NHS Highland pays out millions of pounds to bullied members of staff – STV news

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NHS Highland has paid out millions of pounds to current and former staff who said they were victims of workplace bullying.

The health board, which covers the Highlands and Argyll and Bute, has so far made 150 financial payments – totalling more than £2m – as part of a “healing process”.

It expects to pay a total of £3.4m once all remaining cases have been settled.

But NHS Highland says that is a lower figure than the anticipated £4.2m it had earlier set aside, adding that funding provided by the Scottish Government “should be sufficient” to cover the settlements.

The health board was heavily criticised after an investigation found hundreds of staff across the region may have endured inappropriate behaviour.

Many said they had been victims of bullying within the service, while many quit their jobs or transferred elsewhere within the NHS.

The extent of the bullying was exposed by whistleblowers in 2018.

QC John Sturrock led an independent inquiry into the allegations after several hundred staff lodged complaints.

NHS Highland pays out millions of pounds to bullied members of staff

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Social care sector ‘on its knees’ amid recruitment crisis – STV news

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Social care sector ‘on its knees’ amid recruitment crisis

The social care sector in Scotland is “on its knees”, it has been claimed, amid a warning that a lack of new recruits could force services to grind to a halt.

Lynn Bell, CEO of LOVE Group, a care provider based in Hamilton, highlighted the recruitment crisis in the sector in an interview with STV News.

And she explained that her organisation has had to consider prioritising certain care packages as a contingency measure in place of not delivering care.

“I think the social care sector is actually on its knees in terms of recruitment,” Bell said.

“What we are trying to do is attract people into a sector that’s broken.

“We could quite literally hire 500 people tomorrow and we can’t attract people into the jobs.

“So, it’s been quite disastrous and without exaggeration, the care sector itself is going to grind to a halt and people’s care might stop.”

She added: “Care is going to stop. People are going to stop receiving their care at home, it is an absolute fact.

“And as a care company, we have already started to look at prioritising certain care packages as a contingency to not delivering care.”

Bell indicated that the sector is experiencing challenges with recruitment across the board.

“It will quite literally stop and that doesn’t just apply to our organisation, that applies to every organisation,” she said.

“We go into provider meetings with local authorities, local authorities are providing care to families and everybody has the same message.

“Everybody is struggling, nobody can recruit and we just can’t get the bodies through the door.

“So, it will quite literally stop and we’re not far away.”

Donald Macaskill, chief executive of Scottish Care, urged national and local government to invest in care.

Covid, ambulance waiting times, energy bills and empty supermarket shelves have created a perfect storm that reveals how badly Scotland is governed – The Scotsman

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It is difficult at the moment not to feel that we are in the very eye of a momentous political and economic version of exactly that.

For 18 months, we had endured the seemingly unending and life-threatening waves of the pandemic, to the point where we seemed almost to have become inured to it.

We are braced – but not prepared – for the national and personal economic impact of the end of furlough, the Universal Credit uplift and business support.

And now we find that our energy bills could rocket, inflation is rising, the impact of Brexit is contributing to empty supermarket shelves, and the Scottish government is putting our travel and hospitality industries at a disadvantage to the rest of the UK.

That list was already challenging enough without the stark realisation over the past few weeks that our NHS, which has got us through this crisis, is now at breaking point.

I know that is a claim which politicians are often accused of making simply to weaponise a public service which is held in such specific and special regard by so many of us.

But sadly, all the evidence tells us that the claim is true. Both for the institution itself and the many courageous and tireless staff at its heart.

It must be tempting for those responsible for the well-being of the NHS to blame its current predicament on all the other elements of the storm. That somehow the crisis which has necessitated calling in the Armed Forces to support our ambulance service is purely the result of the circumstances we find ourselves in. That they can look to the example of our energy industry which is defending itself with evidence of an unusual lack of wind and solar resources and a fire on an interconnector.

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New P-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft arrives in Scotland – UK Defence Journal

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RAF Lossiemouth have welcomed their newest Poseidon MRA Mk1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft, ZP806.

The submarine-hunter, named ‘Guernsey’s Reply’, is the sixth Poseidon aircraft to arrive at the Moray base and will operate as part of the re-established 201 Squadron.

The Royal Air Force say here that the aircrafts name honours the close bond between 201, the island of Guernsey and Jurat Herbert Machon OBE who named his Mk XVI Spitfire ‘Guernsey’s Reply’ during World War II.

Wing Commander Smolak, Officer Commanding 201 Squadron, was quoted as saying:

“I am thrilled to welcome Guernsey’s Reply to RAF Lossiemouth.  Not only does this mark a further increase to our maritime air capability here at RAF Lossiemouth but it is also a fitting tribute to the association between 201 Squadron and Guernsey. 

Everyone on 201 Squadron is very proud of this long-standing association and the history which it represents. As we move forward, we must continue to foster the links which brought us to where we are now, and I am personally grateful to be able to play my small part.”

Poseidon is equipped with sensors and weapons systems for anti-submarine warfare, as well as surveillance and search and rescue missions. It features an APY-10 radar for high-resolution mapping, an acoustic sensor system, an electro-optical/IR turret and electronic support measures.

Nine Poseidon MRA Mk. 1 aircraft have been ordered.

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