Homeothapy no more for NHS Lothian

NHS Lothian will cease to provide homeopathic services following a meeting of NHS Lothian’s board on 26 June. The decision followed recommendations made by the Healthcare Governance Committee and is in line with the recent survey results of the homeopathy public consultation.

The consultation and survey, led by the Midlothian Community Health Partnership, asked whether NHS Lothian should pay for homeopathic services in Lothian. The survey results showed that 72 per cent of all those who responded were against the service continuing to be funded by NHS Lothian with 27 per cent in favour of the status quo and 1 per cent undecided. The results also showed that people who lived in the NHS Lothian health board area responded similarly, with more than 74 per cent against the health board continuing to pay for homeopathy and approximately 25 per cent in favour.

Professor Alex McMahon, Director of Strategic Planning, Performance Reporting and Information, NHS Lothian said: “We have consulted the public and listened to their views and the survey results are clear in showing that the majority of people who took part are against us continuing to provide homeopathic services. The majority of respondents cited lack of evidence for homeopathy and supported investing the funds currently spent on this service into other proven healthcare services.”

In total there were 3,720 responses to the questionnaire, which include 3,350 electronic and 367 paper responses.

There are approximately 200 new referrals each year to the homeopathy service with 1300-1500 return appointments. Approximately 20 new referrals are received per annum from other health boards.

The initial report detailing the consultation process and survey results is available at:

http://www.nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk/OurOrganisation/Consultations/Past/Homeopathy/Documents/NHSLothianHomeopathyConsultationReport.pdf

It provides a breakdown of returns both online and paper copies as well as by Lothian residents, non Lothian residents and those who chose not to indicate where they lived.

Edinburgh College students guaranteed NHS employment

Edinburgh College Health and Social Care students will soon be guaranteed employment on successful completion of their course, thanks to a new partnership with NHS Lothian.

The NHS NC in Health and Social Care will be delivered at Edinburgh College, where students will learn a high standard of care to be job-ready for employment in the NHS and social care sectors.

The ground-breaking course is the first of its kind at the College to offer a guaranteed position for graduates who successfully complete the course, giving them a head start in the Health and Social Care industry. Course topics will include psychology and sociology as well as mental health, health promotion and understanding older people.

Mandy Exley, Edinburgh College Principal, says: “This course is yet another example of Edinburgh College’s commitment to producing students who, on completion of their studies, are well trained and highly employable. We are pleased to be working in partnership with NHS Lothian in training the healthcare professionals of the future.”

Melanie Hornett, Nurse Director, NHS Lothian, said: “We are committed to working with communities to support local people into employment. This innovative partnership provides individuals with the opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills needed to compassionately care for the people of Lothian in our hospitals and communities.”

To apply for the course, applicants must have a minimum of four passes at SCQF Level 5 (SVQ2, Intermediate 2 or Credit Standard grade) including English. Adults without formal qualifications will also be considered however they will need to demonstrate their ability to work at Higher Level.

Students who complete the course successfully and have a satisfactory college reference are guaranteed entry level employment within NHS Lothian, as long as they meet the essential criteria of the post.

For further course information, please visit www.edinburghcollege.ac.uk.

19/06/2013

NHS Lothian urges parents to protect their children from MMR

NHS Lothian has written to the parents of all children and young people aged between 10 and 17 in Lothian who are not fully protected against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) to invite them to bring their child for vaccination.

Health records show that, across Lothian, around 9,000 children and young people in this age group have not started or completed the MMR vaccination. Two doses of the vaccine are required to provide full protection. NHS Lothian is running a catch up campaign for this age group following the recent outbreak of measles in Wales and England.

Lothian traditionally has very high rates of uptake for the vaccine which is usually given as part of the childhood vaccination schedule. However, uptake rates amongst 10 to 17 year olds in some parts of Lothian have been lower.

Measles is a very infectious virus that causes a fever, cough and rash but can also cause serious problems including blindness and encephalitis (swelling of the brain).

Letters have been sent to parents this week inviting them to make an appointment for their child at their GP surgery to receive the vaccination.

