NHS –

The message in Freddie Mercury’s silence

November 24, 2011 By sturnbull89 Leave a Comment

World Aid Day raises awareness around the globe. Photo: Courtesy UNAIDS

“Goodbye everybody – I’ve got to go, gotta leave you all behind and face the truth.”

These are some of the lines from one of the most famous songs in music history and looking back they seem hauntingly accurate. The song, written by Freddie Mercury, reached number one for the second time in 1991, staying there for five weeks following his death.

Mercury was a larger than life character and shocked the world by publicly announcing he was HIV positive one day before he died.

The legendary icon died at 45, from a type of bacterial pneumonia brought on by AIDS. He died in London, 20 years ago. Mercury is still well known for his flamboyant stage presence, powerful vocals and talented songwriting that has inspired millions.

With the anniversary of his death today, and the upcoming World AIDS Day next week, there are even more reports and research being published to raise awareness of the virus.

The purpose of World AIDS Day is to remind people around the world of the HIV and AIDS epidemic. It has been 30 years since AIDS was first reported, and it is estimated that today 34 million people are living with HIV around the globe.

World AIDS Day 2011 has a ‘looking forward’ theme with a focus on 2015. The organisation, UNAIDS, which is a joint United Nations programme on HIV and AIDS, is leading the campaign with what they call ‘Getting to Zero’. The organisation claims “we have three main targets which are: zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS related deaths by 2015”.

UNAIDS is promoting a “smarter, faster, better campaign” to raise awareness of these targets. They may seem ambitious but with the global statistics of HIV and AIDS decreasing it might not be impossible.

The total number of Scots with HIV is now 6,845 with 72% made up of males and 28% females. The main spread of HIV is mainly due to drug use and the sharing of needles and syringes.

The Scottish charity, Positive Help, has created services to help those who are affected by HIV and AIDS in the Edinburgh area. They provide a transport service, home support service and a children and young people befriending system. The befriending system is aimed at children from three to eighteen who are HIV positive, or have parents that are.

Angus Mackenzie from the charity claims, “the befriending system is very helpful to both children and teenagers, but also their parents.”

“There was one little boy we took to a festival and his reaction was just mind blowing, as if he’d never seen anything like it before.”

One of the biggest issues with HIV and AIDS is the embarrassment and taboo that still surrounds the virus toady. Mercury himself remained silent about his illness until one day before it killed him. Many suffer discrimination and feel restrictions in relationships with friends and family. This is what the befriending systems aims to prevent.

Despite the advances in life expectancy, Positive Help claims that those influenced by HIV still suffer physically, mentally and socially. Mental health issues are a problem with the virus as it can lead to ill health, depression, isolation and agoraphobia.

Filed Under: Entertainment, Health Tagged With: aid, Freddie Mercury, HIV, music, NHS, Positive help, UNAIDS

Green spaces can improve your quality of life

November 24, 2011 By sturnbull89 Leave a Comment

As the Woodland Trust says: "life is better with trees." Photo: Sunny Johnson

Plant a tree, save a life.

That’s the idea behind the Green Gym charity. With the help of the Dunfermline and West Fife Community Health Partnership, they aim to improve the lives of patients at Lynebank Hospital by planting trees.

The Green Gym charity encourages communities to work together to enhance their local areas by creating a green space. The aim of the scheme is to create a garden area at the hospital to promote positive health and wellbeing among patients, staff and visitors.

The charity running the Green gym claim a daily walk in a park can reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes and diabetes by 50%, cut breast cancer by 30% and Alzheimer’s by 25%.

They received a free 240-tree pack from the Woodland Trust. The environmental organisation has received over 1,000 community packs resulting in more than 200,000 native trees being planted all over the UK.

The Woodland Trust is supporting this project as it coincides with its main aims “we want to see no further loss of woodland and the creation of new native woodland.”

But the community packs are part of a bigger project. The Jubilee Woods scheme has a target of planting six million trees by the end of 2012. It is one of a few projects in the UK that carry’s official Royal approval, with HRH the Princess Royal as its patron.

The charity’s aim is to raise awareness of the importance of parks. Over 33 million people in the UK choose to use their green spaces. Statistics show that the more often a person visits open green spaces the less often he or she will report stress related illnesses.

The Woodland Trust and Green Gym feel it is important to encourage people to take part in creating green spaces. This is because the local authorities are not legally required to provide, invest or maintain public parks and green spaces.

The Green Gym project will run for ten weeks in total with volunteers coming every Tuesday from 10am – 1pm. The initial five week period will finish on Tuesday 6^th December. But it will pick up again on Tuesday 17^th January until Tuesday 14^th February.

