Tag: Health and wellbeing

Two and a half hours of exercise a week? That’s a step too far for many

  • 1 in 5 Brits don’t think 150 minutes of exercise a week is realistic;
  • Not having enough time, the weather and work are top reasons for not moving more; 
  • A fifth of young people don’t exercise because they don’t want to break a sweat;
  • Left holding the baby: women are more likely to be less active because of childcare commitments;
  • A third of adults in England walk for less than 10 minutes during an entire week. In Scotland, 31 per cent of adults haven’t walked as a means of transport once in the last weekend 30 per cent of adults in Wales haven’t walked as transport for at least five minutes once a week.
  • Living Streets is urging people to #Try20 and walk for 20 minutes a day throughout National Walking Month this May

One in five people in the UK don’t think it’s realistic to do 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week, according to new data released today by charity Living Streets to mark the start of National Walking Month. Continue reading Two and a half hours of exercise a week? That’s a step too far for many

Heart patients to benefit from £400,000 BHF grant for state-of-the-art scanning

Cardiology patients and researchers will benefit from state-of-the-art MRI scanning facilities in Edinburgh thanks to a £400,000 grant from the British Heart Foundation (BHF). Continue reading Heart patients to benefit from £400,000 BHF grant for state-of-the-art scanning

David Hay kicks off national Walking Football tournament

The second national league tournament organised by Walking Football Scotland in partnership with North Lanarkshire Leisure and Health & Social Care North Lanarkshire commenced on Wednesday 25 April at the excellent Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility (writes JOHN HISLOP). Continue reading David Hay kicks off national Walking Football tournament

New figures highlight ‘major concern’ as more EU nurses leave the UK

New figures from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) show a significant rise in the number of EU nurses and midwives leaving the register. Between April 2017 and March 2018, 3,962 people left – an increase of 29 percent. Continue reading New figures highlight ‘major concern’ as more EU nurses leave the UK

Young people take on mental health

Commission to research services for young people

A team of young people are aiming to improve mental health services by leading a study, commissioned by the Scottish Government, drawing on their own experiences. The 22 members of the Youth Commission on Mental Health Services begin work this week to reshape the support available, in a partnership between the Scottish Government, Young Scot and the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH). Continue reading Young people take on mental health

Over the Wall

“The hospital fixes the hole in the child, but camp fixes the whole child” – a camper’s parent

Each summer, children and families from Edinburgh and Lothians who are affected by serious illness get a chance to attend one of Over The Wall’s free Therapeutic Activity camps. These camps help to rebuild some of what is lost to childhood illness, thanks to monumental efforts from groups of talented and highly skilled volunteers. Children aged 8 – 17 spend a week where they can kick back, relax, and simply be themselves. Continue reading Over the Wall

Local Cleft Palate Clinics closed despite SNP government promises

When Health Secretary Shona Robison announced in 2016 the closure of the East of Scotland cleft surgery unit in Edinburgh – which Lothian MSP Miles Briggs and parents campaigned hard against – she reassured people that “local outreach clinics, will continue to be delivered locally as they are now, across Scotland.”   https://news.gov.scot/news/cleft-surgery-recommendation

A Written Answer (see below) shows that in two areas local clinics stopped altogether in 2017 with no indication of when they might start again. This means extra travelling and inconvenience for families, as well as having limited dates when they can be seen.

There has been a reduction in the number of Multi-Disciplinary Clinics (MDC) in Edinburgh, with only fortnightly appointments available.

The service is also still short of the third surgeon that it needs.

Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs MSP said: “It is very apparent that the SNP Ministers decision to centralise the Cleft Palate Service has been a disaster.

“The families of babies and young people who require the service are the ones losing with an inferior service being provided.

“I am particularly concerned that parents are being forced to travel so far for appointments, often having to make longer journeys than the recommended limit for new born babies.”

Evonne McLatchie, lead campaigner to save the Edinburgh cleft unit, comments: “Parents in the East are angry but not the least surprised as the promises Ms Robison made were as predicted not worth the paper they were printed on.

“Many families in the East don’t even have correct contact details and it is parents that are driving patient reviews and consultations for their children having to resort to asking questions on Facebook to get answers for their concerns and then chasing up appointments.

“Shona Robison stated repeatedly that centralisation would improve care, especially if a surgeon was off- that has yet to be proven!

“The majority of parents are afraid to voice concerns as they have to work with the service for perhaps the next 20 years and despite assurances that any complaint won’t affect care they simply don’t want to risk it.”

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Hearing the voice of older people

“They never listen to the auld folk, son. We’re invisible.”

Earlier this month eighty older people from groups spread across the community got together in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre for a day of conversation, activities and entertainment. Continue reading Hearing the voice of older people