OneFamily customers across Edinburgh have less than one week left to nominate a local community project for a OneFamily Foundation Community Award – giving them the chance to win up to £25,000. Continue reading Nominate now for OneFamily community awards
More than 95% of patients in Scotland’s core accident and emergency departments were seen, admitted or discharged within four hours, latest figures have revealed. Figures published by ISD Scotland show that performance against the target was 95.3%: up from 94.2% the previous week and 94.7% at the same time last year. Edinburgh’s hospitals performed above the national average, with 96.6% of patients being seen within the four hour target. Continue reading Improvement in A & E waiting times
On Tuesday next week M, a local mum and her young family, will lose their home. M and her children are the next family among dozens of local women and children who will find themselves homeless through no fault of their own over the coming weeks – and North Edinburgh groups have joined forces to demand changes to the system. Continue reading Home truths: benefits cuts biting deep
Additional training for GP practice staff
General practice staff will be given additional training to develop their skills thanks to a £2.5 million investment from the Scottish Government. The move is part of plans to develop the skills of the whole practice team, making it easier for patients to access the right person at the right time. Continue reading Just what the doctor ordered?
Extra funding for the Scottish Ambulance Service will help them up-skill paramedics, treat more patients in the community and reduce the numbers requiring hospital admission. A total of £6.3 million Scottish Government funding will support delivery of the Towards 2020: Taking Care to the Patient strategy – focusing on increasing the Service’s capacity for care at home or in the community. Continue reading ‘Win, win’: specialist paramedics to deliver more care in the community
NHS 24 is encouraging people to make their Easter break a sweet success – by pledging to cut down on sugar. Continue reading Make your Easter a sweet success!
Continue reading Scotland’s new national brain injury unit opens its doors
Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary is to run a violence reduction scheme in its emergency department after a successful pilot in Glasgow. The Navigator programme helps patients who have been the victims or perpetrators of violence to make the changes they need to improve their lives. Continue reading Violence reduction programme kicks off at Royal Infirmary
As people’s thoughts turn to celebrating love and romance, NHS 24 is reminding people to have a healthy Valentine’s Day. The national Telehealth and Telecare service is urging people to take some simple steps to avoid passing on any unwanted gifts on the most romantic day of the year. Continue reading Avoid passing on unwanted gifts this Valentine’s Day
Alison Johnstone MSP, Health spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, has urged Scottish Ministers to focus on staffing after figures showed a further drop in the number of patients being seen within four hours of arriving at hospital emergency departments.
The Scottish Government target is that 95 per cent of patients are seen within four hours. Yesterday’s figures show that in December only 92.6 per cent were seen within that time, the latest month-on-month fall from a peak of 95.8 in July.
The Health Secretary says Scotland’s A&E departments are outperforming other areas of the UK.
Alison Johnstone, Health spokesperson for the Scottish Greens and MSP for Lothian, said: “Rather than comparing our hospitals to those south of the border, the Health Secretary should be striving to deliver the kind of health service Scotland wants. The seasonal drop in performance at A&E shows that not enough planning and investment went into the system in advance, and responsibility lies squarely with the Health Secretary.
“Greater effort is needed in recruitment and retention of staff, not just in A&E but in our GP surgeries and in social care, so that we minimise the need to visit and stay in hospital where possible.”
