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Letters to the press, 07/10/21: “Hearing Humza Yousaf say that things are going to get worse before they get better is frightening”

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Death of every child in Scotland reviewed to reduce mortality rate – STV news

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The mortality rate for under-18s in Scotland is higher than any other country in western Europe.

The death of every child in Scotland is to be reviewed in future in an attempt to reduce the avoidable deaths of young people, the Scottish Government has announced.

Information is now being collected about the death of anyone aged 18 or younger, or up to 26 if they had recently been receiving care.

The mortality rate for under-18s in Scotland is higher than any other country in western Europe, with approximately 300 children and young people dying every year.

A quarter of those deaths are deemed preventable, and the Scottish Government hopes that gathering data about the causes could help reduce the number of avoidable deaths.

Public health minister Maree Todd said: “The death of any child or young person is a tragedy.

“Our ambition is for Scotland to be the best place to grow up, where every child can reach their full potential.

“We have put in place this national system so we can learn and prevent avoidable deaths or harm in the future and I welcome that it is now being rolled out.”

The death data be collected by government bodies Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Care Inspectorate and will be studied by representatives from the health and social care sector, Police Scotland, the Procurator Fiscal and charities, with the aim of improving services or recommending changes to the law.

Death of every child in Scotland reviewed to reduce mortality rate

Nearly 200 Scottish care homes took in mainly untested patients – BBC news

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In the early days of the pandemic more than half of elderly hospital patients discharged to nearly 200 Scottish care homes had not been tested for Covid.

Data obtained by the BBC from Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides the clearest picture yet on which homes took in untested and positive patients.

A lawyer acting for bereaved families at an upcoming inquiry called the data “explosive evidence”.

Aamer Anwar claimed it was proof that people’s lives had been put at risk.

The figures, which were released 11 months after BBC Scotland had asked for them, focus on hospital discharges between March and May 2020 – which was the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The PHS data, released under freedom of information laws, appears in this interactive dashboard and shows every hospital discharge by individual care home in Scotland.

It reveals what proportion of people discharged were untested or positive and what proportion of beds might have been occupied by discharged patients.

Although the data cannot be used to link discharges to outbreaks or deaths in any given home, solicitor Mr Anwar believed it proved that lives had been put at risk.

He is acting on behalf of members of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice and told BBC Scotland: “The data supports what many bereaved families have always suspected, that elderly patients were discharged without any regard for a duty of care owed to them, or to residents and care home staff.

“Many of the grieving families I represent describe what took place in our care homes as a massacre that could have been avoided, had a simple test taken place prior to discharge.

“The data makes for explosive evidence for a pending Scottish Covid-19 Public Inquiry.”

Extreme waiting times for A&E are becoming ‘the new normal’ – Aberdeen Evening Express

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“Extreme waiting” times in Scotland’s NHS have been branded the “new normal” after accident and emergency departments posted the third worst results on record.

“Extreme waiting” times in Scotland’s NHS have been branded the “new normal” after accident and emergency departments posted the third worst results on record.

The most recent data showed that in the week ending September 19, fewer than three quarters (74.4%) of patients were dealt with in this time – an increase from the record low of 71.5 that was recorded the previous week.

But this was still the third worst performance since weekly monitoring began, and well below the Scottish Government’s target of having 95% of patients in A&E dealt with within four hours.

Public Health Scotland data showed that of the 26,872 people who attended A&E in the week ending September 19, 1,413 were there for more than eight hours.

This included 341 patients who spent more than 12 hours there.

Tory health spokesman, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, responded: “Our A&E departments are still overwhelmed, and Scotland’s NHS would be much better served if (Health Secretary) Humza Yousaf focused on fixing the problems on the front line, instead of making sure he gets a photo op.”

With coronavirus continuing to put pressure on the NHS, the Scottish Government has already called in the help of both the army and firefighters to drive ambulances.

But with patients reported to have died while waiting for help to arrive, Mr Cole-Hamilton demanded an independent inquiry into “all unnecessary deaths connected to ambulance waiting times”.

The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader said: “Extreme waiting times in A&E seem to be the new normal in the eyes of the SNP Government.

Cole-Hamilton: Extreme waiting times for A&E are becoming ‘the new normal’

Scotland has ‘lowest number of hospital beds in a decade’ – STV News

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Scotland has fewer hospital beds than at any time in the last decade, new figures show.

There were 12,869 staffed beds available on average each day last year, a 9.5% decrease from the 14,227 per day in 2011-12 when the current records began.

