Tag: health and wellbing

Leith MSP Ben Macpherson calls for a walk‑in GP clinic at Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre

Ben Macpherson MSP is urging the Scottish Government to open one of its newly announced walk‑in GP clinics at Ocean Terminal – a location very well placed to meet growing local demand for primary care. He has written to the First Minister and Health Secretary to make the case.

Five months ago, the Scottish Government confirmed plans for 15 new GP‑led walk‑in services, offering same‑day access to healthcare without the need for an appointment. The first clinic opened in February at the Wester Hailes Healthy Living Centre, marking a major step in strengthening primary care across Scotland. It is already delivering tangible benefits on that side of the city. The rest of the initial tranche of 15 walk-in clinics are currently being delivered across Scotland.

Building on this momentum, the First Minister, John Swinney MSP, announced on Saturday 14 March, at the SNP’s party conference that, should the SNP be re-elected in May, a total of 30 walk-in clinics will be delivered across the country, including a second clinic in Edinburgh. 

Ben Macpherson, who has served as Leith’s MSP for a decade, argues that a walk‑in clinic at Ocean Terminal would deliver significant benefits for residents.

The centre has already hosted a successful NHS vaccination clinic for several years, and is very well‑connected by public transport, making it an ideal site for other NHS services, including primary care and a walk-in GP clinic.

This would provide services for local people in Leith and those across Northern and Eastern Edinburgh. Ocean Terminal is also rejuvenating generally, with modern and accessible facilities.

Establishing a GP clinic there would cost less to fit out than creating a new building.

Commenting, Ben Macpherson said: “The SNP Scottish Government’s new GP walk‑in clinics will help make sure people get the care they need at a time that suits them.

“Opening one of these in Ocean Terminal in Leith would be very accessible for a lot of people, ease local pressures on current GP clinics, help meet the demands of population growth in the area, and Lothian more widely, and positively enhance the healthcare facilities on offer in Northern and Eastern Edinburgh.

“I have long advocated for a GP clinic at Ocean Terminal, raising the suggestion in Parliament and writing to the Scottish Government in recent years.

“The existing vaccine clinic has been a clear success, and the site is very well located to host a new NHS facility and GP walk-in clinic. This would meaningfully boost healthcare provision in Leith and for the wider area.”

Ltr – BM to FM – Walk-in GP clinic at Ocean Terminal – 20 March 2025Download

Edinburgh smokers urged to aim for a tobacco-free 2026 to boost health and improve personal finances

ASH Scotland is encouraging people in Edinburgh who smoke to aim for a tobacco-free 2026 to save thousands of pounds and improve their physical and mental wellbeing.

The health charity’s call is part of its campaign encouraging people who smoke to give up using self-determination or access NHS Scotland’s free, expert stop-smoking support service Quit Your Way.

Quitting smoking is one of the most impactful steps a person can take to lower their risk of long-term smoking-related illnesses.

When people decide to make give up smoking as their New Year’s resolution, not only will they find their health can improve within days, but an average smoker can save in the region of £277 by 31 January and £3,332 by the end of the year.

With specialist support from Quit Your Way, people who smoke can access in-person or over the phone advice which can help to make 2026 the year they quit for good.

Sheila Duffy, Chief Executive of ASH Scotland, said: “Tobacco can be highly addictive so, if you’ve tried to quit before and gone back to smoking, don’t be discouraged. Each attempt helps you to understand better what methods work best for you.

“Giving up tobacco is the most important step you can take to improve your health, your finances, and the wellbeing of you and those around you.

“You don’t have to face quitting alone. This New Year, we are encouraging people in Edinburgh who smoke to reach out to NHS Scotland’s national or local Quit Your Way stop-smoking service. With their specialist support, you’ll gain the confidence, tools and motivation you need to have a tobacco-free 2026.”

For tips and resources to help you quit smoking, visit QuitYourWay.Scot or call the Quit Your Way Scotland free helpline on 0800 84 84 84.

NHS: Right Care, Right Place

If you’re looking for health advice this Hogmanay, please read this important information: 📢

The 111 service is very busy today with almost 5000 calls already. This may mean a longer wait than usual for calls to be answered. Some mobile providers disconnect calls due to network capacity demand.

Here’s what you can do to help yourself, save time and help us care for those in the most need first.

💊If your call is related to medicines please visit https://nhs24.info/accessing-medicines

Whether it is prescribed or non-prescribed medication, our guide to accessing medication can save you time. You might not need to call 111.

