn to Swim Framework – a partnership between Scottish Swimming and Scottish Water – has gone from strength to strength since its formation, with programmes back to 88% capacity following pandemic restrictions.

Swim superstars, Olympic medallist Duncan Scott and Paralympic medallist Toni Shaw renewed their ambassadorships of the Framework which is delivered across Scotland by 38 Leisure Trusts and Aquatic Providers in more than 160 pools.

Euan Lowe, CEO of Scottish Swimming said: “Seeing the Learn to Swim Framework reach more children across Scotland is incredible. We’re very lucky in Scotland to have so many excellent local authorities, leisure trusts and aquatic providers working towards the common goal of teaching this vital life skill across the country.

“Through the Framework, we are creating a generation of happy, healthy and active young people and we are delighted that each year more children across the country are getting the opportunity to get into the pool.”

Research into the cognitive benefits of young people who take swimming lessons has shown that they achieve a range of developmental milestones much earlier than those who don’t, regardless of their gender or background.

Children who are members of a swimming club and who compete regularly, develop core competencies – such as target-setting, teamwork and leadership attributes – which can help them greatly in their future careers and lives.

Brian Lironi, Director of Corporate Affairs at Scottish Water, said: “We are delighted that the Learn to Swim programme has bounced back so strongly after the pandemic and continues to go from strength to strength.

“Being able to swim is an essential life skill and the programme gives children the skills and confidence they need to enjoy swimming safely.

“Everyone should be able to enjoy Scotland’s miles of rivers, lochs, reservoirs and shorelines safely and with confidence, and our aim is to work with Scottish Swimming and all the local authorities, leisure trusts and aquatic providers across the country to create ‘Generation Swim’, a generation of safe and competent swimmers, who will also get to experience the wider health and social benefits that swimming can offer.”

Learn to Swim is a National Framework committed to creating supportive and quality environments in which children can learn to swim regardless of their age, ability, or skill level. It aims to develop competent swimmers, as well as encouraging youngsters to adopt a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle with sport and fun at its heart to reach their full potential both in the pool and out.

For more information on the Learn to Swim programme, visit:

https://learntoswim.scot/

Bereaved parents call for action to end preventable sepsis deaths

New report shows 15% of child deaths are related to infection

15% of child deaths are related to infection according to a new report from the National Child Mortality Database
Sepsis is the immune system’s overreaction to an infection, and claims 48,000 lives in the UK each year
Clinical signs of sepsis were reported in over 700 child deaths between April 2019 and March 2022
Parents who have lost their children to sepsis are calling for action to improve patient outcomes
Following a report from the National Child Mortality Database released today, parents who lost their children to sepsis have spoken out about what needs to happen to prevent future child deaths.

Fifteen per cent of child deaths in England over the last three years are related to infection, according to a new report published on 14 December by the University of Bristol’s National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) team.

The report uses the NCMD’s unique data on all child deaths in England to examine 1,507 infection-related deaths between April 2019 and March 2022, with the clinical signs of sepsis reported in 701 child deaths.

UK Sepsis Trust Founder & Joint CEO Dr Ron Daniels, who contributed as a report author, said: “It’s staggering to learn that almost one in every six deaths in children is caused by infection.

“Whilst not every death will ever be preventable, this report clearly highlights that modifiable factors may have saved many of these children’s lives. It’s clear that there is an urgent need to empower parents and carers, to ensure that health professionals listen more closely to families, and to work closely with people from vulnerable communities to design messaging that is relevant and accessible to them.

“Martha’s Rule when implemented will be a hugely important step, but it is one small part of the system wide solution we need to stop avoidable deaths from infection in children.”

UK Sepsis Trust Ambassador Melissa Mead, whose son William died of sepsis on 14th December 2014, and who reviewed the report from the perspective of a bereaved parent said: “For this report to be published on the anniversary of William’s death felt quite poignant.

“It’s a really sad day, if I’m honest, and this is makes for really sobering reading. I’m really disheartened. It feels like William’s life didn’t matter and that the same thing is happening time and time again, and I just feel like no one is listening to us – certainly me as a parent – and it scares me.”

Helen and Daniel Philliskirk lost their 16-month-year-old son James to sepsis in May 2022.

They took him to Sheffield Children’s Hospital on multiple occasions but were dismissed by doctors and told he had chicken pox – but a postmortem examination found that he had developed sepsis after a Strep A infection, with no evidence of chicken pox present.

