New figures show that more than 7,000 consultations were held at Scotland’s first GP walk-in services.
The number of consultations at the centres increased to a high of 2,299 in June as services were established, Public Health Scotland data shows.
The services are part of an innovative pilot, testing a new way of accessing same-day care from GPs or Advanced Nurse Practitioners at a wider range of times. They have been designed to provide more choice for patients while helping to relieve pressure on wider NHS services.
Between February and June GP walk-in pilot services were opened in six locations.
Health Secretary Angela Constance said: “We have promised to end the frustrating 8am rush for GP appointments and this new data shows that more people are benefiting from appointment-free care, at a time that works best for them.
“Some 7,082 walk-in consultations have already been carried out – giving patients access to urgent, same-day care – and we will roll this out to many more communities over the weeks and months ahead.
“Our focus is not simply on counting every patient, but on making every patient count. The pilot is just getting started and as it grows we will know more about how it is working.
“But behind every attendance is a person who has received timely assessment, reassurance, treatment or advice that may have improved their experience, supported earlier intervention, or prevented a more serious outcome.
“We have opened ten of the originally planned 16 GP walk-in services in five months and will soon be announcing even more locations as the pilot expands.”
‘Scheme more about politics rather than practicality’
Dr Iain Morrison, chairman of the BMA’s Scottish GPs committee, told BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast programme that doctors had expressed reservations about the walk-in clinics when they were first announced – and it now looked like a case of ‘I told you so’.
He said: “In terms of any pilot it’s important to learn to fail fast. My concern is that we’re not going to learn to close this down when all the evidence suggests that it’s not working. “It’s going to continue to be worked upon, potentially expanded, despite evidence crying out that it’s not having the impact that’s desired.
“The way you improve capacity, to provide as many appointments as are required, is to invest into core services. It’s not to put in additional money into separate services that fail to alleviate the core problem”
Experiences of young adults claiming Universal Credit in Scotland
Social security should be the foundation for a better life – a system that protects people’s rights, dignity and wellbeing. But what did our research team find when they looked to see if Universal Credit gives young adults the support they need?
The Poverty Alliance research intern Rachel Sowerby created this great infographic to tell the story of young adult parents’ experiences:
Train stations across Scotland have been highlighted in a major new survey by leading women’s charity Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI), which examined safety standards at stations across the UK.
The survey highlighted concerns at a number of Scottish stations, including Canal Street in Aberdeen, where surveyors raised issues around passenger safety and accessibility, and Markinch, where concerns were noted about access and passenger support. The report also highlighted wider concerns around staffing, access to assistance and passenger reassurance at quieter and more rural stations such as Paisley St James.
While stations such as Inverkeithing and Kirkcaldy demonstrated many of the safety features campaigners are calling for, including visible safety support and stronger passenger facilities, surveyors warned that limited staffing and inconsistent access to assistance can leave women feeling vulnerable, particularly during evening journeys.
SIGBI says these local findings mirror a national pattern of declining staff presence and inconsistent safety measures across the rail network. Across the UK, only 10% of stations are staffed at all times, 30% are permanently unstaffed and fewer than half (44%) display clear information about who is responsible for passenger safety.
Gillie O’Rourke, President of SIGBI, said:“These key measures, which can help women feel more secure, remain inconsistent, patchy and mixed at best. This leaves women increasingly vulnerable when travelling by train.”
SIGBI has been campaigning for safer railways for women and girls for over 30 years. First launched in 1996, ‘The Future of the Railways’ was an investigation into personal safety on the railways, which the charity’s members – known as Soroptimists – used to lobby the Government into taking action to do more to protect women on public transport.
It was launched in response to a Soroptimist being attacked on a train in the London area.
Soroptimists carried out grassroots research into the experiences of female passengers, visiting more than 500 overground stations across Britain. Their work also included consultation with station managers and rail staff to build a comprehensive picture of safety and accessibility on the rail network.
SIGBI published a report making recommendations to the UK Government on how to improve safety in stations, claiming the Government’s approach to passenger safety in railway stations was ineffective.
In 2024, the project was relaunched during the charity’s conference in Edinburgh, to ask the same questions of the UK’s railway stations, to see how much has changed. The results of the new survey are the outcome of 388 surveys undertaken by Soroptimists covering 373 stations and 985 platforms.
The survey’s aims were to assess the visibility of railway staff, emergency help points, and station signage, and to evaluate the clarity and quality of safety information.
The new findings expose a persistent gender safety gap across the rail network, raising urgent questions about accountability, visibility, and the protection of female passengers after dark.
“It is shocking that in almost 30 years so little has changed, the same issues persist, the same voices are going unheard, and progress feels more like a circle than a line,” Gillie added.