The marketing and communications manager for Love Parks Week states “the Love Parks week is definitely the biggest public campaign”.

Filed Under: Conservation, Health, Life and Society Tagged With: Edinburgh, fife, green gym, Green Space, green spaces, Health, jubilee woods, love parks, native trees, NHS, Royal, trees

Potentially promising new cancer treatment and biomarker

November 17, 2011 By sonjaklein Leave a Comment

There have been great breakthroughs in cancer research.

by Sonja Klein

A potential new additional treatment for patients with advanced lung cancer
has been found in a collaboration study in Europe.

Patients diagnosed with stage III or stage IV lung cancer who have little hope of survival may have renewed hope with a new treatment that is currently being tested at various clinics throughout Europe. Non-small-cell lung cancer, a common type that often does not respond well to chemotherapy, has been treated with a combination of chemotherapy and a virus strain called TG4010. Patients that have not yet received chemotherapy, but were treated with the TG4010, on average had a higher survival rate than patients treated with standard chemotherapy.

However, treatment was not effective for all patients. Patients expressing a high percentage of a specific type of receptor on their “natural killer cells”, a sub-type of white blood cells, generally had a reduced survival rate. This knowledge can potentially be used as a biomarker which is an indicator substance in the human body that can be used to find out if a patient will respond positively to a treatment or not. At the current stage of cancer research many patients have to be treated with different types of chemotherapy until the right treatment is found. Testing patients for this specific type of receptor on the “natural killer cells” can reduce the number of tests people have to go through before they find the right treatment. This not only increases their chances of survival but also improves their quality of life.

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: cancer, Europe, NHS

Health authority regrets ‘tragic’ nut allergy death

March 21, 2011 By rtgphilp Leave a Comment

by Ray Philp

A health authority has expressed their “deepest sympathies” for the family of a 9 year old daughter who died of anaphylactic shock shortly after a GP had failed to prescribe a device that could have saved her life.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde were implicated in a report published by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman that criticised the lack of clear guidance regarding the prescription of adrenaline auto injector pens, or EpiPens.

An EpiPen might have saved Miss C. Photo: D Walsh

How many drinks is too many?

March 18, 2011 By catherinemumford Leave a Comment

by Catherine Mumford

Photo by Roger Kirby

An NHS study out today reveals alarming figures about alcohol consumption in Scotland. Its established pub culture draws people from all over the world, but there are calls from officials that something needs to change.

Be sure to catch the whole story on Edinburgh Napier News TV bulletin at 3p.m.

Filed Under: Life and Society, MA Friday Tagged With: drink, NHS, pub culture

Scots drink more than ever before

March 18, 2011 By janebretin Leave a Comment

by Jane Bretin and Adam Smyth

Today’s report from NHS health Scotland has revealed that Scottish alcohol consumption is at its highest level in 30 years.

Credit mhaithaca

The report states that alcohol consumption per person has risen by 1.2 liters of pure alcohol a year compared to 1994. It also showed that shop sales have increased significantly with spirits accounting for the largest part of the sales.

As the study showed, Scots are the biggest drinkers in the United Kingdom, well ahead of England and Wales. This raises the question, once again of minimum pricing per unit of alcohol and issue of what pushes the Scottish people to drink. Jennifer Curran, head of policy for Alcohol Focus Scotland told Edinburgh Napier news : “alcohol is now more affordable, more available and is more heavily marketed than at any time over the last 30 years.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: MA Friday Tagged With: drinking, NHS, Scotland

Public sector hit by budget cuts

November 16, 2010 By gsharper Leave a Comment

By Gavin Harper

Parliament hit by budget cuts. Picture courtesy of Daily Telegraph

MSPs will have their pay frozen for the next two years, as part of a scheme that plans to reduce the running costs of the Scottish parliament by up to 12% and save nearly £10 million over the next four years.

These plans still require the approval of MSPs, but they are expected to accept the freeze in their pay, albeit reluctantly, in order to reduce the costs of the multi-million pound building at Holyrood.

The parliament’s budget for the forthcoming year has been set at £75.3 million, which is almost 5.3% lower than the already approved budget, which is still a sizeable figure.

Furthermore, the necessary cuts will not result in any members of staff being made redundant, while it was also confirmed staff numbers would be cut by 50 in two years time “through other means”.

Presiding Officer for the parliament, Alex Fergusson, said: “It is vitally important that the parliament continues to play its part in responding to the financial pressures facing public sector finances.”

These cuts come in the wake of some major financial cuts, announced by the coalition government at Westminster last month, which will see the public sector hit hard.