🤧If you need general advice about seasonal ailments remember we have a lot of information on NHS inform, including a range of symptom checkers which you can use to help you decide what to do next: https://nhs24.info/symptom-checkers

📱The NHS 24 Online app also has handy health advice and can help you source your nearest open healthcare services, including pharmacies. The app is free to download on both iOS and Android devices. https://nhs24.info/NHS-24-Online

✔️By using NHS resources wisely, we can keep well and get the care we need quickly, safely and as close to home as possible.

Find out more about how to access the #RightCareRightPlace:

https://nhs24.info/RightCareRightPlace

If you are using a mobile phone to call please switch to WiFi calling and ensure your device is charged. This should help to prevent your call being disconnected by a network provider.

NHS 24’s staff are working exceptionally hard to answer as many calls as we can, quickly and safely. Please be patient and we will answer. If you can try the above options first, it could save you time. We want to help you get the right care, in the right place. 💙

Boyack slams Government over Eye Pavilion ‘flip-flop’

A meeting organised by Sarah Boyack MSP with the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Michael Matheson, to discuss the delayed Edinburgh Eye Pavilion has left patients and campaigners even more concerned about its future.

At the meeting it was confirmed that all previous work on designing and building the Edinburgh Eye Pavilion will be wasted as a new full business case will have to be written, costing many more millions of pounds.

Michael Matheson also failed to provide clarity on the timescales expected for the new building, confirming it may not even come in this funding cycle.

Commenting Scottish Labour MSP Sarah Boyack said, “This flip flopping has been going on for too long. One minute the Scottish Government are committed to a new Eye Pavilion, next they are not.

“Michael Matheson’s failure to provide clarity today will leave patients worried, confused and angry.

“It did not have to be this way, if it had been built on time we would have saved many millions of pounds and patients would not be left in the dark.”

Also commenting Sylvia Paton, chair of KEEP said, “While Mr Matheson assured us that a new Eye Hospital would be built at some point, we are very disappointed about the lack of clarity over when.

“The prospect of further delays raise serious concerns about the Scottish Government’s future commitment to the project.”

Abortion Rights Scotland marks anniversary of legal abortions in UK

ACTIVISTS marked the anniversary of the enactment of the 1967 Abortion Act, which legalised abortion in Britain, at an event on Lothian Road yesterday.

Also marking the significant date, but for different reasons, were pro-life group SPUC, who held a simultaneous Pro-life Chain event.

Abortion Rights Scotland’s Audrey Brown (above) said: “NHS Scotland has long supported women to make their own choices about pregnancy.

“Abortion care is extremely safe, and in fact is safer than continuing a pregnancy. NHS doctors, nurses and midwives working in abortion care are trained to provide a safe and supportive service.

“The majority of women now choose early medical abortion in the privacy of their own home. Restricting access to abortion won’t stop abortion, it will push it underground and make it less safe.

“We must continue to support free, safe and legal NHS abortion care.”

A number of politicians showed their support at the demo. Among them were Edinburgh East MP Tommy Sheppard.

PICTURES: Craig MacLean

Annual health checks for people with learning disabilities

Health boards are to share £2 million to deliver annual health checks for all people with learning disabilities.

The new service will help to address health inequalities and ensure that people in this group are able to have any health issues identified and treated as quickly as possible.  

Health checks will be delivered in the local community.

Mental Wellbeing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “Unfortunately we know that people with learning disabilities can experience poorer health than the rest of the population.

“Evidence suggests that people in this group are twice as likely to die from preventable illness. This is clearly unacceptable and I hope these annual checks will help to address this and begin to reduce this health inequality.

“Health issues like respiratory disorders, diabetes and thyroid problems can become serious if picked up too late. But if they are detected and treated early there’s a much better chance of a positive outcome and a good quality of life. That is where these annual health checks will be so valuable.”

 Eddie McConnell, Chief Executive of Down’s Syndrome Scotland, said: “This is a really significant moment in the lives of people with learning disabilities and their families. 

“The rollout of the annual health checks across Scotland has the potential to be a game-changer in improving the health outcomes for this community who deserve equal access to good health.  It is no exaggeration to say that a well-implemented annual health check could save lives.”

Community Learning Disability Nurse, Sharon Bandeen, who has an adult son with Down’s Syndrome, said: “The new health checks are a welcome additional layer of good health practice for people with learning disabilities in Scotland. 

“It is so important that everyone living with a learning disability has equal access to the health checks, no matter where they live in Scotland.”

Letters: Ovarian cancer crisis

Dear Editor, 

Women are being failed as the awareness crisis in ovarian cancer deepens. Symptoms of ovarian cancer are being ignored – both by those experiencing them and their GPs.  

This March, for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, Target Ovarian Cancer is urging the public to sign open letters to governments across the UK and tell them what is needed to combat the crisis. We desperately need to make progress in people’s knowledge of the symptoms. 

