Concerns raised by inspectors over 'dirty' hospital
DIRTY equipment and dusty floors found in the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow raised "significant concerns" over cleanliness, inspectors have said. To view the full article from The Herald click here.
Website Updates
Please note that the link to the Scottish Health Campaigns Network has been refreshed and is operational once again. Also, the link to the website of Professor Allyson Pollock on the Links page has been retitled.
Parking a problem? £25m should fix it!
Having agreed to spend £842 million on the campus, NHS chiefs are now to spend an extra £25m on four car parks To read the full story from The Evening Times, please, click here.
Patients are ‘put at risk by NHS job cuts’
More than 1500 NHS posts were axed in Scotland between March and June this year, prompting claims that patient care is being placed in jeopardy. To read the full story from The Herald, please, click here.
Warning as 45% of Scots health complaints upheld
Almost half of all complaints to an official watchdog about health services in Scotland in the past year have been upheld. To read the full story from The Herald, please, click here.
Kids’ ward to shut to save cash
A children’s ward at a Paisley hospital is to be axed by health bosses in a bid to save millions of pounds. To read the full story from The Evening Times, please, click here.
Forum Minutes June 2011
The Minutes of the June meeting are now available in the Minutes section of the the website.. To view the June Minutes, click here.
Hundreds of operations face axe to save £55m
The country’s largest health board, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC), proposes cutting back on “low health-gain” treatments and tests as it grapples with a £55 million deficit, sparking fears about a postcode lottery for patients. To read the full story from The Herald, please, click here.
Watchdog exposes crisis in £3 billion care network
A spending watchdog has attacked the management of community health services in Scotland in a “deeply disturbing” report. To read the full story from The Herald, please, click here.
Hospital blasted after baby arrives stillborn
A pregnant woman who was told by a midwife that she had a “happy wee baby” delivered a stillborn child two days later. To read the full story from The Evening Times, please, click here.
Membership Renewal
Please note that subscriptions for 2011-12 are now due. Click here to view or download the application form. Please note that you will need the Adobe Acrobat reader to view the form.
Hospital staff warn sick kids are at risk over cuts
Concerns have arisen that redeploying staff from Yorkhill will put youngsters in intensive care at risk. Nurses working at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Yorkhill, Glasgow, are worried that children needing life-saving operations will be forced to wait or be sent to England because the hospital can no longer deal with them. To view the full story from The Herald click here.
Open letter to the BMA about the health white paper
Although Health is entirely devolved to the Scottish Parliament, there are implications on a UK basis particularly in relation to terms and conditions of consultants, and also in relation to the training of medical staff, in the English White Paper. Dr Clive Peedell co- chair of the NHSCA published an open letter which has been published in the BMJ. Click here to see the letter on the BMJ website. The Forum will write to the UK Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, supporting the comments of Dr Peedell.
NHS inform
NHS inform is a new national
health information service
providing a co-ordinated approach and a single source of quality assured health information for the public in Scotland. The set of links provided in the panel on the left of all pages has been changed to include a link to NHS inform. This replaces the link to NHS 24. The home page of the NHS inform website includes a link at the foot of the page to NHS 24.
Health boards ‘compromising care’, say nurses
Health boards are ignoring guidance on safe staffing levels to save money, nursing leaders in Scotland have warned. To view the full story from The Herald click here.
Hospital Cleanliness
Patients can highlight problems with hospital cleanliness to HEI and the inspectors will consider looking into them when they conduct a visit. The e-mail address is safeandclean.qis@nhs.net
Scandal of Scotland's unhygienic hospitals
Serious concerns about the cleanliness of hospital equipment including mattresses and beds have been raised by NHS Scotland’s top hygiene inspector. To view the full story from The Herald click here.
Hospital stops hip procedure as metal joints fail
Doctors at a major Scottish hospital are being told to investigate the number of hip replacements that are failing early. To view the full story from The Herald click here.
Training fiasco failed patients
Dr Ian Anderson, the outspoken new president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (RCPSG), said royal college leaders detached from the frontline had seriously let down patients and frontline doctors. To view the full story from The Herald click here.
Fears over hospital bed cuts
The axing of hundreds of hospital beds across Scotland’s largest health board area will be raised in the Scottish Parliament today. To view the full story from The Herald click here.
Supernurses ‘wasted on wards’
Specialist nurses are being sent back to do ward duties as part of a cost-cutting drive at Scotland’s largest health board. To view the full story from The Herald click here.
Patient Confidentiality - letter in The Herald
Following recent articles in The Herald, and Alastair Glen's letter (see below), The Herald published a letter from Professor Douglas McGregor that adds to the discussion. To view Professor McGregor's letter to The Herald click here.
A Secure Electronic Health Record - letter in The Herald
The Forum has been persuaded for some time of the sense of Professor Douglas McGregor's views on the advantage of ready access to our own personal medical record for health professionals by storing the details on computer. It is important that the records are secure so that confidentiality of health information is maintained and it is this aspect particularly that Douglas has developed. The proposals in the letter which appeared in the Herald on 2nd March 2010 are a summary of his proposals. The Scottish Health Campaigns Network is unanimously in support and hence the letter comes with SHCN approval. To view Alastair Glen's letter to The Herald click here.
Updated Forum Website
A few changes have been made to the website. Users now come directly to this page even if the address for the previous version is used. The previous version is still available from this link and will continue to be available from the Links menu item. The menu bar above has been restyled but works exactly as before. Changes to the links panel on the left are described in the following item.
Changes to the Links pane
A couple of changes have been made to the links in the pane to the left. The Waiting Times website is not available at the moment and the link has been replaced with one to the NHS24 website. This is operated by the Scottish Government and provides comprehensive up-to-date health information and self care advice for people in Scotland. Some GPs also recommend the Patient UK website as a source of information about health related matters. A link to this website has been added to the Links page.
Forum Annual Report
The Chair's Report to the AGM is now available on the website. To read the Forum Annual Report click here.
Outsourcing surveys on the patient experience programme to the private sector
An open letter from Professor Allyson Pollock and others to Nicola Sturgeon MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, has been posted on the CIPHP website. To read the article, click here.
Independent sector treatment centres: evidence so far
An article by professor Allyson Pollock and Sylvia Godden of the Centre for International Public Health Policy, University of Edinburgh, has been published in the BMJ. To read the article, click here to go to the CIPHP website.
To see more press cuttings please go Press Reports.
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