His parents have given their support to calls for Martha’s Rule, after their own inquest experience found that neglect by the hospital contributed to James’ death.

“Just trust your gut; you know your child best,” said Helen. “I think people would always rather see children and verify that they are healthy or verify that things are OK rather than people be at home worried and things get missed and ultimately lead to very unwell children or sadly, children dying.”

The NCMD report also found that children under one were at greater risk of infection related death than other age groups, but also that risk varied by ethnic and socio-economic background.

Children from an Asian/Asian British or black/black British ethnic background were at higher risk, with children from a Pakistani ethnic background at the highest risk of all.

During their son’s illness, Mohammed Elsiddig and Duaa Siyed Ahmed were repeatedly dismissed by healthcare professionals despite their respective medical qualifications, and their son Yousef died of sepsis on 5th February 2023, just after his first birthday.

They have shared Yousef’s story with the UK Sepsis Trust to help raise awareness of sepsis, while also hoping to reduce the

Duaa said: “Although it’s extremely difficult for us every day, nothing can bring Yousef back but at least we can do something to prevent this from happening to other families.”

Mohamed said: “Our message to the healthcare professionals is please listen to parents because they know their kids better, and please show them respect and empathy.

“Whenever you are dealing with a child with fever please think and ask yourself ‘Could this be sepsis?’ and if you are not so sure please do not feel ashamed to seek senior advice, whether at night or during the day.

“Always follow the national guidelines because it’s very sensitive to detect sepsis. Finally, please pay attention and do not fall into unconscious bias and stereotyping.”

Read the report: ncmd.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Infection-related-deaths-of-children-and-young-people-in-England.pdf

National Deaf Children’s Society welcomes Scottish Government’s response to review of audiology

The Scottish Government has responded to the report and recommendations of the Independent Review of audiology in Scotland, established following the NHS Lothian audiology scandal.

In response to a parliamentary question from Evelyn Tweed, MSP, the Scottish Government has committed to accept all of the recommendations of the review in principle, and to now establish a National Implementation Group to examine how best to implement the recommendations.

The Scottish Government response also stated that “this Implementation Group will be formed with partners from the third sector, as well as the health service, which will allow us to ensure the voices of those with lived experience are front and centre as changes are made.”

The National Deaf Children’s Society has welcomed the Scottish Government’s commitment to accept all of the recommendations, and looks forward to working with Government to ensure the recommendations are swiftly and effectively delivered.

Mark Ballard, Head of Policy and Influencing for Scotland at the National Deaf Children’s Society, said:  “Deaf children and their families will welcome the publication of the Scottish Government response to the Independent Review of Audiology. The review identified multiple, systemic problems within audiology services in NHS Scotland.

“We have called for the Scottish Government to grasp this opportunity for transformative change to make sure audiology is safe and fit for purpose. Parents will be relieved that the Scottish Government has committed to accept all of the review’s recommendations in principle – although we all recognise there is much work to be done to deliver on them.

“The independent review raised significant concerns about how well the results of the specialist tests carried out on children where hearing loss is suspected were being assessed. Issues with the assessment of the results of these tests, known as Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) tests, were identified in every Scottish health board area. So, we’re delighted the Scottish Government has committed to act on the various recommendations made in the review to improve ABR testing.

“However, these concerns were flagged to the Scottish government eight months ago, so it is absolutely vital that we act at pace to deliver these recommendations.

“One of the key findings in the report was that there has been a long term lack of investment and prioritisation of audiology services in Scotland. In order to achieve the shared ambition of making sure audiology services are safe and fit for purpose, appropriate funding will need to be found as part of implementation.

“It is therefore great that the Scottish Government has committed to ensuring that the voices of those with lived experience are front and centre of the new National Implementation Group.

“While we welcome this commitment to implement the recommendations of the review, the we look to the Scottish Government to provide more detail and expand on their current commitments, so that deaf children and their families can be sure that will be no repeat of the NHS Lothian scandal.

“We’ll continue to campaign tirelessly until we’re satisfied plans are in place to ensure hearing services across the country are fully staffed and operating at a consistent quality, with monitoring and data collection in place – all of which are crucial if we’re to fix a broken system.