There are also significant cuts being made in the National Health Service (NHS) with one nurse revealing that staff no longer receive donations from patients or relatives, with the money instead going to the local trust.

Staff nurse Terrie Scott said: “We are having to tell relatives not to make donations, as the money all goes to the trust, and the nurses don’t see a penny of it.

“We used to be given a portion of this money for ward maintenance and for our nights out but now this is being capped”

NHS Lothian were unavailable to comment on this matter.

Filed Under: All Politics, Economy and Business, Uncategorized Tagged With: budget cuts, NHS, Scottish Parliament

Counter Fraud Service saving NHS Scotland £39 million since 2000

November 12, 2010 By kwhamilton Leave a Comment

by Keith Hamilton

NHS Scotland is the nation’s largest employer and spent in excess of £10 billion in 2008/09. With such vast resources providing a service free at the point of delivery it is a result that the institution is targeted by financial fraudsters seeking to satisfy their greed. The Counter Fraud Service was established on July 1^st 2000 and in a recent report has announced saving NHS Scotland £39 million in gross terms and the net total is at £24.6 million.

A surgical theatre technician in Glasgow, was uncovered by the CFS in a joint investigation with Strathclyde Police of stealing £23,000 worth of equipment and surgical items, selling them on e-Bay. He received a 20 month prison sentence in April of this year. The investigation involved computer forensics analysis laptops and mobile phones, recovering and recreating 1500 HTML files. Another successful investigation found an optician claiming for glasses which were not clinically necessary, getting optometrists, who provide the prescriptions, to sign blank NHS claim forms. The optician pleaded guilty to a charge of defrauding the NHS of £6000 and was sentenced to 200 hours community service. The work of the CFS in this case involved taking statements from 120 patients and analysis of 1800 NHS record forms and over 10000 claim forms. Further work undertaken by the CFS includes a national programme of checking patient’s entitlement to free NHS services in case they are required to pay for them (such as dental treatment), organising counter fraud awareness presentations for NHS staff and other members of the public and the establishment of a website to enable reporting of fraudulent activities. The report values the role of utilising the media to publicise convictions of fraud, providing an effective deterrence.

Every two years an exercise is undertaken to measure the risk of fraud. These have shown that there has been a downward trend in such activity. £1 million is reported to have been recovered from overseas visitors obtaining NHS services for which they are liable to be charged. Recovered charges are passed on to health boards annually.

Filed Under: All Politics Tagged With: NHS

Incurable diseases could soon be solved

November 10, 2010 By jeremyjaneczko Leave a Comment

By Jeremy Janeczko

Imagine walking into the doctors to be informed you have cancer, but you leave without breaking a sweat. That’s a pretty unrealistic reaction after finding out you are dying. This reaction my not be unbelievable for too much longer. Recently there has been advancements made in human genome

The Human DNA

sequencing technologies which may lead to cures for currently incurable aliments . Companies such as Ion Torrent, Helicos, GNU Bio, ABI and Illumina are the leading companies in this area of research and technology that are hopefully heading towards that goal.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Life and Society Tagged With: cancer, dollars. genetic structiure, genome, genome project, genome sequencing, havard, HIV, NHS

NHS Trust scheme can offer contraception to girls as young as 13 without parent’s knowledge

November 1, 2010 By jamielivingstone Leave a Comment

By Jamie Livingstone.

The scheme which allows girls aged 13 to 16 to access emergency hormonal contraception without their parent’s knowledge is been pioneered by the Isle of Wight Trust.

Dr Jennifer Smith, the director of public health at NHS Isle of Wight said today that: “It is not for the health service to moralize on the rights and wrongs of underage sex but earlier this year we identified a gap in local arrangements.”

Under the scheme, trained pharmacists will first hold a consultation with the patient, provide advice on sexually transmitted diseases and make a referral to the Sexual Health Service.

Dr Smith added: “The main aim is to protect vulnerable young people who in some circumstances find it difficult to speak to their parents about important issues.”

More than a quarter of young people are sexually active before they are 16.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Contraception, girls, Isle Of Wight, NHS, pill, sex, Sexual health, teenage preganancy

Charity Accused of Being ‘Eugenical’

October 25, 2010 By ryangavan Leave a Comment

Drug users can be paid to be sterilised

By Ryan C. Gavan

The current campaign by U.S. charity Project Prevention to persuade drug and alcohol addicts to be sterilised in return for a payment of £200 has been condemned by addiction support groups.

