“Following further evaluation this morning, The Queen’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision. The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral.”
Price Charles is now with the Queen, who is 96, and other members of the royal family are now travelling to Balmoral.
Edinburgh Labour list MSP Foysol Choudhury has slammed the SNP’s failure to end delayed discharge, after it was revealed that it has cost £82,411,987 in the City of Edinburgh over the last five years.
Statistics revealed by Scottish Labour have shown that the total cost of delayed discharge across Scotland has hit over £1bn over the last eight years.
In total, 325,736 bed days have been lost in Edinburgh due to delayed discharge between 2016/17 and 2020/21 with a total cost of £82,411,987.
Local MSP Foysol Choudhury has said that this is symbolic of SNP failure to deliver on its promises and shows the damage done to public health and finances by SNP incompetence.
He warned this will only get worse if the SNP fail to fix the growing crisis in social care, criticising the Scottish Government’s decision not to give carers a fair pay deal in this year’s budget.
The Edinburgh Labour MSP said: “Never mind the spin and promises, the numbers speak for themselves – SNP incompetence has cost Edinburgh £82,411,987 in delayed discharge alone.
“For years the SNP promised to end this dangerous and costly practice and for years they have failed.
“It is simply unacceptable to have patients left needlessly stranded in hospital and the public purse drained due to poor provision of care for those leaving hospital.
“Things will only get worse if the SNP fail to deal with the crisis in our social care system.
“This makes the SNP’s failure to give carers a fair deal in this budget all the more damaging.
“Ending this costly and dangerous practice must be top of Humza Yousaf’s priority list as we enter the new year.
“This means properly funding social care in Edinburgh and giving staff the real pay rise they so badly deserve.”
Delayed discharge 2016-17 to 2020-21:
| Local authority of residence | Total Bed Days lost | Total Costs |
| Scotland | 2,448,948 | £623,641,618 |
| Aberdeen City | 77,922 | £19,421,606 |
| Aberdeenshire | 74,507 | £18,812,235 |
| Angus | 29,759 | £7,593,790 |
| Argyll & Bute | 37,964 | £9,687,010 |
| City of Edinburgh | 325,736 | £82,411,987 |
| Clackmannanshire | 16,149 | £4,155,811 |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 32,742 | £8,267,394 |
| Dumfries & Galloway | 69,290 | £17,710,667 |
| Dundee City | 52,217 | £13,206,196 |
| East Ayrshire | 23,196 | £5,889,582 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 21,952 | £5,675,305 |
| East Lothian | 41,985 | £10,469,017 |
| East Renfrewshire | 10,978 | £2,805,220 |
| Falkirk | 87,703 | £22,374,280 |
| Fife | 171,809 | £43,936,581 |
| Glasgow City | 202,643 | £52,290,504 |
| Highland | 187,903 | £47,838,848 |
| Inverclyde | 8,444 | £2,139,961 |
| Midlothian | 52,311 | £13,330,822 |
| Moray | 55,017 | £13,953,009 |
| North Ayrshire | 78,324 | £20,076,967 |
| North Lanarkshire | 179,598 | £45,912,014 |
| Orkney | 6,365 | £1,627,198 |
| Other | 2,427 | £612,271 |
| Perth & Kinross | 68,060 | £17,087,463 |
| Renfrewshire | 31,950 | £8,342,877 |
| Scottish Borders | 59,496 | £15,215,448 |
| Shetland | 6,017 | £1,523,845 |
| South Ayrshire | 100,431 | £25,776,248 |
| South Lanarkshire | 194,721 | £49,369,081 |
| Stirling | 36,757 | £9,374,287 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 26,849 | £6,997,222 |
| West Lothian | 77,726 | £19,756,872 |
Dear Letters Editor,
With online pet sales on the increase, Cats Protection would like to warn of the potential risk of buying an ill or diseased kitten.