Professor Alison McCallum, the Director of Public Health and Health Policy at NHS Lothian, said: “Measles, mumps, and rubella are preventable by two doses of the MMR vaccine. I would encourage parents and young people to take up this invitation and ensure that all children and young people are fully protected from these three diseases.”

For more information visit NHS Inform (www.nhsinform.co.uk) or speak to your GP.

Free stress control sessions at Royal High School

Hospitals to become smoke-free

NHS grounds to be completely smoke-free by 2015 under new Scottish Government plans

In a move to promote smoke-free environments and healthier lifestyles, patients, visitors and staff will no longer be able to smoke on NHS sites. Under the plans, people who smoke will be offered advice and support to help them not to smoke during hospital visits as well as access to specialist smoking cessation services for those wanting to quit. NHS Boards will be required to implement and enforce smoke-free policies across their grounds by March 2015.

Health Secretary Mr Alex Neil (pictured below) said: “This Government has ambitious plans to reduce the number of people choosing to smoke. To this end, we want to build on the ban on smoking in public places, which was introduced seven years ago this week, by ensuring that our hospital grounds become smoke-free.

“We know that smoking is extremely harmful to health and causes in excess of 13,000 deaths per year in Scotland. The toll of smoking on our nation’s health cannot be underestimated. Creating smoke-free hospital grounds sends out a powerful message that every visit to our health service is an opportunity to promote and improve people’s health.

“We all know how unpleasant it can be to walk through a cloud of smoke in order to enter or leave a building. These measures will help to ensure that we create a healthier environment for people who use, visit and work in our health service. That is why we believe staff, patients and visitors will support and respect this decision and refrain from smoking until off-site.”

In 2005 the Scottish Government issued guidance on smoking policies for the NHS, local authorities and care providers which gave NHS boards the power to ban smoking on their premises. The new measures will not apply to mental health facilities, which have an exemption to allow the provision of designated smoking rooms under the original smoke-free legislation.

Spring into a healthy Easter!

People living across the Lothians are being encouraged to put a “spring” in their step this Easter by preparing ahead for the holiday period.

The NHS Scotland Be Ready for Easter campaign is advising people to take a few simple steps to look after their health. By making sure they have a supply of over the counter medicines , knowing when their GP surgery is open and checking their repeat prescriptions, they can ensure they make the most of the Easter holiday weekend.

This year many GP surgeries across Scotland will be closed for up to four days from Good Friday (March 29) to Easter Monday (April 1).

NHS 24 Medical Director Professor George Crooks said: “After winter, Easter is the busiest time of year for Scotland’s health services. The Be Ready for Easter campaign wants to remind people of the small steps they can take to ensure illness doesn’t ruin their Easter.

“Being prepared by having enough repeat medication to cover you and having some simple home remedies available can make all the difference if illness strikes. It is also important to plan ahead for any required repeat prescriptions over the Easter break, so please order and collect in good time. We would also remind people of the wide range of health information available at NHS inform.”

Dr Alison McCallum, Director of Public Health and Health Policy, NHS Lothian said: “Although many GP surgeries will be closed at Easter, hundreds of GPs will be working throughout this period supporting out of hours services. Taking a few simple steps to be ready for the break means illness need not spoil the Easter break.”

The four key steps that Be Ready for Easter recommends this Spring are:

Restock your medicine cabinet if needed
Common ailments such as colds can often be effectively treated at home with readily available medicine such as pain relief, cough mixture and cold remedies. Parents are reminded to restock their medicine cabinet with child-friendly remedies.

Use your local pharmacy
Your pharmacist can offer advice or help if you need over-the-counter remedies or have run out of any prescribed medication. You can also pick up plasters and antiseptic creams to prepare for any minor accidents.

Make sure you have enough repeat prescription.
If you or someone you care for requires medicines regularly, make sure you order and collect repeat prescriptions in good time to ensure you have enough medicine to last over the holiday period.

Know when your GP surgery will be open
Your local doctor’s surgery may be closed for up to four days during the Easter weekend from Good Friday to Easter Monday (March 29 – April 1).

General advice and information on how to stay healthy this Easter can be found at www.nhsinform.co.uk or contact NHS inform on 0800 22 44 88.