David Liddel, Director of the Scottish Drug Forum, believes “the tactics and underlying agenda of this organisation smack of the discredited eugenics movements of the early 20th century.” He continued “all women, irrespective of whether they are drug addicts or not, should be offered family planning advice.”

Project Prevention was started in the United States by Barbara Harris, a child welfare campaigner .The charity’s remit is to prevent children from being born with birth defects as a result of drug dependent pregnancies. Their website states “the main objective is public awareness to the problem of addicts exposing their unborn child to drugs during pregnancy.”

The charity argues that “the average number of children per addict is 3.” This, they feel, can be easily prevented through cash incentives for long-term birth control or total sterilisation.

The number of children born to drug addicts is on the rise in the UK. A survey carried out by the University of Aberdeen shows it has increased 30% since 1998. Last week the first UK addict took up the charity’s offer. The addict, from Leicester, was paid after having a vasectomy.

This has been likened to the programme run by Dundee Council to convince smokers to quit by paying them £50 a month.

Filed Under: All Politics, Life and Society Tagged With: alcohol, drugs, Health, Lothian and Borders Police, NHS, scottish government, Unemployment

‘Scottish Government Fails to Convince in Raising Drinking Age’

October 6, 2010 By ryangavan Leave a Comment

Young people are being targeted in this legislation

By Ryan C. Gavan

The Scottish Government’s measures to give licensing boards the ability to raise the age of buying alcohol to combat Scotland’s binge drinking epidemic has failed. After a dramatic deliberation in a meeting of the Health and Sport committee at Holyrood, the plan has been voted down 3-5 against in the most recent review of the Alcohol Bill after strong opposition.

The Bill, introduced by Nicola Sturgeon MSP, says, “There are clear arguments in support of raising the off-sales age,where appropriate, as part of a range of local measures to address local problems. Our proposal would have made it easier for Licensing Boards to apply a minimum age of 21 to off-sales but would not have meant that they had to do so.”

The measures stood against strong opposition from other parties. Lib Dem Health spokesman Ross Finnie MSP stated that “we could have been in the ridiculous situation where a 19-year-old army officer could not buy a bottle of wine to celebrate returning from the front line.” This shows the problems facing such legislation.

This has also been criticised by youth groups such as the National Union for Students. In a statement put to the committee the organisation said “we do not agree that the evidence has shown that an alcohol purchase age of 21 for off-sales would reduce anti-social behaviour in our communities.”

Sturgeon comments that there is compelling evidence to raise the age of drink purchasing in off licenses saying ” We’ve considered international evidence which found that increasing the legal drinking age can have substantial effects on youth drinking and alcohol-related harm.”

The proposed amendment failed to convince the rest of the committee. Finnie now believes it is time to focus on more workable parts of the legislation. “We must now focus on the health related aspects of the Bill” continuing that it is more important to focus on “banning irresponsible promotions”.

Other measures also failed such as the controversial proposal of minimum drink pricing. The SNP are focusing on anti-social behaviour with the upcoming Holyrood election on the horizon. They have suffered a number of recent blows including Alex Salmond’s decision not to hold a referendum on independence but rather seek greater devolution powers.

Filed Under: All Politics, Life and Society Tagged With: alcohol, Edinburgh, Health, NHS, Politics, Scotland, scottish government, Scottish Parliament, SNP, students

NHS workers fear budget cuts

October 4, 2010 By grantwright Leave a Comment

NHS employees in Lanarkshire and Lothian are voicing concern over the limited budget put in place, influenced by the government’s words on the burden of the public sector. Ahead of the Conservative conference this week, workers are waiting with baited breath as senior Tory figures are outlining significant changes to the NHS in England as well as radical welfare reform.

Despite the government promising to protect the NHS from severe public spending cuts, concerns have been raised to Edinburgh Napier News over strict budgets that have been put in place to encourage savings. As a result of this, people who leave the workforce are not being replaced, forcing their colleagues to pick up the work without extra pay. With a public spending freeze coming into place next year, NHS employees will not be entitled to any cost of living pay rise, meaning that they will be working more, but will be receiving less.

One 42 year old who has worked in administration for ten years spoke of the stress the squeeze has caused in work but also at home; ‘It’s never been this bad’, this sentiment seems to echo amongst her colleagues. ‘Why should we have to pay for the banker’s mistakes’ says another.

The head of communications in NHS Lothian and Lanarkshire were unable to comment. The dispute remains unsettled.

Filed Under: All Politics Tagged With: Austerity, budget, conservatives, NHS, spending cuts

NHS launch online mental health check

November 11, 2009 By jonathanbradwell Leave a Comment

Courtesy of JWT anxiety index

By Jonathan Bradwell

Last month the NHS launched an online mental health check to their website for people concerned about their mental health and well being.