This year the charity has heard of many kittens that were taken from their mothers at too young an age and sold online for the sake of a quick profit. Kittens should be at least eight weeks old so that they are fully weaned and developing normally from a health and behavioural perspective.
Unsuspecting buyers did not realise that they bought a potentially sick kitten until after purchase which meant they were sometimes left with high veterinary bills, or in some cases, a kitten which tragically died.
Action Fraud also reports that there has been a six-fold increase in instances of kitten and cat fraud (1,146 in 2020/21 compared to just 190 in 2019/20), underlining the need for buyers to be vigilant.
Please visit www.cats.org.uk/eight-weeks for advice on how to purchase a happy and healthy kitten or give a donation to help Cats Protection care for unwanted kittens.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Maggie Roberts
Director of Veterinary Services, Cats Protection
ANOTHER WEEK OF ‘SHOCKING’ A & E FIGURES RECORDED
Lothian MSP Foysol Choudhury has warned that NHS Lothian is in crisis as another week of dismal A&E figures has been recorded.
Statistics published yesterday show that only 64.8 per cent of attendances in NHS Lothian at A&E in the week ending 31st October were seen within four hours.
Scottish Labour MSP Foysol Choudhury said: “Yet another week of shocking statistics showing the reality of SNP mismanagement of our NHS.
“Lothian patients are in dire need of medical help and they are not receiving the swift attention they deserve. These are truly shocking figures that show once again just how out of depth the SNP Health Secretary Humza Yousef is.
“The SNP has left NHS doctors and nurses over-worked, under-staffed and under-resourced – and it is patients who are paying the price.’’
The city council is one of six Scottish local authorities – alongside Scotrail, Blackwood Homes and Care and Borders College – set to benefit from a new Internet of Things (IoT) trial which has the potential to transform the experience of people who live within communities across the country.
The ‘IoT Accelerator Packs’ are being supplied by North, the UK’s leading IoT service and solutions provider.
The innovative packs are set to provide access to real time data insights on waste management, air quality, social housing solutions, building health and water monitoring capabilities. Used in the right way, they have the potential to transform the ways in which local communities live and work and can deliver a wide range of societal and economic benefits.
With access to the Scottish Government-backed national Internet of Things network, IoT Scotland, and funded IoT Accelerator Packs, the organisations involved can investigate and evaluate the power of IoT technology. Scotrail, Blackwood Homes and Care and Borders College are taking part in the innovative trial alongside the following:
Working closely with each organisation, North determined the services which would most benefit from smart solutions.
Comprising of sensors and the back-end services required to deploy the selected pack, the IoT Accelerator Packs are accompanied with professional services to facilitate the rollout. The North team will then evaluate and capture feedback, with deployment and support fully funded by the provider.
Fife Council has selected intelligent waste management technology. This will help to reduce their carbon footprint and operational costs using data to monitor smart bins, which align waste collection frequency with demand, significantly reducing costs and emissions.
Scotrail, Edinburgh City, Angus and East Renfrewshire Council will have the ability to measure air quality within train stations, council buildings or across a busy town centre, measuring and reporting on temperature, humidity and pressure, alongside primary air pollutants, enabling environmental teams to access and collate measurements in real-time more easily and frequently than traditional manual processes.
Similarly, Blackwood Homes and Care will be implementing the use of sensors within its social housing to monitor and improve living environments. This will ensure parameters such as moisture control and ventilation are adequate, providing a healthy living environment for tenants whilst also protecting the fabric of the building.
Borders College will use the technology to monitor levels of CO2 within the working environment across its building. With high levels of CO₂ saturation proven to have a detrimental effect on an occupant’s health, affecting productivity, comfort, absence rates and learning retention.
Aberdeen City Council will implement smart sensors to monitor its water, alongside Highland Council, which has already successfully adopted the smart IoT sensor technology across its schools, care homes, leisure centres and council offices to gather a range of data and insights.
