Urgent steps necessary in post-Covid Scotland
This week, Audit Scotland revealed adult social care budgets faced a £10bn budget black hole as Extinction Rebellion protesters marched to highlight the rise in sea levels
Monday, June 7 Scotland’s £10 billion social care black hole
SCOTLAND needs to take urgent action to fill a £10.66 billion black hole in its adult social care budgets over the next 14 years to make revolutionary changes in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The public services spending regulator Audit Scotland says a radical plan is needed required to cover the huge costs are that are needed set out in a blueprint for social care changes, which includes the creation of a National Care Service.
There have been more than 10,000 Covid-related deaths in Scotland, about one-third of which have been in care homes, sparking demands for changes.
The average of £760 million a year extra Audit Scotland says is needed is equivalent to 0.5 per cent of Scotland’s gross domestic product – the monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced in the nation.
An audit examination has revealed that to make necessary changes to how care homes are run until 2035 would need huge investment rises.
Official auditors say that a clear plan and timescales are needed quickly if it is to forge ahead with the plans for the creation of a National
Care Service on “an equal footing with NHS Scotland”, which was one of the key recommendations of a report by former NHS Scotland chief executive Derek Feeley.
Extinguishing virus not a reasonable target, says expert
ERADICATING coronavirus from the world is not currently a “reasonable target”, a global health expert has said.
People will have to learn to live with the disease, World Health Organisation (WHO) special envoy on Covid-19 Dr David Nabarro said.
His comments were echoed by the president of the Academy of Medical Sciences, who said the aim will be to minimise the amount of severe disease the virus causes.
Dame Anne Johnson, who is also professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at University College London, said people will not want to “go on delaying forever” when it comes to lifting restrictions.
Dr Nabarro told the Trevor Phillips on Sunday programme on Sky News: “Humanity is going to have to learn how to co-exist with this virus, preventing it from spiking and then surging and causing hotspots of disease, and we’re going to have to be able to do this for the foreseeable future.
“Eradication is not currently a reasonable target for the world.”
He said: “Each time there is a sudden surge, it does stimulate in one’s mind the thought that there might be a new variant appearing. That wouldn’t be surprising.”
Tuesday, June 8 New drug hope for dementia sufferers after US approval
A DRUG which could slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease has been approved by regulators in the US, in a landmark moment for patients worldwide.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said there was “substantial evidence that aducanumab reduces amyloid beta plaques in the brain” and that this “is reasonably likely to predict important benefits to patients”.
It is the first time in almost 20 years that a new medication for the condition has been approved, and the first drug to target the underlying disease process rather than the symptoms.
Thousands of patients in Scotland who are in the earlier stages of the disease, with mild cognitive impairment, could be eligible for the treatment, although it is unlikely to become available on the NHS until 2022 – subject to meeting with UK regulators’ approval.
Professor Craig Ritchie, director of Brain Health Scotland and a leading expert in the psychiatry of ageing and Alzheimer’s disease at Edinburgh University, said the FDA announcement was “broadly anticipated” but “opens a new chapter” for patients.
Call to split school day and retain blended learning
SCHOOLS should look at splitting the day into two so blended learning can be incorporated on an ongoing basis, according to expert analysis that envisages the end of the traditional classroom.
Keith Topping, professor of educational and social research at Dundee University, said the shift would mean radical change for pupils, staff and parents, but insisted it was worth considering after major research indicated it
could help secure better learning outcomes. He also stressed it would be a loss to allow online and digital teaching skills developed during the pandemic to wither through simple reversion to conventional methods following the reopening of schools. Working with a team of fellow researchers, Prof Topping carried out in-depth analysis of hundreds of international studies and established the vast majority (85 per cent) had found digital technology to be better than traditional classroom instruction in boosting the attainment of pupils.
Wednesday, June 9 Child Covid jags ‘as quickly as possible’ vows Sturgeon
SCHOOLCHILDREN will be vaccinated “as quickly as practically possible” against Covid if officials back expanding the rollout to adolescents.
Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs that vaccination “may well be an important way of giving children greater protection, minimising any further disruption to schooling”.
But said she could not guarantee that all Scottish secondary school pupils would be inoculated by the end of the summer holidays in August.
It comes as the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) considers whether to recommend giving the jags to children aged 12 and older after regulators last week approved the Pfizer vaccine as safe for use in12 to 15-year-olds.
The First Minister said: “I can confirm that if the JCVI does recommend the use of the vaccine for children aged 12 and over.
“We will move as quickly as practically possible to implement their advice.
“For the moment, however, we will continue to focus on vaccinating all adults as quickly as possible.”
Concerns have been raised that the new, more transmissible Delta variant is leading to an increase in disruptive infection outbreaks in schools.
Experts also believe that the fastspreading variant can only be brought under control if around 83 per cent of the total population is fully vaccinated, compared to around 75% if the Alpha – or “Kent” – variant had remained dominant.
Ferry brought in to clear backlog after travel misery
IT is the fourth time and the third vessel that has needed to be enlisted by CalMac in the past eight days, due to faults with one of its ferries and because of problems with the pier infrastructure on two of Scotland’s islands. The relief vessel MV Loch Bhrusda was brought in for the island of Eigg to deal with booked vehicles, passengers and freight yesterday – two days after the 21-year-old MV Lochnevis returned to full operation after completing two rounds of repairs.
Issues with the vessel have combined with problems getting the ferry to dock at the piers on the islands of Eigg and Muck, due to what CalMac described as “infrastructure” issues.