The tool gives the user a series of questions to answer on a variety of subjects.

Depending on the answers given, the tool then calculates what further information each individual needs, and how to seek further advice.

Jacqui Jedrzejewski, the NHS direct national mental health lead, stated “The mental health checker provides an approachable channel for people to address their problems and get the help and advice they need”.

This online resource aims to break through the stigma attached to mental health illnesses.

Jacqui Jedrzejewski stated “The aim is to get people on the right track so they can get on going support”.

One of the outcomes of the check can be a call back from a fully trained nurse. However, these outcomes differ greatly, as the check can simply recommend a trip to the GP to speak about what the online check highlighted.

The check even highlights mental health problems associated with low underlying issues, such as stress, which may be linked to a financial problem.

The NHS highlight that stress is part of our every day lives, and by accepting this, we can begin to tackle mental health problems. This is one of the many areas that the NHS have highlighted to start to deal with mental health issues.

The NHS have a number of other tests, covering a variety of issues, on their website that can be used for a starting point for seeking help about health problems.

Filed Under: News in Brief Tagged With: mental health, NHS

A song to save a life.

November 9, 2009 By errish3 Leave a Comment

gaz_organ_couple_3_v01.jpg.display
courtesy of the “Gazette”

By Erris Healy

28 year old Sarah Springett from Essex saved her boyfriend Paul Shepards life last year. The singer/songwriter donated her kidney to him after he was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy.
“IgA nephropathy is a kidney disorder that occurs when infection deffence protein settles in the kidney. Scientists do not know what causes IgA to form in the kidney. IgA causes permanent kidney damage which can lead to kidney failure. People with kidney failure need dialysis or a transplant.”- National kidney and urologic disease information clearinghouse.

Sarahs donation experience has inspired her to release a single titled “I hope you know.” Her single is in support of the first UK-wide organ donation campaign that was launched on November 3, 2009 by NHS blood and transplant. Each copy of Springettes single will include a link to the organ registration website and profits will be donated to the transplant trust. You can hear Sarah discussing the importance of becoming a donor, the need for more donors to sign up and her support for the campaign by visiting www.ihopeyouknow.co.uk.

Statistics from the NHS show that this year “977 lives were saved in the UK through a heart, lung, liver or kidney transplant.” Also a survey for kidney.org stated that, “more than two in nine people back organ donation but only one in five are actually on the register.” The same website gave a figure of 3,916 deaths a year are because of kidney failure-www.kidney.org

Yvonne MacFarlane, spokeswoman for the Scottish Government Health and Wellbeing office said,”The number of Scottish residents listed, as at November 8, 2009 awaiting an organ transplant is 663. The UK average waiting time to transplant in days is a heart=103 days, lung= 406 days, liver= 95 days and a kidney= 265 days. As you can see the waiting period is lengthy and a lot of people do not survive the wait.

If more people signed up the waiting time would be less. Sarah says, “watching Paul go through what he did was far worse than donating my kidney.” So, if Ms. Springettes story has inspired you or you are interested in becoming a donor, find out more at: www.orgondonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 1232323.
This Christmas you may just give someone a very special gift, you could give someone in need a second chance at life.

Filed Under: Life and Society, Science and Technology Tagged With: Health, IgA nephropathy, Kidney disease, NHS, scottish government

Organ donations desperately needed

November 4, 2009 By kayenic Leave a Comment

By Kaye Nicolson

Nina Wadia and Asif Khan are fronting the South Asian donor campaign

Desperate shortages of organ donations are leaving many British patients waiting years for life-changing transplants.

The NHS are calling for people to change their good intentions into results by joining the organ donor register, in a campaign launched on 2 November. This will be the first UK-wide campaign of this nature, aiming to promote public awareness about organ donation and significantly increase the number of people on the NHS Organ Donor Register. To date only 27% of the nation’s population are on the register.

Recent figures gathered by the NHS show that more than 10,000 people require an organ transplant. Of these, it is estimated that 1000 people a year will die before an organ becomes available. In particular, ethnic groups such as those of South Asian origin are being encouraged to join the organ register, which has led celebrities such as Nina Wadia of Eastenders fame to voice support for organ donation.

The specific need for people of Asian decent to register as donors is due to the less-known medical fact that this ethnic group are more likely to have kidney problems, yet less likely to find a blood match in the UK. 2008 figures demonstrate that of 584 organ transplants of the year, only 12 were from Asian donors. The ‘Can We Count on You?’ drive to encourage is fronted by Nina Wadia and Asif Khan, and it is expected to raise publicity.