The addition of water monitoring is set to help each of the organisations maximise their water safety, by continuously monitoring and measuring water temperature to identify and reduce the risk of legionella and other bacteria.
Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, Kate Forbes, said: “These innovative accelerator packs have been designed to help organisations explore Internet of Things (IoT) solutions which can deliver sustainable social and economic benefits for local communities.
“Digital technologies like IoT help drive forward our economic recovery while reducing business costs and enabling progress towards net-zero emissions.”
Alasdair Rettie, Group Technical Director at North, said: “IoT technology has the power to truly transform our lives, from revolutionising the ways in which we work, to ensuring that we live in safe and healthy environments. Whilst providing us with the ability to access data which allows us to make informed decisions to improve services across communities.
“We are elated to assist these 10 organisations across Scotland, as they pave the way to use IoT technology to its fullest potential, enhancing their operations and existing systems. From connecting large scale cities to remote communities, the opportunities brought about by the implementation of IoT within our digital connectivity infrastructure are endless, particularly as we work towards Scotland’s social and economic recovery.
“The use of such solutions provides extensive opportunities and a vast number of benefits, and we are pleased to be able to provide these organisations with this opportunity.”
IoT Scotland is the UK’s most advanced IoT network, and it is hoped that through the ‘IoT Accelerator Packs’, local authorities will realise the benefits insightful and actionable IoT data can deliver, driving the adoption of IoT technologies and smart solutions to revolutionise the lives of people throughout Scotland.
Data gathered by these smart solutions will remain the property of the council and all data will be handled in accordance with data protection and GDPR regulations. Councils will have the opportunity to pay to expand and continue the solutions after the initial 12-month period if they so wish.
Councils interested in taking part in the IoT Accelerator Pack programme should get in touch through the following email address: contact@north.tech.
Survey reveals thousands of Scottish pets have gained weight over lockdown
Latest research has revealed that a whopping 160,000 furry friends have gained weight in Scotland since March 2020 – contributing towards a total of 1.4 million pets across the UK who have done so during lockdown.
Vet charity PDSA says that the worrying findings unveil the true extent of what was already a growing pet obesity epidemic, with the pandemic creating a ticking time bomb threatening the lives of pets across the UK.
The study* of more than 4,500 UK pet owners by leading vet charity, PDSA, and YouGov, also found that 84,000 Scottish owners have fed their four-legged friends more human treats since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, adding further fuel to the pet obesity crisis.
More pet owners in Scotland (9 per cent) report that their pet has gained weight since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, compared to the Midlands (5 per cent). However, Scottish pet owners walk their dog significantly more frequently than in England or Wales, with 55 per cent reporting they walk their dog more than once a day, compared to 43 per cent of people living in England, and 36 per cent of owners in Wales.
A couch-potato lifestyle and excessive food consumption over lockdown is having drastic consequences for our pets. And the love we feel for our pets could also be contributing to the problem, as according to UK owners who said their pet was overweight, the most common factors preventing their pet from losing weight were:
PDSA Vet Susan Hermit said: “Worryingly, the detrimental health effects of obesity in our four-legged family members don’t appear to be well-recognised amongst owners. Three in ten (31 per cent) don’t agree that overweight pets are more likely to suffer from serious diseases, and 35 per cent don’t agree that they are less likely to live as long.
“Obesity has been a huge problem among UK pets for a number of years and sadly our PAW Report indicates this is only getting worse. It is one of the biggest long-term health concerns for our pet population, because it is so commonly seen by vets and nurses, with vet professionals estimating that up to half of their pet patients they see each week are overweight**.
“Animals who are overweight have a much greater risk of developing health problems such as arthritis and diabetes – which can have drastic consequences, even shortening their life by up to two years***. We could therefore see this huge obesity problem impact on our pet’s health for years to come.”
Susan adds: “With many owners spending more time at home with their pets since the start of the pandemic, the potential for weight gain due to increased feeding – particularly of treats – was always a concern.