GPs to encourage patients to get active

Family doctors are set to help patients get healthier by highlighting the many benefits of physical activity. New ‘brief interventions’ will ask patients about their levels of physical activity and offer advice and follow-up support if appropriate, in the same way as already happens across the NHS for smoking and alcohol.

GPs and health professionals in six health board areas – including NHS Lothian – will encourage adults to get active in a bid to tackle a range of health problems, as physical inactivity contributes to nearly 2,500 premature deaths every year in Scotland and can cause heart disease, stroke, obesity or depression.

Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Sir Harry Burns recommends five periods of 30 minutes of moderate activity a week, 60 minutes for children under 16.

The year long pilot will embed the importance of physical activity in the NHS and initially focus on those who can benefit the most from being more active, such as people with chronic ill health, long term conditions or older people.

Speaking on a visit to Strathesk Medical Practice in Bonnyrigg, Sport Minister Shona Robison said: “Getting active is easy, simple and the most effective way to better health, reducing the risk of a multitude of conditions like heart disease, obesity or depression. Any activity, like walking, gardening or cycling, is better than none and makes you feel happier, less stressed and more energised. This is not about telling people to take more exercise, but health professionals offering advice to people who can get the most benefit, most quickly, ultimately reducing the need for further treatment and improving their lives.”

Dr David White, the Scottish Government’s Physical Activity specialist, said: “Regular physical activity really is man’s best medicine, providing a far greater range of health benefits than any medication. It’s been shown internationally that GPs and their teams offering accurate assessment alongside appropriate advice or brief intervention is both cost- and clinically-effective in helping patients become more active. The National Physical Activity Pathway, developed by NHS Health Scotland along with GPs, is a simple and effective resource to make a real difference.”

John Gillies, Chair of Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland, added: “Increasing physical activity is a simple, cheap and highly effective way of both staying healthy if you are well, and reducing the health risks of many chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease. It works at any age. RCGP Scotland is happy to support this initiative, which will give GPs vital information on how to help patients increase activity and improve their health.”

Margaret Burns, Chair, NHS Health Scotland, said: “NHS Health Scotland know that three in five adults are not physically active enough to benefit their health and that getting active will increase life expectancy by almost a year. The cost to the NHS in Scotland alone of certain diseases resulting from physical inactivity is around £94 million every year and across the cost to the Scottish economy as a whole, far, far greater. That is why NHS Health Scotland, in partnership with Scottish Government and Royal College of General Practitioners, are supporting to staff motivate people to get active in their own way. The learning from the pilots will then be used to inform NHS practice across the country.”

The direct cost of physical inactivity to the NHS in Scotland is around £94 million per year.

The Chief Medical Officer’s latest Annual Report highlighted that the total annual costs to the Scottish economy of physical inactivity could be in the region of £660 million.

Research shows that brief advice/interventions for physical activity are a clinically proven and extremely cost effective method of improving physical activity within primary care.

The Active Scotland website provides information on local physical activity opportunities.

LEAPing on to pastures new

Stockbridge-based LEAP (Lothians and Edinburgh Abstinence Programme) is moving to a new home in Morningside next week.

NHS Lothian’s community based rehabilitation programme is vacating its current Malta House home as the building and land is being sold, and from 11 February LEAP will provide its addiction service in newly refurbished and newly-named Woodlands House, within the Astley Ainslie Hospital site. The building was formerly used by Napier University as a health studies college.

LEAP will occupy two floors of a wing in Woodlands House and staff from other services – including Spittal Street Centre, The Learning Disability Service and the Primary Care Facilitation Team – will also relocate to the three-storey building in the next few weeks.

Dr David McCartney, Clinical Lead at LEAP, said: “It’s a very exciting time for LEAP, having just celebrated our 300th graduate from the Programme and with the prospect of moving into a new and bigger facility. We obviously will be sad to leave Malta House as this is where LEAP first began but the move will allow us to continue to help and support our patients on the road to life changing recovery.”

LEAP is a demanding and intensive 12-week course for people dependent on substances who are motivated to achieve alcohol and drug free lives. It operates seven days per week and offers people structured activities including group work, workshops, presentations and education and training while recreation and relaxation classes also form part of the programme.