On the issue, UK Health Secretary Andy Burnham commented that the overwhelming majority would take an organ if they required, and urged those in favour of organ donation to show their support by signing up to the Organ Donor Register and discussing their wishes with their families.

Filed Under: Life and Society Tagged With: campaigns, Health, NHS, organ donation

GPs of the year

November 4, 2009 By Julia Leave a Comment

By Julia Bruce

It is always easier to draw attention to a mistake than an success. Doctors are amongst some of the most highly scrutinised professionals in society, but do we give them the credit they deserve? According the British Medical Journal, british newspapers publish twice as many negative stories about doctors than positive. After the intense media coverage of Dr Edward Erin poisoning his wife last month, it is not surprising that a negative attitude has been adopted. The new Gala awards by the Royal College of General Practitioners aim to fix this.

Due to be held in Edinburgh in December, the RCGP awards are the first of their kind in Scotland and will honour Britains’ unsung heros. A number of awards will be presented, including “GP of the year award”, and it is a chance for patients to give something back to their GPs. Dr. Ken Lawton, chairman of the RCGP recognises this as an opportunity to focus positive attention on doctors and recognise the commitment they give endlessly to society: “Quality of patient care is a priority for GPs in Scotland and it is important to recognise the success stories of General Practice at its best” These are the grass routes of general practice, and there is a worry that they have unfortunately been lost somewhere along the way.

The awards are will not only recognise the hard work of doctors. The “Practice Team Award” will praise the work of everyone from administrative staff to nurses who have demonstrated excellent patient practice in their community. Furthermore, the winner of the “GP of the year award” will have been nominated by the patients themselves, making the reward truly reflective of patient community care.

With the swine flu threat still at large, it would seem now, more than ever, we need to put faith in our NHS. The black tie event will also raise money for Depression Alliance Scotland and Cancer Research UK.

Filed Under: Life and Society Tagged With: British Medical Journal, Cancer Research UK, depression alliance scotland, Dr. Ken Lawton, GPs, healthcare, Medical Awards, NHS

Doctors Urge Department of Health Not to Go it Alone on Mental Illness

November 3, 2009 By The Daily Fail Leave a Comment

By Elliot Adams
Mental Health is vital to our well-being and the well-being of Britain as a whole, with common mental health problems contributing to both social problems and serious physical illnesses. Every part of a person’s environment can affect their mental health, and so, with the continued recession adding pressure to people’s daily lives, it is small surprise that the department of health has carried out a consultation with the aim of reforming their approach to mental health by the end of this year.

Courtesy of the SPIRO image database

The published results of the New Horizons in Mental Health consultation have elicited varied responses, but recurrent among these is the concern that the Department of Health will struggle to deal with Mental Health alone. The Mental Health Foundation, in a formal response to the consultation, has asked the Department of Health to seek the assistance of other governmental departments, saying that “progress in mental health could be hindered if not also made a priority by other Government Departments, such as the Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Children, Schools and Families.”
Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, Dr Andrew McCulloch, identified a financial impetus behind potential interdepartmental cohesion on mental health issues, saying that “failure to do so will result in the criminal justice system and health service pulling on the Government’s purse strings because that is where the economic costs occur when mental illness is ignored.”

Local Edinburgh Psychiatrist, Dr A. T. Adams agreed with these concerns but stressed the importance of “avoiding the bureaucratic confusion that often accompanies government agencies working together. Mental Health services have suffered under SNP bureaucracy, similar failures nation-wide would be very harmful.”
It is clear Mental illness cannot be dealt with in isolation from the areas of society that it interacts with. These responses from the medical community suggest that therefore any new approach needs a cross-department commitment to effectively working on mental health together.

Filed Under: All Politics, Life and Society, Uncategorized Tagged With: Andrew McCulloch, Department of Health, Health, mental health, New Horizons, NHS, Politics

The Black and Blue Face of Modern Nursing

November 1, 2009 By Claire Leave a Comment

By Abby Dryden

Nurses are more frequently assaulted than any other members of NHS staff (image www.walesonline.co.uk)

A conference to be held in Edinburgh next week will look at the rise of violent attacks against NHS workers.

More than one in ten NHS employees (12%) reported experiencing physical violence from patients or their relatives,a survey by the Healthcare Commission found. The figure remains “relatively unchanged” over the past four years.

In another survey carried out this month by the public sector union Unison it was found that in Scotland 13,702 attacks were carried out against NHS staff last year. The majority of assaults were perpitrated against Nurses and Nursing Assistants.