“We know deaf children can achieve anything that hearing children can when they get the right support, but for this to happen their deafness must be identified at the earliest opportunity. This is why it is vitally important that children always receive high-quality and effective testing and long-term support.”

RCEM: ‘We must not normalise crisis’

‘We must not normalise crisis or celebrate small improvements – our patients and our members deserve more.’ That is the response of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine to the latest A&E performance data.

Yesterday (14 December 2023) two sets of data published by NHS England, have been released: the latest Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) Daily Situation Reports 2023-24 (also known as Winter Sitrep); and monthly A&E performance figures for November 2023.

While there have been some small signs of improvement in certain areas the overall situation remails extremely challenging with A&E departments declaring critical incidents this week, clinicians describing things as the worst they have experienced and ambulance chiefs expressing serious concerns about the pressure their service is under.

The most recent Winter UEC Sitrep data which covers the period 4-10 December 2023 paints a worrying picture with bed occupancy running dangerously high at almost 95% (the level considered ‘safe‘ is 85%) and two-thirds of ambulances not meeting the 15-minute target to hand over patients.

There was a small uplift in the number of beds available within hospitals, but these do not appear to have helped to ease pressure elsewhere in the system, and there remain thousands of patients, who are well enough to go home, but have not been discharged – occupying beds which are needed for other people.

The November performance data reveals that last month more than 144,000 people who visited an A&E within the month were there for more than 12 hours – the target is four hours.

Reacting to these figures, Dr Adrian Boyle, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “While the data suggest a marginal improvement compared to last year, it’s just deja-vu and we must not allow this permacrisis to become accepted as ‘normal’.

“Ambulances are queueing outside A&Es, Trusts are declaring critical incidents, patients are facing dangerously long waits in overcrowded and uncomfortable A&Es. Conditions are intense and difficult for staff, and the experience of patients is distressing and undignified.

“Clinicians are doing their very best, despite the circumstances, to deliver optimal and compassionate care, and mitigate any potential risks to patients but it is taking its toll on them too.

“It is welcome to see small increases in bed numbers, but it is not enough and patients continue to endure long waits.

“Significant and urgent action is required now to address these issues – this is what our members and their patients need and deserve.”

Data in detail:

The latest Urgent and Emergency Care Winter sitrep data for week ending 10 December (week 4 of publication for 2023/24) published today by NHS England show:

Bed occupancy levels at Trusts with a major A&E (Type 1 acute Trust) was 94.9%.
There were 99,497 beds open at Trusts with a major A&E, 1,521 more than the same week last year.
The Government promised that by winter 2023/24 there would be 5,000 more beds open when compared to October 2022 (97,287). For this week, there was an increase of 2,210 Type 1 beds compared with October 2022.
On average, one third of ambulance handovers involved a delay of over 30 minutes, while only one third of patients arriving at A&E were handed over within 15 minutes as per national guidance.
On average, 46,929 patients occupied a bed for more than seven days at a Trust with a major A&E.
On average, 384 beds were general and acute beds were occupied by patients with flu.
On average, 12,927 patients remained in hospital while no longer who were ready to be discharged.
There was an average of 49,020 daily staff absences at Trusts with a major A&E.
This is 7,547 fewer than the same week last year.

Published today (14 December 2023) by NHS England, the latest A&E performance figures for November 2023 show:

There were 1,385,701 attendances to major A&Es (Type 1 EDs) in November 2023.
This is a 1.97% decrease compared with the previous month.
In November 2023, 144,085 patients waited 12-hours or more from their time of arrival. This accounts for 10.9% of all major A&E attendances in November. This means that more than one in 10 patients waited 12-hours or more.
The four-hour target at major A&Es stood at 55.4%, this is the fourth worst four-hour performance on record and the lowest so far in 2023.The aggregate four-hour target stood at 69.7%, the lowest so far in 2023. This is 6.3 percentage points lower than the Government’s intermediary threshold target of 76% to be hit by March 2024.
42,854 patients waited 12 hours or more from decision to admit (DTA) to admission. This is a 4% decrease when compared to the previous month. It is a 13.2% increase when compared with November 2022.
Beds data for October 2023 show bed occupancy stood at 94.8%.
Data show there were 98,844 Type 1 General & Acute beds available.  This is an increase of 1,473 beds from October 2023 (97,371). And an increase of 1,636 beds from November 2022 (97,208).
Since it was announced in January 2023 that 5,000 new beds would be made available by winter 2023/24 compared with October 2022 (when there was 97,287 beds available), there has been an increase of 1,557 beds.
There were 396,755 emergency admissions at major A&Es. This is a 1.19% decrease since the previous month (401,523). This is the second highest number of admissions so far in 2023.

