This is the home page for version 1 of the website. This version is no longer updated with new content but can be used to access Forum and Health Board documents that have not been transferred to the new version. Use the menu buttons above to access the site content as before. Note that the Home button will take you to the original home page from which you will be automatically redirected to the new website.
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 letter, click here.
Plans unveiled of upgrade for Glasgow’s Southern General
Work on a
£28m extension to the maternity unit at the Southern General Hospital
in Glasgow is expected to start next month after the city council
granted planning approval yesterday. To read the full story in The Herald 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.
£842m price of city’s new Southern General hospital
THE new Southern General superhospital will cost £842million, it was revealed for the first time today. To read the full story in The Evening Times click here.
PARKING FURY: Private company sells off spaces at hospital
A PRIVATE firm is selling parking spaces at a Glasgow hospital to anyone who wants them. To read the full story in The Evening Times click here.
Experts cast doubt on study backing A&E cuts
Medical leaders have signalled a major shift in their position on the centralisation of hospital services - casting fresh doubt on the drive to cut accident and emergency departments across Scotland. To read the full story in The Herald click here.
Hospital bosses told: Cut parking fees now!
THE £3 maximum daily charge for hospital parking must be implemented "without delay", Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon ordered today. To read the full story in The Evening Times click here.
Go-ahead for city’s £100m hospital
HERE is the first glimpse of how Glasgow's new Southern General 'superhospital' will look. To read the full story in The Evening Times click here.
Scheme to shut A&Es strongly criticised in review
Official reports will today deal a devastating blow to the drive to close accident and emergency departments across Scotland.To read the full story in The Herald click here.
Doctors seek overhaul of ‘high cost, low value’ PFI hospitals
The British Medical Association has condemned PFI hospitals as "high cost, low value" schemes, in a submission to MSPs.To read the full story in The Herald click here.
Response to Consultation on Better Health, Better Care
The Forum has responded to the Scottish Government's consultation on Better Health, Better Care. To read the response click here. For information about the consultation and to see the consultation documents see the Better Health, Better Care website
Warning of crisis in NHS out of hours services
Out-of-hours medical cover for Scots patients is "not sustainable" in its current form because nearly all of the country's GPs have opted to stop making house calls when their surgeries are closed. To read the full story in The Herald click here.
Campaigners: study backs case against closing A&Es
Campaigners for the retention of local A&E services last night seized on a new study which appears to back up claims that greater centralisation could risk lives. To read the full story in The Herald click here.
NHS
‘blunders’ kill half-a-million Scots
NHS failings have resulted in the deaths of almost half-a-million Scots over the past 30 years, says a shock new report. To read the full story in The Evening Times click here.
Cost-saving
claims for PFI are ‘based on biased evidence’
Treasury claims that private finance initiatives save money are based on flawed and biased evidence, according to a report by Scottish researchers. To read the full story in The Herald click here.
You’re
on the road to a £10m bill, NHS told
THE health service will have to contribute up to £10million to improve roads if it wants to build a superhospital in Govan, it was claimed today. To read the full story in The Evening Times click here.
Anger over parking fees at hospitals
HOSPITAL car parking charges will be enforced across Glasgow from April, despite a storm of protest from health campaigners and politicians. To read the full story in The Evening Times click here.
Fears of 25% cuts at flagship new children’s hospital
Senior doctors fear the size of Scotland's flagship new children's hospital is to be cut by up to one-quarter amid soaring building costs. To read the full story in The Herald click here.
Health boards accused of spending £5,000,000 on taxis
HEALTH boards in the West of Scotland have been accused of spending more than £5million on taxis in the past five years. To read the full story in The Evening Times click here.
More money needed for children’s hospital
The Herald has published a letter from a consultant paediatric surgeon at The Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow. To read the letter click here.
Beds cut at £100m children’s hospital before it is built
Scotland's biggest children's hospital will lose scores of beds when it moves to a new location, doctors claimed last night. To read the full story in The Herald click here.
Signs of privatisation in the Scottish NHS
The Herald has published more letters in response to the University of Edinburgh report on the Impact of PFI on Scotland's NHS. To read the letters click here.
Stop private sector drive in the NHS, say doctors
A group of senior doctors and health campaigners have called for a moratorium on private sector involvement in the NHS in Scotland while a public debate on the issue takes place. To read the full story in The Herald click here.
Public Finance Initiatives and the NHS
The Herald has published a number of letters in response to the University of Edinburgh report on the Impact of PFI on Scotland's NHS. To read the letters click here.
The Impact of PFI on Scotland's NHS
The Centre for International Public Health Policy in the University of Edinburgh has published this report by Mark Hellowell and Professor Allyson Pollock. The report is in the form of a pdf document for which you will need the Adobe Acrobat reader. To read the document click here.
FREE HOSPITAL VISITOR TRANSPORT SCHEME LAUNCHED
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, together with other public sector partners, and in partnership with the voluntary sector, has launched a unique scheme to overcome transport problems faced by relatives and friends of hospital patients. The Evening Visitor Scheme is free of charge and operates on weekdays between 6-10 pm. The service covers the following Glasgow hospitals - Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Western Infirmary, Victoria Infirmary, Stobhill Hospital, Southern General, and Gartnavel General. Using community transport, all Glasgow city residents are eligible, but the service will prioritise people who are older, disabled or on low incomes. The Booking Hotline for the Evening Visitor Service is 0845 128 4027.