“Unfortunately, we know from previous PAW Reports that some owners struggle to recognise when their pet is overweight or obese and in need of weight loss, which is the first step towards helping them live a longer, happier life. We’ve created a useful free guide to help owners identify if their furry friend is overweight, along with advice on how they can support their pet back to their target weight.
Professor Alex German, Royal Canin Professor of Small Animal Medicine at the University of Liverpool and world-leading expert in cat and dog weight management, adds: “Pet obesity is a growing crisis that is having an impact on the long-term health and happiness of the UK’s pets.
“Both experience and research show that carrying excess weight can have huge health implications, including associations with shorter life expectancy. We all agree that we need to tackle pet obesity urgently, although losing weight can be challenging if you don’t know where to start.
“PDSA’s #WeighUp guide is an invaluable tool to help empower owners to identify the signs of weight gain in their pet in the first place, and also take practical steps to address it.”
Susan concludes: “The good news is that even if your pooch or kitty is in need of a health kick, it’s never too late to help them eat well, exercise and play more, and live longer.
“In most cases, simply adapting their diet, replacing treats with playtime and encouraging them to move more can make a huge difference, and are all the ingredients needed for our pets to maintain a healthy weight, essential for a happy, healthy life.”
For further information about PDSA’s #WeighUp campaign, which is proudly sponsored by Royal Canin, and to download its free guide to help check if your pet is a healthy weight and what to do if not, visit https://pdsa.org.uk/WeighUp.
To celebrate 5 years of Invisible Cities, the team are inviting all supporters, friends, partners and customers to take part in a virtual mile-covering challenge, whilst raising vital funds for their social enterprise
Invisible Cities, the social enterprise operating in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and York, trains people who have previously experienced homelessness to become walking tour guides of their own city.
The social enterprise is now inviting supporters, friends, customers and partners to take part in a virtual mile-covering challenge, to celebrate Invisible Cities turning 5.
From April – July there are 4 legs (one per month) that collectively make-up 500 miles as participants virtually move between Invisible Cities locations. Participants are invited to sign up for one leg, or all 4 and the challenge is to complete the number of miles required for that leg, within the month.
Each leg varies in distance, so there’s something for everyone, from absolute beginners to fitness enthusiasts alike. The challenge can also be enjoyed as individual or in teams of up to 6, to reach the target miles. People can also choose between walking, running, cycling and swimming when it comes to how they decide to cover the mile target.
The purpose of Invisible Cities’ virtual fundraiser is to connect individuals with other like-minded people all over the UK to raise money for those affected by homelessness.
Zakia Moulaoui Guery, Founder & CEO of Invisible Cities said: “After a full year of being stuck indoors, getting outside to exercise is more important for our mental health than ever before.
“As COVID-19 has had a huge impact on homelessness, we thought we’d combine the benefits of outdoor activity with the effort to help support those experiencing homelessness through the pandemic. We really don’t think we could have found a better way to celebrate our 5th birthday!”
To be part of the latest Invisible Cities initiative participants simply need to fill the form which can be found on the social enterprise’s official website, pay the £10 entry (100% of which will support their work to help combat homelessness) and all details for the challenge will then be emailed directly to them.
As part of the initiative, Invisible Cities will also set up a personal Go Fund Me account for all ‘challengers’ to share and collect sponsorship and much-needed encouragement from friends and family, and the team will share fun updates about history and homelessness organisations depending on the point reached on the virtual journey.
They will also receive access to the official Invisible Cities Strava group to track miles and become part of their community as well as receiving virtual updates showing where they are on their journey.
For more information and to register for the virtual miles-covering challenge visit:
https://invisible-cities.org/news/2021/500-miles-5-cities-celebrating-5-years-of-invisible-cities
Millions of British workers are putting themselves and others at risk of Covid-19 due to inadequate sick pay and pressure from their employers, new research shows.