Government legislation was passed in the form of the Emergency Workers Act as early as 2006 with the aim of protecting Ambulance Crews, Firefighters and other Healthcare workers responding to emergency calls.

However, Last year it was considered necessary to extend the powers of the Act in the hope of better protecting GP’s, Nurses and Community Midwives. This move provides a clear indication that the threat of violence is becoming a pervasive factor throughout the NHS.

The Edinburgh conference is seeking to identify why healthcare workers are being assaulted and what can be done to reduce that risk. The need to better protect workers from the public will also be discussed.

Darren McDonald, Chairman of the institution’s healthcare group said ”This event will look at some of the causes of work-related violence in the healthcare sector”

www.unison.org.uk

Filed Under: Courts and Crime, News in Brief Tagged With: ambulance crew, attacks, conference, Edinburgh, GP, NHS, nurses, violence

Swine Flu Vaccine

October 22, 2009 By opal2009 Leave a Comment

by Wendy Wan

The controversy surrounding swine flu continues as the vaccine for it has drawn a whole new debate after it got underway on Wednesday.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon, and Chief Medical Officer Harry Burns were on hand at Glasgow’s New Victoria Hospital to see the first vaccinations being administered.

The first round of vaccinations will be firstly focused on hospitals, immunising staff members, patients as well as priority groups with conditions such as heart disease, asthma and pregnant woman.

Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer for England, urges “people in the priority groups to have the vaccine” as well as frontline health and social care workers to “prevent them and their famillies getting the virus from patients.” This will minimise any disruption that can be caused to the NHS through staff being absent due to illness.

However the mass immunisation programme has taken place amid the national postal strike and it may cause complications if GPs are to receive their deliveries of the vaccine on Monday. The delivery of notices for appointments to those patients classified as at risk could also be disrupted.

It seems that not only is the vaccination programme taking a hit from the strike, but also a report leaked to the Daily Mail in August of a letter from the Health Protection Agency warns the UK Government of the possible implications of the vaccine. Their warnings come from a scientific research carried out in the U.S during the 1976 vaccination programme.

The letter revealed that the similar vaccine used in the 1976 programme in the USA caused the increase risk of contracting Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), and eventually forced the U.S governement to pay out millions of dollars to those affected.

This has led to concerns that the vaccine has not been tested thoroughly enough.

However, Nicola Sturgeon, the Health Secretary has said that “vaccination is the best defence we have against this new flu strain.”

Filed Under: News in Brief, Uncategorized Tagged With: Daily Mail, NHS, swine flu

Swine Flu

October 8, 2009 By atlantean2010 Leave a Comment

By David Henderson

More children have called off sick today at the Scottish school hit by a swine flu outbreak.

The number of pupils from Linlithgow Academy kept at home today soared to 297 with 157 of them suffering from flu-like symptoms.

West Lothian Council is advising concerned parents to contact their GP or NHS 24.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Lilithgow Academy, NHS, swine flu

Public to report NHS hygiene failures to Scottish Government

March 9, 2009 By domenicainedinburgh Leave a Comment

handwashing By Domenica Goduto

Patients and visitors to hospitals are being encouraged to report hygiene failures on the part of the NHS directly to the Scottish Government.

This measure is among several announced by the Government today as part of a new campaign to improve cleanliness standards in order to combat hospital superbugs.

Other measures include random hygiene inspections and the creation of a government organization, the Care Environment Inspectorate, specifically dedicated to wiping out infections such as MRSA and C. diff.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon announced that the £1 million that will be spent on the scheme each year is an indication of the Government’s determination to tackle the problem.

She stated: “We have put in place a comprehensive package of measures, including boosting spending by 260 per cent, but it’s crucial that we – and more importantly the public – are assured that this work is delivering the high standards everyone expects.

“The Care Environment Inspectorate’s stringent inspection regime will do just that.

The initiative is the result of a consultation held last year in reponse to the C.diff outbreak that killed 18 people at the Vale of Leven hospital in 2007.

More stringent hygiene standards have already lowered the number of MRSA and C. diff cases since 2006, when 40 people across the Lothians died as a result of the latter infection.

Handwashing regulations are being more strictly adhered to, and the appointment of nurse wardens to each ward has helped with the enforcement of cleanliness standards.

Junior doctors have also been warned not to list C. diff as a contributing factor on death certificates unless they are absolutely positive that this is the case.

Sturgeon also notes that the appointment of a chief inspector to oversee the Government’s efforts in this area will be a key factor in its success. She says: “With the right person at the helm, offering strong leadership, I’m confident that the inspectorate will ensure all boards meet the highest possible standards.