Rosewell’s Eva crowned Christmas card champion at Barratt’s festive lights switch on

Pupils at a Midlothian primary school have been letting their creativity shine by creating their very own Christmas card designs as part of Barratt Developments’ festive competition.

Barratt Developments Scotland – which includes Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes – invited pupils from Rosewell Primary School to try their hand at designing their very own festive cards, with the winning design being transformed into a physical pack to be given to residents at the housebuilder’s sites.

After judging more than 20 entries, Eva Hall from Primary 6 was crowned champion of the festive design competition, winning a £50 Smyths voucher in the process. The 10-year-old’s design depicts a snowy Christmas Eve sky with Santa’s sleigh flying over rooftops.

To mark her win, Eva and her fellow pupils who took part in the competition were invited to switch on the Christmas tree lights at David Wilson Homes’ Rosewell Meadow development on Thursday 7^th December.

All budding artists were awarded a chocolate selection box for their efforts, with Eva doing the honours and switching on the lights.

Shona Richardson, Headteacher at Rosewell Primary School, said: “The pupils were very excited to be asked to take part in the Christmas Card competition.

“We have a number of creative and imaginative pupils at Rosewell so this was right up their street. Some even gave up their lunch breaks to join a ‘Christmas Card Art Club’. It was so popular that we had to bring in extra tables and chairs. It was a hive of festive activity!”

Neil Hanna www.neilhannaphotography.co.uk 07702 246823

Anne Ross, Sales Director at Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes East Scotland, said: “We were extremely impressed by the designs Eva and her schoolmates created.

“Not only did they capture the joy and fun of Christmas time, but you could also see how much time and effort each pupil put into their work.

“We hope our small events bring a bit of festive sparkle to the communities we are building within East Scotland.”

For more information on David Wilson Homes in Scotland, visit:

www.dwh.co.uk/new-homes/scotland/edinburgh/

HOMELESSNESS IN EDINBURGH: Charity CEO calls for urgent support in the run up to Christmas

Simon Community Scotland (SCS) figures show 38 people currently sleeping rough in Edinburgh each night
The charity handles over 500 requests for support at their Edinburgh hub each week
12 women are currently living in emergency accommodation
SCS urgently needs to raise £200,000 to help them provide safe places and support to people experiencing homelessness

Almost forty people could be sleeping rough across Edinburgh in the run up to Christmas according to Scotland’s largest provider of homeless support services, Simon Community Scotland (SCS).

The charity, known as Streetwork at Simon Community Scotland in Edinburgh, is currently responding to over 500 support requests per week at their Edinburgh Hub, which is open every day.

In Edinburgh, the charity is also supporting a dozen women who are experiencing homelessness by providing emergency accommodation. Around 30 people are currently in Simon Community Homes, and many more are supported through outreach services.

Simon Community’s emergency winter appeal ‘A Safe Place’ is aiming to raise £200,000 this year with funds directed straight to people being supported through their Holyrood Road Hub, SCS Homes, Streetreads Library, Outreach and Accommodation Services and Street Team.

Following the announcement that Edinburgh is now facing a housing emergency, and amid ongoing cost of living challenges, Simon Community Scotland has written an open letter to businesses around Edinburgh calling for support.

Lorraine McGrath, Chief Executive at Simon Community Scotland, said: “This week alone we are providing safe places and support to well over 500 people who find themselves homeless in Edinburgh. People who are tired, cold, on the streets or in temporary accommodation.

“The winter months are particularly hard and we’re doing all we can to help. But we need support from businesses across Edinburgh to allow us to keep people safe and supported this winter, through Christmas and beyond.

“We urgently need donations to our emergency winter appeal to cope with an increasing demand for our services. From employee fundraising, volunteering and charity partnerships, we’re keen to work with as many local businesses as possible.

“Scotland’s housing crisis is a problem which won’t be solved overnight. Our Street Teams and hub staff are on the frontline, delivering support to as many people as possible. We have seen an increase in the number of people sleeping rough and visiting our hubs. We urgently need support to help provide safe places and support and we promise that all donations will be put to immediate use.”