The RSA (royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce) warns that a growing ‘economic security trap’ — the choice workers face between protecting their income and their health — is contributing significantly to the spread of the virus.
Polling carried out between 13 Jan and 15 Jan by Yonder (formerly Populus) of UK workers finds:
The RSA calls for an emergency package to address economic insecurity, including:
Recent RSA research on key workers has found that many staff in key industries report struggling to take time off when unwell, including 29% of those working in social care.
The RSA has a long-running programme of research dedicated to tackling economic insecurity in the UK. Last year the organisation published A Blueprint for Good Work, putting forward practical solutions for providing good work after the pandemic.
Alan Lockey, head of RSA’s future work programme, said: “Our polling shows that millions feel forced to put themselves and others at risk of the virus because of insecure work, pressure from bosses, and the failings of our deeply inadequate welfare state.
“Rishi Sunak must close this ‘economic security trap’ — the terrible trade-off many workers face between their health and putting food on the table — by allowing self-isolating workers to access the furlough scheme, and retaining the £20 per week uplift in universal credit.
“We also need to see help for the millions currently excluded, through no fault of their own – and the self-employed in particular. An ’emergency basic income’ style scheme, using the current tax infrastructure, is the best way to help reach all this group and close the gaps which we believe are helping to increase the infection rate.”
Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, has called for clarity over upcoming NHS Lothian infrastructure projects.
Last month (w/c 14th December) it was announced that the Scottish Government was withdrawing £45 million funding for a new Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion hospital. An initial agreement for the new hospital had already been agreed and a business case submitted in May 2019.
In a Written Answer from the Scottish Government this month, Lothian MSP Miles Briggs, was informed that an Initial Agreement, IA, had been submitted from NHS Lothian for a new Edinburgh Cancer Centre and a decision would be made this month (December) by the Capital Investment Group, CIG, based on the strategic case.
The new Edinburgh Cancer Centre would provide services for Cancer patients across the South East of Scotland.
At the start of this year, prior to Covid-19, it was announced that plans for a new Edinburgh Cancer Centre would be delayed to 2030 from the original planned date of 2025. The Scottish Government committed to investing £20 million in the current Edinburgh Cancer Centre to keep it going until the new Centre is ready.
Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said: “The confusion around new NHS Lothian infrastructure projects is extremely concerning and clarity is urgently needed on what projects are being funded.
“We are in desperate need of a replacement Edinburgh Cancer Centre, which will benefit the whole of the South East of Scotland, and is expected to be another decade before it is ready.
“The wait for routine eye treatments, such as for Glaucoma, are already incredibly long in NHS Lothian and patients deserve better than being short changed by SNP Ministers.
“I will hold SNP Ministers to their word to get these essential projects in NHS Lothian funded.
“SNP Ministers have underfunded NHS Lothian for the last 10 years. We need to see the health board receive their fair share of health funding in the upcoming budget.”
Figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives have shown that 1,219 ambulance journeys between St. John’s hospital Children’s ward and Edinburgh Royal Infirmary took place between September 2016 and August 2020 – an average of 25 journeys a month over the four year period.
In October this year (2020) NHS Lothian announced that St. John’s was reintroducing a 24/7 children’s ward, following years of a reduced service.
An extensive recruitment drive led to the recruitment of two consultants one locum and increased availability of Advanced Paediatric Nurse Practitioners.
Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, previously welcomed the recruitment of doctors and nurses, so that a 24/7 service could resume, but warned that any future recruitment challenges must be dealt with well in advance.
Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said: “I am delighted that 24/7 paediatric services have resumed this year at St. John’s hospital and it is a credit to the people of West Lothian who campaigned tirelessly to get these services reinstated.
“Far too many young patients and families have had to make the twenty miles trip to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary over the last four years .
“It is important that the workforce at St. John’s hospital is properly managed and any recruitment challenges are sorted far in advance so that we don’t go back to a situation where young patients are having to travel into Edinburgh to be taken care of.”