In response to the investigation’s findings, SIGBI is calling for the introduction of minimum safety standards for all stations, particularly during the evening. The charity believes urgent action is needed to address the gaps in basic safety provision across the rail network.
This includes reliable emergency help points, monitored CCTV, adequate lighting and clear emergency contact information.
SIGBI is also pressing for greater accountability, with clear signage showing who is responsible for safety, alongside improved accessibility measures and facilities to ensure all passengers – especially women and girls – can travel with confidence.
Lindsay Green, Programme Director at SIGBI, said:“Our goal is to stand up for women and girls, advocating for equal rights, opportunities, and representation The relaunch of our railway safety project has been key in advancing this important issue and bringing it to the forefront of policy makers’ agendas.
“The timing of the survey’s relaunch happened to coincide with the British Transport Police’s last report which stated that violence against women and girls on British railways had risen by more than 50% since 2021. Clearly, more needs to be done, and urgently.
“We’re proud to be playing our part in helping to shape a safer environment for women when travelling.”
In addition to its work with this report, SIGBI is carrying out ‘Bystander Awareness’ training in communities up and down the UK, in a bid to help further identify and prevent violence against women and girls.
Read SIGBI’s Railway Station Safety Survey Report here:
The Government will not achieve its ambition of delivering the highest growth in the G7 unless it undertakes sweeping reforms to Britain’s investment institutions, the Business and Trade Committee has warned.
In a major new report, the Committee concludes that Britain suffers from a deep investment paradox.
The UK is home to one of the world’s leading financial centres, pension funds managing £3 trillion in assets, at least £264 billion of undeployed investment capital and world-class universities that have created more than 1,300 spin-out companies in the last twelve years – But an estimated 380,000 businesses that want finance cannot get it.
Decades of individually defensible policy decisions have collectively weakened the institutions that should connect British savings with British enterprise. And so Britain exports capital, sells promising scale-ups too early, and struggles to finance the growth companies that could power higher living standards.
The report concludes that Britain must mobilise an additional £180–200 billion of investment every year to match the investment performance of the strongest economies in the G7.
Liam Byrne MP, Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, said: “Britain is not short of money. We are short of institutions capable of putting that money to work.
“We have £3 trillion in pension assets, £264 billion of undeployed investment capital, £610 billion sitting in cash savings accounts and one of the world’s great financial centres. Yet 380,000 businesses that want finance cannot get it.
“For too long we have exported our savings and sold our scale-ups and watched other countries capture the rewards.
“If Britain wants the highest growth rate in the G7, we need the best system in the G7 for turning savings into investment and ideas into world-leading companies.”
SCOTLAND HAS THE HIGHEST RATE OF ACCIDENTAL DEATHS IN UK
51 people per 100,000 died in accidents in Scotland, compared to an average of 34 across the whole UK in 2023/24
People in Scotland 62% more likely to die in an accident than people in England
Falls are the biggest cause of accidental death in Scotland
People are almost three times as likely to die of accidental poisoning in Scotland than in England
Fatal accidents in the UK have risen by a rate of 8% in one year and accidents now kill over 23,000 people annually – more than the capacity of the 02 Arena
Almost 900,000 people – the equivalent of the entire population of Devon – are admitted to hospital due to accidents every year
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) calls on the Government to implement a National Accidents Prevention Strategy to tackle this public health emergency
Scotland has the highest rate of accidental deaths in the UK, reveals a new report from safety charity the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).
Accidents killed 51 per 100,000 people in Scotland in 2023/24, compared to a UK-wide average of 34. This makes Scotland the most dangerous UK nation for accidental deaths, ahead of Wales (44 deaths per 100,000 people), Northern Ireland (39) and England (32), and means people in Scotland are 62% more likely to die in an accident than people in England.
There were also stark differences within Scotland itself, with those in the more deprived 50% of the population almost 28% more likely to be admitted to hospital than those in the less deprived 50%.
Deaths from accidents are rising across the UK, and hospital admissions due to accidents are putting immense pressure on the NHS. RoSPA found that an estimated 23,000 people – more than the capacity of the 02 Arena – lose their lives to accidents every year, while almost 900,000 people were admitted to hospital, the equivalent of the population of Devon passing through the NHS.
There was an 8% increase in the rate of all accidental deaths across the UK in 2023/24, with falls being the biggest killer across all nations. However, deaths from accidental poisoning (including drugs and alcohol) are particularly high in Scotland, with 21 people per 100,000 dying of this cause in 2023 – compared to 11 in Wales, 9 in Northern Ireland and 8 in England – meaning people in Scotland are almost three timesas likely to be killed in an accidental poisoning than in England.