LEAP is funded by NHS Lothian and three local Alcohol Drug Partnerships and is operated in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council and Access to Industry (Transition).

Health Secretary opens Royal Victoria

Health Secretary Alex Neil officially opened the new Royal Victoria building within the Western General Hospital this morning. The £43.6 state of the art facility replaces the Royal Victoria Hospital on Craigleith Road which closed last year.

The new building is all single-bed rooms – the government set out an aim in 2008 that single rooms would become the norm for new and refurbished hospitals.

Health Secretary Alex Neil said there are substantial financial and health benefits to single rooms. He said: “You have to look over the life cycle of the hospital, the building, what is going to be the savings made for example by reducing the incidence of hospital acquired infection. It’s not just the financial cost of that, what’s most important is the benefit to the patient. I think most people would want to be in an environment where the risk of hospital acquired infection was kept to the absolute minimum.”

NHS Lothian launches organ donation pilot programme

A new organ donation pilot programme is to be launched in NHS Lothian, it was announced yesterday.

The pilot will ensure that people who cannot be resuscitated after suffering a cardiac arrest in the community and who have previously expressed a wish to donate their organs in the event of their death, will have that wish respected.

The pilot will run in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, where emergency medicine clinicians and the Scottish Ambulance Service practice the most advanced resuscitation techniques. As a result many more people who have suffered a cardiac arrest in the community are now making a good recovery.

Should the resuscitative measures prove unsuccessful, a decision will be made by two doctors that further treatment would no longer be in the best interests of the patient. End of life options (including organ donation) will then be discussed with the family.

Previously organ donation was not possible in these circumstances, even if the patient had made it clear that they wished to be an organ donor. The resuscitation process will continue to be run entirely by the emergency department based on their current policies and is totally separate from any consideration of organ donation.

Minister for Public Health, Michael Matheson said: “We welcome the fact that more people who experience a cardiac arrest at home or in the community are now surviving due to the introduction of modern resuscitation techniques by the emergency department clinicians and the Scottish Ambulance Service.

“However when all attempts at resuscitation in hospital have been unsuccessful it can be a source of comfort to the family to be able to respect the wishes of their loved ones who have made their organ donation wishes known by joining the NHS Organ Donor Register. This pilot programme is about doing this.”

Dr Matt Reed, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh said: “We have an ongoing programme of improving the management of patients who have had a cardiac arrest in the community. The modern resuscitation techniques practiced by the Emergency Department in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and the Scottish Ambulance Service in the South East of Scotland have seen survival rates for these patients improve dramatically and many more patients are now going on to make a good recovery.

“Unfortunately however, there are some patients who do not survive despite every attempt to save them. Many of those people will have expressed a wish to be an organ donor by joining the NHS Organ Donor Register in the expectation that their wishes be respected in the event of their death. This pilot will allow their wishes to be acted upon.”

Dr Jean Turner, Executive Director, Scotland Patients Association said: “Scotland Patients Association(SPA) welcomes this pilot which offers patients and their relatives the utmost assurance for the best outcomes from resuscitation with consideration and respect when organ donation may become an option for them.”

The pilot relates to adults aged 16-60 who have a witnessed cardiac arrest and who have expressed a wish to donate organs and/or tissues after their death. In its initial stages it will operate between the hours of 9-5 on weekdays.

Families will continue to be consulted on the proposed donation of their loved one’s organs.

Lothian is leading the way in Scotland in terms of population signed up to the NHS Organ Donor Register (just under 50% of the population). There are currently more than two million Scots on the NHS Organ Donor Register – over 41 per cent of the population which is the highest in the UK. The UK average is 31 per cent (October 2012).

In 2011/12 there were 346 transplants in Scotland. The majority of people on the transplant list are waiting on kidney transplants – 514 people.

NHS Blood and Transplant research found that 96 percent of people would take an organ if they needed one, but only 41 per cent of Scots have joined the NHS Organ Donor Register.

You can join the NHS Organ Donor Register by visiting the Organ Donation Scotland website or by texting LIFE TO 61611.