With winter fast approaching and our hours of daylight getting shorter Brits are being urged to take a supplement of sunshine Vitamin D – especially those north of the border in Scotland. Continue reading Scots urged to top up their Vitamin D as daylight hours drop
A £12.1 million health centre in Edinburgh is set to bring increased health and social care services under a new name. North West Edinburgh Partnership Centre will now be known as Pennywell All Care Centre following a renaming competition at Craigroyston Community High School. Continue reading Partnership Centre no more: it’s now Pennywell All Care Centre!
“Our experience is rich and valuable and we want to be part of the solution” – Sean Fitzharris
Pilton Community Health Project has launched its new report, ‘Hungry for Change’. The report, the result of conversations with local people experiencing food insecurity, was launched at the Old Kirk and Muirhouse Parish Church yesterday. PCHP want the report to be a catalyst for action to alleviate food insecurity for North Edinburgh residents and to tackle the root causes of poverty. Continue reading Health Project launches Hungry for Change report
Consultation on new strategy for a healthier future
The promotion of unhealthy food and drink is to be restricted as part of Scotland’s new diet and obesity strategy, Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell has announced. The news has been enthusiastically welcomed by celebrity chef and food campaigner Jamie Oliver, who said the action is ‘trailblazing’.
Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell was at Tynecastle Stadium yesterday to launch a consultation on ambitious plans to help people lose weight, including:
Ms Campbell said: “Obesity significantly increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cancer cardiovascular disease and depression. Simply put, it’s harming the people of Scotland. It also puts pressure on the NHS, other public services and our economy.
“That is why we need commitment and action from everyone across all sectors and at all levels including government, citizens, the public sector and businesses right across the country.
“We are putting forward a package of bold measures designed to help people make healthier choices, empower personal change and show real leadership. Now we need people who live, work and consume food and drink in Scotland to tell us what they think.
“As with our ground-breaking strategies on alcohol and tobacco, this is the start of a progressive plan of action, learning from our experience in Scotland and further afield, that will make a real, lasting difference to the country’s health.”
The Minister launched the consultation at Tynecastle stadium, where she met participants in the SPFL Trust’s Football Fans in Training (FFIT) weight management programme.
Wattie Buchan, who lost four stone after suffering five heart attacks, said: “I was miserable before. I’ve had five heart attacks, I’ve had a quadruple bypass. My life was terrible. This is the best I’ve felt in four years, I feel better within myself being fitter.
“Twelve weeks ago I could hardly walk. I’ve been doing this for five weeks and now I walk a lot – even my dog has lost weight. It’s totally changed my life around. It’s made a massive difference to how I feel; I feel better mentally as well. It’s like night and day; I am loving it.”
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver said: “This is an amazing step towards making sure the healthiest choice is the easiest choice – for everyone. Today, Scotland has set an example to the rest of the world. It has picked up the baton that Westminster dropped last year. So, now the ball is back in the UK government’s court.
“We need to ensure everyone in Britain has a chance to raise their children in a healthy environment.”
The consultation is now live and will run to 31 January.
Knit for Peace have publish report on the health benefits of knitting. The charity says knitters can also save money for the NHS! Continue reading Knitting is good for you!
Pilton Community Health Project is to launch a new report, Hungry for Change, tomorrow at the Old Kirk and Muirhouse Church on Pennywell Gardens. The report explores how community groups in north Edinburgh have responded to food insecurity in the area. Continue reading Hungry for Change: PCHP to launch new report
A report by clinical experts has recognised NHS Lothian’s commitment to restoring paediatric inpatient services at an NHS Lothian hospital as soon as possible, but warned there was no “quick fix”.
The review, carried out by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), highlighted the dedication of paediatric teams at St John’s Hospital in Livingston and commended the progress being made. It supported the health board’s decision to temporarily suspend inpatient services in order to maintain safe facilities for children and it said the service should only resume once the extra staff are recruited or trained.
Jacquie Campbell, Chief Officer of Acute Services, NHS Lothian, said: “We are working extremely hard to recruit additional senior staff so that we can reinstate 24/7 services at the site and we remain committed to the service. But so far we have been unable to provide sufficient staffing cover to ensure patients receive a safe service overnight.
“We know this is frustrating for patients and families, but the RCPCH has been explicit in their clinical and expert opinion that this decision was the right thing to do.
“Our overarching strategy remains a commitment to St John’s Hospital and the children’s ward and this has been demonstrated by the significant and on-going investment we have made into recruitment.”
The report was carried out after NHS Lothian invited the RCPCH to review progress following their first evaluation of children’s services overall in 2015.
At that time, the RCPCH said that inpatient children’s services should be retained on two sites – St John’s Hospital, Livingston, and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh – and it was recommended that an additional eight consultants were recruited.
The 32 recommendations from the report were taken on board and wide-ranging rounds of recruitment began to help fill the gaps in the rota. However despite extensive campaigns, the required number of posts have not been filled.
The Paediatric Programme Board, which was appointed two years ago to oversee and decide how best to implement the findings of the original report, is now considering the recommendations from the follow-up report.
The RCPCH said that their initial assessment remains the same, but they understand the increasing difficulties in recruitment has caused the current situation.
The report said: “The report reaffirms that for the population of West Lothian the continued provision of inpatient paediatrics is the right model if it can be achieved with sustainable medical staffing.
“This is not a ‘quick fix’ as demonstrated by attempts to recruit paediatricians and advanced children’s nurses. Until sufficient trained medical and nursing staff are available to provide sustainable overnight care, the current daytime only paediatric assessment and decision-making service should be maintained and strengthened.
“Its opening times should be mapped more closely to activity and it should be supported with strengthened community and transport services.”
NHS Lothian is now developing a longer-term strategy to continue to deliver safe and sustainable services, and maintain and strengthen the current provision of the short stay paediatric assessment unit and review the possibility of extending the opening hours.
Ms Campbell added: “We will be looking at these recommendations very carefully in the context of how we can provide patient services safely.
“I would emphasise that parents are not being asked do to anything differently. Most of the children who currently attend the unit will continue to be cared for as normal. They will either be referred by their GP for an urgent medical opinion or attend with a pre-arranged appointment for treatment, assessment, tests or minor day surgery.”
Children will still be assessed and treated in the Emergency Department at St John’s Hospital at night and weekends. A paediatric consultant will be available on-call 24/7. If a child needs to be admitted to hospital a transfer to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, will be arranged. Maternity and neonatal services at the hospital are unaffected.
The full report is can be read here. Continue reading St John’s Hospital children’s services: “no quick fix”
Redhall Walled Garden winter open day
Saturday 16th December 12 – 3pm
More on SAMH Redhall Walled Garden …
Social care staff working ‘sleepover’ hours are to receive a pay increase, Health Secretary Shona Robison has announced. Care workers will now be paid the real Living Wage of £8.45 for sleepover hours, meaning the Living Wage will now be received for all hours worked. Continue reading Pay boost for social care staff: workers guaranteed Living Wage for overnight hours
An apprenticeship programme designed to empower young people who have a disability to have a voice in shaping sporting activity in Scotland receives £49,985 of Young Start funding being awarded today. Disability Sport (SDS) is one of five groups sharing in £206,196 of funding from the Big Lottery Fund’s Young Start programme, thanks to dormant bank and buildings account money. Continue reading Young Start empowers sporting Scots to have their say