The move follows claims by Theresa Fyffe, director of the Royal College of Nursing in Scotland, last week that the Government needed a more coordinated approach to battling superbugs, including more staff, an overall supervisor and clearer guidelines on initiatives.

She said that many frontline hospital staff were confused by the Government’s sporadic tactics and that the issue was becoming politicized, thereby creating confusion and anxiety on the wards.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: C. diff, Care Environment Inspectorate, healthcare, Hygiene, hygiene failures, MRSA, NHS, Nicola Sturgeon, superbugs

DIY healthchecks for Chronic conditions at home.

March 2, 2009 By sarahloumac Leave a Comment

Sufferers of chronic health conditions such as Diabetes and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease are set to benefit significantly from e-technology.

NHS Lothian is pioneering the largest telehealth system in Scotland. It allows sufferers to monitor their own condition on a daily basis at home which will remove the neccesity of recurring hospital visits and free up beds for other patients. Similar trials undertaken in England have reduced hospital visits by around 30%.

The state of the art system uses touch-screen technology and is capable of undertaking a range of health tests, including those for blood pressure, blood and glucose levels. It also provides wireless connections to medical devices on hospital sites, so it can innovatively allow remote diagnosis for island patients.

The new technology is funded from a budget of £1.6 million from the Scottish government’s e-health budget.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said:

“I am very excited by the potential for telehealth to bring care as close to home as possible – in this case, into people’s own homes. By harnessing all that new technologies can offer us we can also make care quicker and safer and invest in a twenty-first century health service to be proud of.’

The telehealth technology will be the first of its kind on this scale to be used in Scotland, and the positive results of enabling patients to oversee their own health care in the comfort of their own homes will soon be felt.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: chronic, devices, Diabetes, e health, NHS, touch screen

Vaccine still available

January 8, 2009 By pmccormack Leave a Comment

By Paul McCormack

Flu vaccination

Doctors in Lanarkshire are urging patients to book an appointment with their GP as the number of people with the flu virus continues to rise.

Although a high percentage of the over 65s have already taken the advice and protected themselves with the free flu vaccination, people who are most at risk under this age group are advised to take urgent action.

Patients who already have asthma, chronic heart problems or diabetes are most at risk and the vaccine is free for these sufferers.

NHS Scotland set a target of 60% of people in the ‘high risk’ group to be protected but as it stands only 46.6% have opted for the flu jab so far.

Dr. Carol Graham told Dunedin Napier News: “It isn’t too late to get the vaccination, for patients in the ‘high risk’ bracket there is potential for flu to be fatal.

“With no cost involved it is better to be safe than sorry and if you haven’t already make sure you make an appointment with your GP.”

Filed Under: Science and Technology Tagged With: asthma, chronic heart problems, Diabetes, doctor, flu, GP, lanarkshire, NHS, NHS Scotland

News in brief

December 18, 2008 By guthrienicole Leave a Comment

By Nichole Guthrie

Troops out of Iraq by summer

On a visit to Basra yesterday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated that British troops will end combat operations on May 31 2009, although they will provide a two month stay of grace before the majority of the 4,100 troops will withdraw from Iraq.

Dentists overcharging patients

NHS dentists are under the spotlight for allegedly overcharging patients to the tune of £109 million. The Conservative party states that dentists are finding loopholes in the system to charge patients twice.

Church of England to split from state

Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams thinks there are benefits from being detached from the state. He said there would be a “certain integrity” to decisions in the church not being run by parliament first.

Millionare sex romp at Gleneagles

Millionaire property tycoon Philip Anderson was arrested along with his girlfriend after being aggressive towards the people complaining of their drunken behaviour at Deseo restaurant in Gleneagles.

20 year Lockerbie bombing anniversary

The 20th anniversary of the bombing of PanAm flight 103 this weekend sees the locals planning a low key ceremony running parallel to a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC. Steven Spielberg is also planning to make a film about the tragedy.

Glasgow bomber jailed for life

NHS doctor Bilal Abdulla was jailed for life to serve a minimum of 32 years yesterday. He was convicted of terrorist attacks on London and Glasgow.

Rwanda genocide killer jailed

Former senior defence official Theoneste Bagosora has been convicted and sentenced to life in jail for plotting the 1994 genocide that killed more than 800,000 people. This conviction marks the first time Rwandan courts have convicted anyone for the killings.

Sky 3D television

Satellite broadcaster Sky has revealed it’s trying out a new 3D television platform that could see viewers watching the 2012 Olympics in this new dimension. Viewers will have to wear polarised glasses and have a 3D enabled television.