Archived Health News
Voluntary Health Scotland provides a selection of topical health related news stories covering local, national and international issues from a wide variety of sources.
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30th March: Charities demand better treatment from public bodies Public bodies must dramatically change the way they deal with voluntary organisations if the sector is to overcome its current funding crisis, a conference in Glasgow heard this week. Read more ... |
30th March: MSP aims to block GP practice privatisation A bill to block private companies taking over GP surgeries is being proposed in the Scottish Parliament. Read more ... |
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29th March: Keep Well programme cutting the death toll in Scotland's poorest communitiesA new programme to cut the death toll in Scotland's poorest communities is already paying off. Read more ... |
29th March: Board submits proposals on care of the elderly in Lochaber to health minister Proposals for improving services for the elderly in Lochaber have been submitted to Scottish Health Minister Andy Kerr for approval. Read more ... |
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29th March: Heaters in the lungs ‘cut asthma attacks’Hopes of a breakthrough in the treatment of asthma sufferers were raised yesterday when Scottish scientists revealed that inserting mini heaters into the lungs helps cut asthma attacks. Read more ... |
28th March: NHS quango attacked for funds failure A Mental health campaigner launched a scathing attack on NHS Grampian yesterday for failing to properly fund a vital service to help people with learning disabilities. Read more ... |
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28th March: NHS counts cost of obesity epidemicSpending on anti-obesity drugs rocketed to more than £4 million in Scotland last year as GPs doled out 89,000 prescriptions. Read more ... |
27th March: Figures show increase in povertyAlmost one million people in Scotland are living in relative poverty, according to latest figures. Read more ... |
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27th March: Charity to end care over fundingA leading north east charity has said it will stop providing care for adults with learning disabilities after a row over funding. Read more ... |
27th March: Voluntary groups' funding fearsNearly all Glasgow's voluntary organisations are worried where their funding will come from after the end of the next financial year. Read more ... |
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27th March: Scottish politics failing people in housing crisis, argues charity directorHousing Scotland's people is being left behind as a top political priority despite claims that it is the single biggest issue raised locally to politicians by their constituents. Read more ... |
26th March: Report spells out ‘rights’ on Diabetes information A further boost for the provision of information to people with diabetes has been provided through the publication of a report by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) in association with Ask About Medicines Week and Diabetes UK. Read more ... |
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26th March: Schools to reject sugary snacksSugary fizzy drinks, high fat crisps and chocolate will be replaced in school tuck shops and vending machines with fruit juice and healthy snacks as part of new nutritional regulations, it was announced today. Read more ... |
26th March: Change in funding arrangements for Citizens Advice Bureau at Raigmore Hospital Changes are being considered to the running of a Citizens Advice Bureau which gives support to patients at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. Read more ... |
| 26th March: Ban 'helping smokers to give up' The ban on smoking in public places has been hailed as a huge success on its first anniversary. Read more ... | 25th March: Mental Welfare Commission issues guidelines on treatment of anorexics Doctors have been issued with controversial new guidelines which spell out for the first time when they are legally allowed to force-feed anorexic patients close to death. Read more ... |
| 23rd March: Extra £15m needed to counter 'dementia epidemic'The Executive must spend an extra £15 million to tackle Scotland's epidemic of dementia, campaigners said yesterday. Read more ... | 22nd March: £18 million plan put forward for mental health centre at hospital Plans for new multimillion-pound mental health facilities at an Angus hospital have been lodged with the local authority. Read more ... |
| 21st March: Civil service must be cut back, says charities bossThe head of the umbrella group for Scotland's 50,000 charities and voluntary bodies yesterday called for a leaner, more responsive civil service and a complete overhaul in the relationship between government and voters. Read more ... | 20th March: Dance 'could keep young healthy'Dance classes could be a good way to tackle childhood obesity, say ministers. Read more ... |
| 20th March: Children left in danger amid lack of safe homesWarrants to take children at risk out of their family homes are being regularly ignored in the Lothians because of a shortage of children's home beds. Read more ... | 20th March: Experts call for booze crackdownA pressure group has called for a Scottish Parliament inquiry into alcohol-related health problems. Read more ... |
| 19th March: Report outlines views of Scots living with povertyA new report published today aims to ensure that the views of those living with poverty in Scotland are heard ahead of the Scottish parliamentary elections in May. Read more ... | 19th March: Row over wheelchair funding plans Managers of Scotland's wheelchair services have threatened to pull out of talks over their future unless there is a commitment for more funding. Read more ... |
| 19th March: UK Asians 'silent' on child abuseMany Asians in the UK are hiding behind a "wall of silence" when it comes to reporting child abuse, according to child protection charity the NSPCC. Read more ... | 18th March: Disability among children set to doubleThe number of disabled children in the UK is set to nearly double by 2029 as a result of childhood obesity, increases in pre-term birth survival rates and persistent childhood poverty, according to new research. Read more ... |
| 16th March: Diabetes soars in the under fivesThe number of young children with Type 1 diabetes has risen dramatically in the last 20 years, a study suggests. Read more ... | 16th March: Cancer sufferers will get more support from new partnershipCancer patients and their carers in Grampian are to get more help to maximise their incomes, thanks to a new partnership between Macmillan Cancer Support, the Pensions Service and the Citizens Advice Bureaux service. Read more ... |