State-owned CalMac said that Lochnevis is no longer able to serve Eigg and yesterday brought in 25-year-old Loch Bhrusda, which is designed for shallower waters and can accommodate 150 passengers and 18 cars.
A SCOTTISH Tory MP has backed a controversial plan for the UK Government to root out “undue nationalist bias” in the teaching of British history in schools.
Andrew Bowie said the idea was one of “a series of feasible policy recommendations” that could help “a Unionist fightback” against the threat of independence.
The SNP and Greens called the idea “ludicrous” and “sinister”.
Mr Bowie, the MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, backs the proposal in the foreword to a paper published today by the Council on Geostrategy.
The paper urges UK ministers to “provision an entity within civil society to conduct a review of the way in which history of Britain is actually taught in Scottish school classrooms, with a view to maintain political neutrality, exposing any undue Scottish nationalist bias”.
Last year, an Education Scotland timeline of Scottish history was labelled “arrant propaganda” after including a debunked myth about Winston Churchill sending English tanks into Glasgow in 1919.
It also described “a resentment of English domination” in the 18th century and said “hopes for an independent Scotland continued” after the 1707 Act of Union.
Outcry after residents told to wear masks in care homes
FAMILIES have reacted angrily to new residential care rules which require elderly people to wear masks “in their own home”.
The Scottish Government has published new guidelines which advise that care home residents “unless exempt” should wear fluid-resistant masks in communal areas such as sitting rooms.
Professor Amanda Croft, the Chief Nursing Officer, wrote to the NHS and care bodies to say that guidance on face coverings in hospitals, primary care and adult care homes had been revised.
The changes prompted anger from relatives, care home owners and sector leaders.
Catriona Ross Lyons, whose mother is in a care home in East Dunbartonshire, said: “Clearly the people thinking this might be feasible have never had any experience with dementia. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”
The document states residents should wear a mask, unless they are exempt, in all communal spaces. They are not expected to do so within their own rooms or toilets “unless they are receiving direct care” and particular importance is given to hospital transfers.
Friday, June 11 Delta strain makes up 91% of new UK Covid infections
THE vast majority of new Covid infections in the UK are being caused by the Delta variant.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that 91 per cent of cases are now due to the fast-spreading new strain first found in India.
Mr Hancock revealed the latest official estimate as he gave evidence to Westminster’s Health and Science Select Committee on the Government’s handling of the pandemic.
He also disclosed that an initial “reasonable worst-case scenario” based on Spanish Flu had predicted that as many as 820,000 Britons could die from the virus.
It comes as Scotland’s Health Secretary warned that the supply of the Pfizer vaccine will be “particularly tight” over the next few weeks and will restrict the vaccination programme’s rollout.
Humza Yousaf has written to Mr Hancock to ask what can be done to increase supplies.
Mr Yousaf said Scotland needs more Pfizer doses if it is to “maintain or increase” the rollout, after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advised that the AstraZeneca vaccine should not be used for those under 40.
Latest data for Scotland show that infections have more than quadrupled in a month, although there was no increase yesterday in the number of patients in hospital with the virus.
Second exam ‘crisis’ looms, opposition warns FM
NICOLA Sturgeon has been warned Scotland faces a second “exams crisis” as she was accused of failing to listen to pupils.
Scottish Labour said refusing to act will see a repeat of the scenes last summer, when young people took to the streets to protest unfair results.
The Tories accused the First Minister of overseeing “the same shambles as last year”, but with a more “sleekit” system.
Ms Sturgeon insisted this year’s grades will not be based on algorithms, statistical models or the historical performance of schools, but on teacher judgment.
Awards are being given by teachers as the coronavirus crisis has forced the cancellation of formal exams for the second year in a row. But many pupils still had to sit assessments this year, with questions also being raised about an appeals system which means youngsters could see their results downgraded. Tens of thousands of pupils had their results upgraded last year following outcry over a moderation system that took into account the past performance of schools.
Saturday, June 12 Health body hit by ‘conflict of interest’ row
SCOTLAND’S national public health body has been hit by a “conflict of interest” row after a document emerged reportedly showing one of its duties is to protect the reputation of government ministers.
The Times reported that Public Health Scotland, which investigated the discharge of hospital patients into care homes last year, has an agreed “communications framework” with the Scottish Government and Cosla, the council umbrella body.
Scottish Labour said the revelation raised “serious questions about a conflict of interest”, and accused the SNP of “control freakery”. The Tories called for a “new, truly independent report on what went wrong in Scotland’s care homes” and raised fears the investigation by PHS may have been “compromised”. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stressed it is “not the duty of Public Health Scotland or any other public body to protect ministers”.
£30m in vital cash for firms ‘has still not been paid out’
SCOTLAND’S Finance Secretary has warned that councils are “still sitting on unspent money” totalling £30 million to help prop up struggling businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kate Forbes has called on councils to hand out the unspent money quickly, but ministers have been told to “stop passing the buck” to local authorities amid fears officials have been flooded with extra paperwork to distribute the cash to desperate businesses.
The local authority discretionary fund was announced by the Scottish Government in November as a pot of cash for businesses that fell through the cracks of other Government schemes.
The funding, intended to “mitigate the short-term financial challenges” of the pandemic, was extended in January to a total of £120m across all councils.
Cosla, which represents Scottish councils, pointed to the pressures local authorities have been under to hand out money on behalf of the Government and described the commitment of officials as “nothing short of a herculean effort”. Aberdeen Council has handed out £2.8m through the scheme but is yet to part with £3m of lifeline financial help, while Highlands Council has only handed out half of the £7m it was allocated.
Shetland Council has temporarily closed its fund after handing out only one-third of the grant it received to pass on.