According to Scottish Government figures, Edinburgh saw an additional 723 homeless households between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023.

As of 31 March 2023, over 15,000 households were living in temporary accommodation in Scotland – 46% more than a decade before.

Edinburgh MSPs unite to demand funding for new Edinburgh Eye Pavilion Hospital

A cross-party group of Edinburgh MSPs have come together to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Michael Matheson, highlighting the urgent need to fund a new Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh.

MSPs representing Scottish Labour, Scottish Conservatives, the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Alba, and the Scottish National Party have all co-signed the letter, in the run up to the capital spending allocation.

This letter reflects the strength of feeling of residents, right across Edinburgh towards the need for a new Eye Hospital in the city.

MSPs request Michael Matheson set out a clear timetable for the construction of a new Edinburgh Eye Hospital, after the current Eye Pavilion was declared not fit for purpose in 2014.

The MSPs have also called on Michael Matheson to consult with patients, visual impairment charities and elected representatives to achieve the best outcomes possible for Edinburgh and Lothian Residents.

The joint-letter follows a meeting of Edinburgh MSPs, Sight Scotland, Visibility Scotland and RNIB, at the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 30^th November, to discuss the situation in the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion.

During the meeting, MSPs heard moving testimonies from patients and staff about the dire state of current facilities and why a new hospital is so vital going forward.

All parties involved emphasised that continuing to rely on the current Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion is not sustainable and will lead to deteriorating outcomes for patients and staff.

The MSPs who signed the joint letter are Sarah Boyack, Daniel Johnson, Foysol Choudhury, Miles Briggs, Jeremy Balfour, Ben Macpherson, Sue Webber, Alex Cole-Hamilton and Ash Regan.

The MSPs in attendance at the breakfast briefing were Sarah Boyack, Daniel Johnson, Miles Briggs, Ben Macpherson, Sue Webber. Alison Johnstone and Jeremy Balfour sent staff members, as they had previous engagements.

Commenting on the letter, Sarah Boyack said: “I am glad that MSPs across Edinburgh were able to come together to campaign for such a vital project.

“None of our constituents deserve to be relying on facilities that have been designated not fit for purpose, for over a decade.

“Michael Matheson needs to take note of the strength of feeling for this project – delivering the new Eye Pavilion is a priority for Edinburgh Residents

“As Edinburgh MSPs, we will continue to work together to ensure the best outcome for our constituents, and the city.”

Lothian-Joint-Letter-regarding-Edinburgh-Eye-Pavilion Download

Tackling violence against women and girls

Equally Safe strategy refreshed

A national strategy to prevent and address all forms of violence against women and girls has been renewed to build on recent progress.

Equally Safe, a joint strategy with COSLA, was first published in 2014, and is backed by the Delivering Equally Safe Fund that is providing £19m per year to support 121 projects from 112 organisations.

One significant milestone reached, supported by the strategy’s aims, saw the Domestic Abuse Act passed by Parliament in 2018, which created a specific offence of domestic abuse that covers physical and psychological abuse as well as coercive and controlling behaviour.

Published today during 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence, the refreshed strategy is focussed on increasing collaboration across sectors to tackle the attitudes and values that result in violence against women and girls.

A delivery strategy will be published next Spring and will set out further actions to achieve that goal.

Victims Minister Siobhian Brown said: “Violence against women and girls has no place in our society. The impact of violence is wide-ranging and can have a long-term lasting effect on the lives of those affected, their families and communities.

“This refreshed strategy builds on progress made to date in raising awareness of the prevalence and harmful effects of violence against women and girls, strengthening the law, and providing support and resources to public and third sector workers helping those affected.

“Our Delivering Equally Safe Fund focusses on early intervention and prevention, as well as support services and I am pleased that around 32,000 adults and children benefitted last year.

“There remains work to do and sustained action is needed. That is why our future vision focuses on finding opportunities to work collaboratively and constructively whenever possible to stamp out violence wherever we see it and preventing it happening in the first place.”

COSLA’s Community Wellbeing Spokesperson, Councillor Maureen Chalmers said: “For nearly a decade, COSLA and the Scottish Government have worked in partnership to eradicate violence, abuse and exploitation of women and girls from Scotland.