In 2010 my mother, the actress Marjie Lawrence, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer just three weeks before she died. Had we and her doctors been aware of the symptoms, Marjie might be alive today. If diagnosed at the earliest stage, 9 in 10 women will survive. But two thirds of women are diagnosed late, when the cancer is harder to treat.  

I’m writing to ask your readers to take just two minutes of their time to learn the symptoms and spread the word to their families and friends. The main symptoms of ovarian cancer are: persistent bloating, feeling full or having difficulty eating, tummy pain, and needing to wee more often or more urgently.  

If you believe in a future where every woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer has the best chance of survival, please show your support and add your name to the open letter: campaign.targetovariancancer.org.uk/openletter 

With best wishes, 

SARAH GREENE,

Target Ovarian Cancer Patron 

30 Angel Gate, City Road, London EC1V 2PT  

Target Ovarian Cancer is the UK’s leading ovarian cancer charity. We work to improve early diagnosis, fund life-saving research and provide much-needed support to women with ovarian cancer 

https://targetovariancancer.org.uk  

Letters: Children need our support, says NSPCC Scotland

Dear Editor,

Since April last year, our trained Childline counsellors have delivered more than 73,000 counselling sessions with young people who were struggling with their mental and emotional health. And more than 5,000 of these counselling sessions were with children aged 11 or under, an increase of nearly a third when compared to the year before.

However, as a charity that receives 90% of our income from the public, we know this is something we have not achieved alone, and we are hugely grateful for the dedication and commitment of our supporters, which allow us to continue this work.

One way that the public can support us is through the People’s Postcode Lottery, and since 2018, players have provided crucial funding to the sum of almost £6 million to the NSPCC to help the charity keep children safe and well.

The funds have been used to support our vital services across Scotland. This includes our schools service programme, helping primary school children speak out and stay safe from abuse, and our service centre in Govan, Glasgow, providing therapeutic services to families. And, of course, Childline, which provides free and confidential counselling to children and young people in need of support.

Childline is a lifeline for many children and over the past year thousands of young people have needed it more than ever due to the challenges they have faced during the pandemic. Local lockdowns, school closures, isolation and the impact of being separated from family and friends led many children to get in touch with the service over the phone or online.

The money raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery has been invaluable in helping our frontline staff be here for children during their darkest hours.

Moving forward, as lockdown restrictions continue to ease, it remains vital that children and young people know where they can access help and support.

We can only make a difference for children together, and we simply couldn’t continue to run services like Childline without the public’s support.

To find out more about how you could help us be there for children through fundraising, get in touch at ScotlandFundraisingTeam@nspcc.org.uk

Paul Cockram,

Head of Fundraising for NSPCC Scotland

Bubbles: New support is ‘great news for stressed parents’

Campaigner Rebecca Bell is welcoming the news that the First Minister has told parliament that parents with a baby under the age of one can have assistance with childcare, using a new exemption for indoor visiting.

Rebecca Bell, the mental health spokesperson for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, had launched a petition to allow for ‘bubbles’ for those with newborns, like they have in place in England and Wales.

She was prompted to do so after speaking to her friends with children in Leith, and also during phone canvassing in recent months, she and other volunteers kept hearing how much parents were struggling.

Speaking after the announcement at Parliament, Rebecca said: “We’ve been campaigning for this since last year, so I’m delighted to hear that finally parents with a baby can get some much needed support in their homes.

“This is so vitally important for the mental health and wellbeing of new families, but also for the development of these babies to interact with other people. Most of these children were born during lockdown.

“However, I will continue to stay in touch with those I’ve spoken to, to see if this restriction edit goes far enough. My petition called for a full baby bubble – like families in England have enjoyed since the start of December, and since last month in Wales.

“What the Scottish Government are introducing is not quite the same. As we ease restrictions there may still be a case for allowing bubbles, such as the one we (rightly) offer here to single parents. I believe a bubble is a more stable arrangement for planning childcare in the next few months, so I will be monitoring the success of this policy closely.

“Now we have eclipsed a year into this pandemic, it’s easy to see why fatigue has set in and mental health has been put under strain. Anyone with a newborn is sleep deprived, and around 1 in 10 new mothers experience post-natal depression, and this condition can also affects fathers too, of course.

“Any parent knows that you need lots of energy for it, and just having someone able to come into your house to hold your baby so you can eat some food, or shower can make a huge difference to your wellbeing. That’s why so many I’ve spoken to are really struggling to juggle parenthood and working from home.

“I’m so glad we finally got some movement from the Government on this, I just wish they’d done so sooner.”