Patients ‘paying price’ of the drive to centralise NHS
PATIENTS
pay a price for the centralisation of hospital services, according to an internal
paper circulating among the UK's powerful medical royal colleges.
To read the full story in The Herald click
here.
A rural health warning
Downgrading
hospital services can be bad for you. The
health warning is familiar to communities the length and breadth of Scotland
that have campaigned to preserve local hospitals, accident and emergency departments
and other units.
To read the editorial in The Herald click
here.
Scotland
‘will be 750 GPs short within six years’
Doctors
are warning Scotland will be short of 750 GPs within six years because of a
shortage of training places.
To read the full story in The Herald click
here.
Shortage
of GPs set to turn chronic
SCOTLAND
is facing a chronic shortage of GPs and will have to recruit foreign doctors
and attract more men into the profession to plug the shortfall, according to
a report presented to the Scottish executive.
To read the full story in The Sunday Times click
here.
Repairs
start on Southern General's crumbling A&E
HEALTH
bosses have started repairs on dilapidated operating theatres after conditions
at one of Glasgow's largest hospitals were exposed by the Evening Times.
To read the full story in The Evening Times click
here.
Southern's
Dirty Secret
THESE shocking
pictures reveal the appalling conditions at one of Glasgow's biggest hospitals.
Will
patients benefit?
Are
Scottish accident and emergency (A&E) departments a suitable case for treatment?
To read the editorial in the Herald click
here.
Casualty
cuts: is it kill or cure?
WILLIAM
Fraser had no idea he was having a heart attack. He'd been feeling a bit off-colour
after a skiing holiday,... To read the full story in the
Herald click
here.
The
view from a waiting room
It's
nearly midnight and I'm sitting in the accident and emergency waiting room at
the Victoria Infirmary on the south side of Glasgow. To
read the full story in the Herald click
here.
The
fighting goes on
ACCIDENT
and emergency units have been giving politicians palpitations for years, but
the casualty drama playing out in Lanarkshire is unprecedented.
To read the full story in the Herald click
here.
NHS
will tell patients: don’t go to nearest A&E
Patients
will be asked to use an accident and emergency unit in their health board area,
rather than their nearest hospital, after a shake-up in casualty care in the
west of Scotland..
To read the full story in the Herald click
here.
Our
Deteriorating A&E
Who
can cure the ills of the NHS in Scotland? If money alone could buy a better
service, patients would be enjoying one of the most modern and efficient public
health services in the world by now. To read the full editorial
in the Herald click
here.
Keeping the Scottish NHS Local
- Update Spring 2006
The preparation work for the new road and the utility services for the ACAD
at the QPR site has started. This is an appropriate time for the Forum to make a statement of
where we currently are and our thoughts for the future. To read the statement
click
here.
Angry
doctors attack Kerr U-turn on consultants
Senior
doctors reacted angrily yesterday as Scotland's health minister made a U-turn
on a pledge to recruit 600 additional consultants. To read
the full story in The Herald click
here.
Timing
is everything
If
all goes to plan, Glasgow will boast a "gold standard" hospital with
specialist adult, maternity and children's services in the next four or five
years. To read the full editorial in The Herald click
here.
This
could be the best children's hospital in the world. . .
GLASGOW
was today promised a new "world-class" hospital for babies, children
and their mothers.
To read the full story in The Evening Times click
here.
The
new Vicky unveiled
THIS is the first image showing the scale of the £108million unit which
will replace the city's Victoria Infirmary. To read the report from The Evening
Times click
here.
Architecture+Design Scotland Review of ACAD
Design
Architecture+Design Scotland has reviewed the proposed design of the ACAD for
the QPR site in Glasgow. To read their comments click
here.
Building a Health Service Fit
for the Future
A framework for the future of the NHS in Scotland has been published by the
Scottish Executive. An expert group, led by international cancer specialist
Professor David Kerr, has produced a detailed set of recommendations on how
the health service could be shaped over the coming decades. To view the summary
document click
here. To view the full report click
here.
Traveline Scotland
The Traveline Scotland website is designed to help you plan
any public transport journey within Scotland and from Scotland to main points
in the UK. It may help you to plan journeys by public transport to unfamiliar
hospitals. To go to the website please click
here.
Forum Strategy
The Forum's newly published document argues the case for local hospitals for
local people. We continue to advocate an approach based on the provision of
two acute hospitals in south Glasgow in contrast to one massive and inaccessible
hospital at the Southern General site which is being pursued by NHSGG. To view
the strategy click
here.
Health Committee of the Scottish
Parliament
The Health Committee of the Scottish Parliament has published a report entitled;
Reshaping the NHS?: Workforce planning in the NHS in Scotland. To view the full
report please click
here.
What makes an Accident &
Emergency Department Safe?
The following summary by Dr Matthew Dunnigan reflects a broad consensus view
of the relationship of the size and organisation of Accident and Emergency Departments
in NHS hospitals to safety, based on interviews with a Senior A & E Consultant.
To read the summary please click
here. Please note that there is a link to the document "Standards
for Accident & Emergency Departments" at the end of this summary.
Website check for waiting
times
Patients in Scotland will be able to find out waiting times for routime outpatient
appointments at more than 3000 clinics with the launch of a website yesterday.
The transfer of the national waiting times database to the internet aims to
ensure patients have the data to make informed choices about where and when
they are seen. The website can be found at http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/waiting