“Our collaborative efforts have been undertaken with specialist services, public sector organisations, and local authorities. These have propelled us forward in building a more equal and safer Scotland for everyone.

“These firm foundations have allowed us to refresh the Equally Safe Strategy. It emphasises the importance of prevention, collaborative leadership, and reaffirms the unwavering commitment from both local and Scottish governments to achieve our shared goals.”

The refreshed Equally Safe strategy

Karen Henderson Legacy Fund for Make 2nds Count: £66,900 raised over just two years of support

Make 2nds Count, a pioneering charity focusing on secondary breast cancer is thrilled to announce that The Karen Henderson Legacy Fund has surpassed a monumental fundraising milestone on their behalf, accumulating an impressive total of £66,900 over the course of two years.

The fund was established by Make 2nds Count and Karen’s family in honour of Karen Henderson, who tragically passed away from Secondary Breast Cancer. This incredible fundraising endeavour not only commemorates Karen’s legacy but also serves as a beacon of hope for Secondary Breast Cancer patients across the UK.

Alistair Henderson, Karen’s husband expressed his gratitude, saying, “It is fantastic to think that through The Karen Henderson Legacy Fund, Karen continues to inspire so many people to help make life just that little bit better and happier for Secondary Breast Cancer patients across the UK.

“Karen was a great fundraiser for Make 2nds Count, and we are sure she would be delighted that her great fundraising work continues on in this way. Particularly when we see the lovely feedback from the recipients of our funded initiatives.”

The funds were raised through various activities organised by the Karen Henderson Legacy Fund itself or by friends and supporters, including multiple groups taking on the Edinburgh Kiltwalk, fashion shows at Restoration Yard in Dalkeith Country Park featuring luxury raffles, a successful ladies’ night event at the Sun Inn in Dalkeith, marathon and half marathons ran, charity sales, concerts and notably, the 500 miles challenge, all of which contributed significantly to this achievement.

This money has played a pivotal role in funding vital support services provided by Make 2nds Count, such as the Tea and a Chat program in Edinburgh, Birdsong yoga, and providing meaningful gifts for retreats aimed at supporting patients.

Alistair Henderson continued: “To reach and exceed the £60,000 figure in funds raised in just over 2 years is a fantastic achievement and very much adds to Karen’s lasting legacy.

“Karen’s Legacy Fund greatly appreciates the efforts of everyone who has contributed to making this happen, and we very much hope that we can continue the good work of Karen’s Legacy Fund as we move into 2024. Thank You.”

Make 2nds Count extends its heartfelt gratitude to The Karen Henderson Legacy Fund and all contributors for their unwavering support in making a profound difference in the lives of those affected by Secondary Breast Cancer.

For more information about Make 2nds Count and The Karen Henderson Legacy Fund, please visit https://make2ndscount.co.uk/get-involved/khlf/

People eligible for winter vaccines urged to top up protection ahead of festive period

NHS Lothian is urging those who have not yet had their flu and/or COVID-19 vaccines to top up their protection ahead of the festive period, with maximum protection taking around 10 days following vaccination.

Last winter in Scotland, hospital admissions for flu and COVID-19 peaked on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day respectively.

Those who are most at risk from flu and COVID-19 are being invited for vaccination this winter. That includes people who are older, are pregnant, have an underlying health condition, provide vital face-to-face care for someone or who work in certain roles.

People can check which vaccinations they are eligible for, book online or rearrange an appointment by visiting NHS Inform or calling 0800 030 8013.

You can also drop-in to a clinic of your choice across Lothian, including Waverley Mall, The Gyle and Ocean Terminal, open 9am to 7pm seven days a week. More clinic details are available at NHS Lothian, including arrangements for school children and clinics for pre-schoolers.

Pat Wynne, Nurse Director for Primary and Community Care, NHS Lothian, said: “As people socialise with family and friends over the festive period, the chances of catching viruses increase. Getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself and those around you from flu and COVID-19.

“We expect another challenging winter for the NHS, and getting vaccinated can also help to alleviate pressures on the system and keep our staff well.

“The flu virus is always changing and protection from the COVID-19 vaccine fades over time, so it’s important that those eligible keep their protection levels topped up by getting their vaccines now.

“To help make it as easy as possible for you to get your vaccine(s), you can drop-in to a number of clinics or book an appointment if preferable.”