| 15th March: Parents 'don't recognise obesity'The government is launching a plan to tackle obesity by helping parents recognise the warning signs that their children are overweight. Read more ... | 15th March: Junk food law is passedA law which will ban the sale of junk food in Scotland's schools was last night passed by MSPs. The Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) Act, which is part of the Executive's drive to improve Scottish children's eating habits, was approved unanimously at Holyrood. Read more ... |
| 14th March: Doors open at £1.4m day care centre in East EndA new £1.4million day centre for the elderly was being officially opened in Glasgow today. East Glasgow Community Health and Care partnership will manage the centre, which was funded through a council grant. Read more ... | 14th March: Big rise in number of prisoners with mental health issuesScotland's prisons are increasingly being filled with people suffering from schizophrenia, manic depression and other serious mental-health problems, according to a report published today. Read more ... |
| 13th March: Scottish children's homes in crisisChildren's care homes are in crisis as thousands of staff working with young people do not have the qualifications for the job. Read more ... | 13th March: Charities subsidise state by £130mLeading charities such as Barnardo's, Capability Scotland and Quarriers are being forced to use their own funds to pay for services they provide for the state. As a result, a number of voluntary organisations say they are being forced to cut services. Read more ... |
| 12th March: Executive powerless to outlaw drugScottish Ministers are powerless to prevent the controversial anti-depressant Seroxat being administered north of the border unless their counterparts in England decide to review the drug. Read more ... | 12th March: Executive powerless to outlaw drugScottish Ministers are powerless to prevent the controversial anti-depressant Seroxat being administered north of the border unless their counterparts in England decide to review the drug. Read more ... |
| 12th March: Funding for Glasgow regenerationAn £86 million investment for housing and regeneration in Glasgow was announced today. Read more ... | 12th March: Most Britains will be obese by 2030Record numbers will be so grossly overweight that they will die from strokes, heart attacks and cancers, according to estimates. The number with type two diabetes, which is caused almost exclusively by fat, is due to increase as much as tenfold to 19 million. Read more ... |
| 11th March: Scotland tops world league for rise in cirrhosis deathsNumbers of deaths from liver disease have risen in Scotland more rapidly than any other country in the world over the past decade as a result of the nation's binge-drinking culture. Read more ... | 9th March: £27m plan to help people over 50 grow old gracefullyOld age starts at the age of 50, under government plans set out yesterday for Scots to make their grey years more colourful and fulfilling. Read more ... |
| 9th March: Futures Forum goes online with alcohol and drugs project latest developmentsScotland’s Futures Forum has taken its ‘Fresh Perspectives on Alcohol and Drugs’ online with a dedicated website facility that will allow the 250 leading experts already involved in the project shape the debate as the forum’s year-long inquiry develops. Read more ... | 8th March: Scottish Executive campaign will encourage parents to allow children to cycle to schoolParents are to be asked to shake off their fears about letting their children cycle to school and actively encourage them to do so. Read more ... |
| 8th March: Gender equality duty to come into force in AprilInternational Women's Day is being marked by Communities Minister Rhona Brankin in a speech highlighting the progress made by women in Scotland, particularly since devolution. Read more ... | 7th March: Use of hyperactivity drugs soarsThe use of drugs to treat hyperactivity in children has soared worldwide, say US researchers. Read more ... |
| 7th March: Scotland's suicide rate on the riseSuicides in Scotland have increased significantly in the past 15 years, figures show, and experts yesterday called for increased efforts to target those most at risk. Read more ... | 7th March: Breast cancer 'hits poor hardest'Women from deprived backgrounds are treated differently and have a lower breast cancer survival rate than more affluent women, a study suggests. Read more ... |
| 6th March: Cancer move could save 150 livesAn estimated 150 lives could be saved each year by a new bowel cancer screening programme, according to Health Minister Andy Kerr. Read more... | 6th March: Charity warns that children in Scotland are 20 times more likely to be injured at home than on roadsCHILDREN are 20 times more likely to be injured in the home than on Scotland's roads, according to campaigners. And around 75 youngsters aged 5-14 die each year across the country as a result of accidents in the house. Read more ... |
| 5th March: Hundreds of thousands 'to die early as diabetes rockets by 60%'Scotland is "sleepwalking" into a diabetes epidemic that will cause hundreds of thousands of people to die young, experts warn today. Read more ... | 4th March: NHS ‘failing to offer help to obese children’The NHS in Scotland is failing to provide specialist services to help overweight children shed the pounds, despite concerns over rising levels of obesity in youngsters. Read more ... |
| 3rd March: Flagship policy of free care for elderly ‘is in chaos'The Scottish Executive's flagship policy of free personal care for the elderly is in "chaos" because of bureaucratic incompetence and buck-passing by councils and ministers, the Court of Session heard yesterday. Read more ... | 2nd March: One in five of nation’s poor living in GlasgowGlasgow is suffering from "intense" poverty with tens of thousands of people on the breadline. Read more ... |
| 2nd March: Minister outlines refocused drugs strategy Scotland's drugs strategy is to be refocused to place much greater emphasis on drug prevention and drugs education, it was announced today. Read more ... | 2nd March: Glasgow fails BME communities claimScotland's largest city has been accused of failing to do enough to address the employment and vocational training needs of its black and minority ethnic population. Read more ... |
| 1st March: Break-through in asthma research Researchers in Scotland believe they may have discovered a new treatment for asthma that would prevent child sufferers from having to take steroids. Read more ... | 1st March: Hundreds of elderly left to wait for free care More than 500 elderly people were waiting longer than six weeks for their entitlement to free personal care, when an independent review recently surveyed Scotland's councils. Read more ... |
| 1st March: Child protection at crisis point A specialist team set up to tackle child abuse and neglect in the Lothians is struggling to cope with the huge number of youngsters referred to it. Read more ... | 1st March: Charities call for better understanding of self-harm in Scotland's ethnic minority groupsThe issue of self-harm among people from Scotland's ethnic minority communities has been highlighted by mental health charities. Read more ... |