Bed numbers free and staffed for acute patients have also fallen by 2.5% in the last year, although the numbers that were actually occupied dropped from 85.8% in 2019-20 to 74.7% in 2020-21.

The figures for available beds in acute settings include emergency treatment; routine, complex and life-saving surgery as well as specialist diagnostic procedures.

Beds used for giving birth, psychiatric services and long-stay care are not included in the Public Health Scotland figures.

The latest NHS Scotland figures for admissions and discharges also show there were almost 900,000 patients admitted to hospital in 2020-21 — 30% fewer than the previous year.

This was in addition to approximately 673,000 Scottish residents who visited an outpatient department in the last financial year, taking the total number of attendances to approximately three million, 28% fewer than 2019-20.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman suggested the decrease in acute beds was lower than the 6.5% recorded in England and explained that health boards “regularly adjust the number of staffed beds to reflect actual and projected demand”.

Scotland has ‘lowest number of hospital beds in a decade’

Glasgow is suffering because SNP council leader won’t stand up to Nicola Sturgeon – The Scotsman

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Home to around one-fifth of the nation’s population and sustaining hundreds of thousands of jobs, the city will shape Scotland’s economic performance in the years ahead.

This week, the 23rd annual State of the City Economy Conference will be held in Glasgow and hear about the opportunities for growth. The city has a chance to transform into a green powerhouse and take advantage of new industries such as digital tech.

We have the people and we have the talent. But this transformation will also require ambition for Glasgow. And that is sadly lacking in the current SNP administration in the City Chambers. With Susan Aitken in charge, we do not have a champion for our city.

Instead we have someone who refuses to take responsibility and blames the residents of Glasgow for its current challenges – wrapped up in rhetoric that would make Margaret Thatcher blush.

It’s just a “spruce up” that the city needs, she told STV in a car-crash interview. It’s “wee neds” to blame for the state of the city, she told the BBC in another attempt at deflection.

Rubbish piling up on the streets? People need to take more responsibility for cleanliness in their communities, according to Councillor Aitken. Every single time, whatever the problem, there is always someone else to blame for the SNP.

For education news, click here: https://www.scotlandmatters.co.uk/education-matters/

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.

For health news, please click here: https://www.scotlandmatters.co.uk/health-matters/

NHS may need to cut all non-urgent care this winter, say unions – The Scotsman

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The health service is in “absolute crisis”, warned Unison, while the Royal College of Nursing said nurses were “crying on a daily basis” and frightened of the winter to come.

It comes as the first soldiers are set to begin driving ambulances this weekend, after a request for help from the Scottish Government.

Several health boards have already cancelled non-urgent surgeries, and in a statement on Friday NHS Grampian said it would be forced to prioritise the most sick children at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital over the weekend.

“This is the worst it’s ever been in the NHS,” said Willie Duffy, head of health at Unison.

“People are really struggling. They’re working extra shifts, they’re not getting any holidays, they’re having to stay on shift longer. There are real issues just now.”

Mr Duffy said he would write to the Scottish Government next week about the union’s concerns.

“It might be that we’re going to have to stop a lot of the [routine and elective] work that we do,” he said.

“I know that increases waiting times, but we’re struggling just now in terms of emergency stuff.

“They are going to have to really consider that as an option.”

For political news, click here: https://www.scotlandmatters.co.uk/politics-matters/

No money paid into abuse survivor scheme despite looming deadline – STV news

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No money has been paid into a financial redress scheme for abuse survivors despite the Scottish Government claiming it will be ready to start by the end of the year.

Redress Scotland was set up following the passage of legislation in March, and would offer financial payments of up to £100,000 to those subject to abuse in care before December 2004.

To help fund the scheme, legislation passed earlier this year said funding packages would be negotiated with organisations “who, in making or agreeing to make such a contribution, acknowledge the wrongfulness of, and the harm caused by, the historical child abuse which took place in relevant care settings”.

But the Scottish Government has said it remains confident of opening applications by the end of this year, and negotiations with contributors are in “advanced” stages.

The Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Act 2021 included a controversial waiver which meant those who paid into the scheme could not be subject to legal action from recipients of payouts in relation to past abuse allegations.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney – who proposed the Bill and shepherded it through parliament – said the waiver was a way to ensure organisations would contribute, by protecting them from further financial reparations in the future.

However, a freedom of information request shows no payments have yet been secured, despite the Bill being passed six months ago and a goal of opening for applications by the end of the year.

The response from the Scottish Government said: “No money has yet been contributed towards the funding of redress payments under the Act by any authority, organisation or person.”

No money paid into abuse survivor scheme despite looming deadline