Hospital admissions also rose by a rate of 3% over one year in Great Britain, including a 17% rate of increase in admissions caused by animals and 6% by poisonings.
Accidents have a tragic impact, not just on individuals, families and communities, but society as a whole. Immediate treatment costs to the NHS run to £6 billion annually, not including follow-up rehabilitation and other costs, and accidents account for a minimum of 5.2 million bed days, reducing capacity and driving up waiting lists across the health service. Meanwhile, the UK economy loses another £6 billion a year in output due to lost working days.
In 2024, RoSPA urged the Government to implement a National Accident Prevention Strategy to tackle accidents as a serious public health crisis. The charity also recently launched Towards a Safer Scotland, a manifesto for the 2026 Scottish Parliamentary Election, which sets out key priorities for accident prevention across Scotland.
RoSPA’s Annual Review of Accidents now shows that, without dedicated action, the crisis in accidental deaths is getting even worse. These shocking figures only strengthen the case for a coordinated, cross-sector government response, in order to reduce the suffering caused by preventable deaths and injuries, lessen the burden on the NHS and economy, and make society safer for everyone.
Becky Hickman, CEO of RoSPA, said: “Accidents devastate lives in an instant. They are often sudden, violent, and shocking, leaving families and communities to cope with consequences that can last a lifetime. What makes this devastation even harder to bear is the knowledge that so many of these incidents are entirely preventable.
“Our Annual Review of Accidents shows we are still not doing enough to reduce avoidable harm, life-changing injuries and personal tragedies.
“From our roads to our workplaces, the homes we live in to where we spend our leisure time, people in Britain are at increasing and unacceptable risk of suffering a serious accident. And it is those who are already vulnerable – young children, the elderly, and people in deprived communities – who are in the greatest danger.
“By keeping a close eye on trends, learning from patterns of injury, and acting on the evidence, we can help ensure that individuals, communities, and the wider society are better protected from the consequences of accidental injury.”
RoSPA’s Annual Review of Accidents is endorsed by Chris Boardman CBE, Olympic Gold Medal-winning cyclist and Commissioner at Active Travel England: “Serious injuries and deaths on our roads are often treated as an unfortunate but inevitable part of everyday life. They are not. In most cases, they are predictable and preventable.
“If we want more people to choose to walk, wheel or cycle, our streets must look and feel safe. Active Travel England is working with councils across the country to design safety into our streets, creating high-quality, joined-up networks that give people, especially children, real access to affordable, green and healthy transport.”
Dr Sally-Anne Wilson, Vice President, Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), said: “Emergency Departments see first-hand the rising impact of accidental injuries, particularly among older people.
“The patients I worry about most are those who fall from standing height, often in their own homes, and arrive in the ED with serious injuries such as hip or rib fractures. These seemingly simple accidents can have devastating consequences.
“We know that older people are disproportionately affected by crowding in Emergency Departments, and that delays transferring them to inpatient wards are linked with longer hospital stays and increased mortality.
“Prevention must be a priority. Anything we can do to reduce the number and severity of avoidable injuries will make a meaningful difference to patient outcomes and help relieve pressure on a stretched emergency care system.
“RCEM strongly supports RoSPA’s focus on this vital area of public health.”
The latest report by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides an annual update to key performance indicators for the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme. The report includes uptake, laboratory and clinical outcomes of screened individuals, for those invited from May 2023 to April 2025.
For the two-year period from 01 May 2023 to 30 April 2025, over 1.9 million people were invited to complete a home bowel screening test:
Two-thirds of people successfully returned their kit (65.2% uptake), meeting the programme minimum uptake target of 60%. Uptake was higher in females (67.7%) than males (62.7%).
Image captionUptake by deprivation category and sex, May 2023 to April 2025
There was a 22.1 percentage point gap between uptake in the most (52.3%) and least (74.4%) deprived population quintiles as measured by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). Uptake for both men and women in the most deprived areas was below the programme target of 60%.
34,676 people (2.8% of the tests) had a positive result and were referred for a colonoscopy – a more detailed investigation. Three-quarters received a colonoscopy, while most of the remaining quarter either chose not to proceed or had medical reasons that made it unsuitable. This was similar to last year’s report.
While waiting times for screening colonoscopies have improved generally, only four out of 10 (41.5%) people received their colonoscopy within four weeks of their positive referral. This was an increase of 12.7 percentage points since last year’s report. However, two out of 10 people (18.6%) waited more than eight weeks for their colonoscopy. This was a reduction of 10.0 percentage points since last year’s report.
Overall, 5.0% (1,295 people) of those having a colonoscopy following a positive screen were found to have bowel cancer. Three out of five cancers (63.4%) were diagnosed at the earliest two stages, when treatment is most likely to be successful.
In people eligible to participate, about one third of bowel cancers are identified through screening. These cancers are often at an earlier, more treatable stage which is why anyone sent a bowel screening test is encouraged to complete the test and return using the pre-paid envelope provided.
Peter Hastie, Macmillan External Affairs Manager in Scotland, comments on the latest bowel screening figures issued by the Scottish government:“This latest data continues to show an extremely worrying picture – there is a gap of 22 percentage points in the take up of bowel screening between the most and least deprived areas of Scotland. This isn’t fair, and it has to change.
“Macmillan is committed to working to address the huge gaps and the unfairness that exists in cancer care in Scotland. But we need to see more joined up action, so everyone gets the early diagnosis and support they need, whoever they are and wherever they live.
“As the election looms, we need commitments from the next Scottish Government to work with the health system, professionals, sector partners, community organisations and most importantly, people living with cancer, to fix this unfairness. We deserve nothing less.”
See Macmillan’s Holyrood election manifesto below:
This month marks a true milestone for the UK benefits system: the end of the thirteen-year rollout of Universal Credit that has brought together all means-tested working-age benefits.
This moment is an opportunity to consider how the system can be improved
How can we reduce the prejudice and judgement that’s too-often placed on people on low incomes?
Our research team worked with SPIRU at Glasgow Caledonian University and the Wales Centre for Public Policy | Canolfan Polisi Cyhoeddus Cymru to see what the evidence says.
Improvements needed to ensure successful completion of Afghan resettlement programme
37,950 people arrived in the UK under Afghan resettlement schemes between April 2021 and December 2025.
Government expects to spend a total of £5.7 billion on Afghan resettlement up to 2032-33, of which £2.6 billion has yet to be incurred.
The resettlement programme needs to urgently complete the key elements of effective programme management, including having better cross-government management information.
The government must overcome ongoing challenges including a lack of available housing and poor data to ensure its programme to resettle thousands of Afghan citizens in the UK is successfully completed, according to a new National Audit Office (NAO) report.
Since 2010, the government has offered resettlement in the UK to certain groups of Afghan citizens, including people who worked with the UK government in some capacity during its military presence in Afghanistan. This work sometimes came with significant risk to those Afghan citizens and their families, who feared reprisals from the Taliban.
Although the schemes closed to new applicants in July 2025, thousands of Afghans are still being processed for resettlement.3 As at November 2025, 29,655 people were waiting to hear the results of their eligibility assessments.
Between April 2021 and December 2025, 37,950 people arrived in the UK under the schemes and, as at February 2025, the government estimated it would ultimately resettle around 9,000 more. Of those resettled, as at December 2025, 80% were living in settled accommodation.
The government anticipates that its work to resettle and integrate people will continue until 2032-33, costing a total of £5.7 billion. It spent £3.1 billion on the schemes between April 2021 and December 2025, meaning a significant proportion of the costs have not yet been incurred.
Several government departments worked at pace under complex and demanding circumstances when establishing the schemes,especially after the Taliban takeover resulted in a far greater number of people applying and becoming eligible for resettlement than had originally been envisaged.
The need to respond quickly, coupled with departments being responsible for different groups of people and resettlement stages, meant that the schemes became complex and inefficient. This is likely to have led to higher costs and worse outcomes for resettled people.
To address these challenges, in December 2024 the government merged the resettlement schemes into a combined Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP), which aims to bring all eligible Afghan citizens to the UK by March 2029 and to have moved those citizens out of transitional accommodation by December 2029.
Although the creation of the ARP has led to some improvements, significant risks remain. These include poor data on the people to be resettled and their needs, and a lack of available housing, resulting in greater than anticipated levels of resettled people becoming homeless.
To ensure the successful completion of the ARP, the NAO recommends that the UK government:
urgently completes the outstanding elements of effective programme management
undertakes scenario analysis to understand the potential barriers to completing the resettlement of all eligible people to the UK, and how these can be overcome
monitors the effect of the changes under the ARP, particularly the introduction of a nine-month limit for transitional accommodation
uses the results of pilot programmes involving local authorities and community organisations to identify innovative approaches and spread good practice
identifies measures of successful integration for Afghan resettled people and uses these to assess outcomes
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “Government departments have worked together in challenging conditions to resettle thousands of Afghan citizens who were at risk of reprisals from the Taliban.
“Although progress has been made under the new Afghan Resettlement Programme, the government has more to do to successfully resettle the affected people in the UK.”
