The Scottish Government published a plan for tackling the physical and social environments that caused stress, damaged health and well-being, and led to inequalities.
Source: Good Places, Better Health: A New Approach to Environment and Health in Scotland – Implementation Plan, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Plan
Date: 2008-Dec
The Scottish Government published a plan for implementing the recommendations of a taskforce report (in June 2008) on reducing health inequalities.
Source: Equally Well Implementation Plan, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Plan | Report part 1 | Report part 2
Date: 2008-Dec
A report by a committee of MSPs expressed concerns over plans to introduce direct elections to health boards. It said that pilots of the plan should go ahead in two areas, but that alternative public participation schemes should also be tested.
Source: Stage 1 Report on the Health Boards (Membership and Elections) (Scotland) Bill, 7th Report 2008, SP Paper 185, Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | Evidence | BBC report
Date: 2008-Dec
Scotland's Chief Medical Officer published his annual report for 2007.
Source: Health in Scotland 2007: Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SG press release
Date: 2008-Dec
A report by a committee of MSPs called for better monitoring of the cost of free personal and nursing care. It highlighted the potential impact that demographic change and inflation could have on the sustainability of care provision in the future.
Source: Free Personal and Nursing Care, 4th Report 2008, SP Paper 183, Scottish Parliament Public Audit Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SP press release | SG press release | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Dec
An audit report said that the financial position in the National Health Service in Scotland continued to improve overall, but that the service faced 'challenging times' in the near future.
Source: Financial Overview of the NHS in Scotland 2007/08, Audit Scotland for Accounts Commission and Auditor General (0131 477 1234)
Links: Report | Audit Scotland press release | SG press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Dec
The care services regulator in Scotland said that 1 in 5 care services in Scotland had been found to have unsafe procedures in place for recruiting staff. Evidence was found of care staff being employed without proper checks completed on their fitness to do the job, without criminal records being checked, and with references going unverified.
Source: Safer Recruitment for Safer Services: A report on the quality of recruitment practices in registered care services, Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SCRC press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Nov
A report examined aspects of healthcare that Scottish patients viewed as being important. Although patients were largely very positive towards the National Health Service, they also described specific instances where improvements could be made. A second report looked specifically at primary care. A third report examined existing patient experience activities within NHS Scotland and the attitudes of NHS Boards towards patient experience: it also examined Boards' expectations of the Scottish patient experience programme, and beliefs about patients' priorities.
Source: Stephen Bruster, Better Together: Scotland's Patient Experience Programme – Building on the Experience of NHS Patients and Users, Scottish Government (0131 244 7560) | Kirsty McKissock, Better Together: Scotland's Patient Experience Programme – Building on Experience – Public Priorities with Respect to General Practice Care, Scottish Government | Rachel Reeves, Better Together: Scotland's Patient Experience Programme – Building on the Experiences of NHS Boards, Scottish Government
Links: Report | Summary | Primary care report | NHS Boards report | NHS Boards (summary)
Date: 2008-Nov
The Scottish Government published (following consultation) reforms to the system for protecting vulnerable groups. The plans were intended to ensure that people who came into regular contact with vulnerable groups through their work did not have a history of abusive behaviour, while also creating a proportionate approach to vetting, ending the need for multiple disclosure checks.
Source: Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007: Scottish Vetting and Barring Scheme, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Oct
A report by a committee of MSPs said that there needed to be a shift in family doctors from affluent areas to more deprived areas where they were most needed.
Source: Health Inequalities Inquiry: Response to the Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SP press release
Date: 2008-Oct
The Scottish Government announced that all school pupils in primary school years 1-3 (aged 5-7) would be entitled to free school meals following successful pilot schemes. The system would be rolled out from August 2010.
Source: Press release 2 October 2008, Scottish Government (0131 556 8400) | Jane MacLardie, Chris Martin, Lorraine Murray and Kate Sewel, Evaluation of the Free School Meals Trial for P1 to P3 Pupils, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: SG press release | Evaluation report | CPAG press release | UNISON press release | NASUWT press release | Voice press release | Scotsman report | BBC report | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Oct
An article examined the reasons for the low priority given to physical and outdoor activity in care services in Scotland. It highlighted the variety of stakeholders involved in care services and the potential conflicts among them. National and local government needed to commit themselves to an integrated policy, with more incentives for business and communities to improve lifestyles and environments.
Source: Adrienne Curry and Bridget Clark, 'Children at play – an endangered species?', Public Money and Management, Volume 28 Issue 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Oct
A report summarized qualitative research with parents, carers, and children in Scotland to explore their views and experiences of early interventions, early-years services, and support for families with young children. Families frequently did not know where to access information on what services were available to them. A significant proportion of parents and carers did not differentiate between the purposes of early education and the purposes of childcare. This can leave them dissatisfied with the hours provided by early education services. The cost of childcare could be prohibitive, and acted as a barrier to parents and carers returning to work.
Source: GEN with Illuminate UK, Perspectives on Early Years Services: Qualitative research with service users, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Sep
Researchers examined pilot projects funded by the Scottish Government designed to combat low achievement in education by looked-after children and young people, in order to identify interventions that appeared to make the most difference in terms of both educational experience and educational outcomes.
Source: Graham Connelly et al., The Educational Attainment of Looked After Children – Local Authority Pilot Projects: Final Research Report, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Sep
The Scottish Government published the range of indicators which would be used to assess long-term progress in tackling health inequalities. The indicators were: healthy life expectancy (at birth); premature mortality (before 75) from all causes; mental well-being; low birthweight; coronary heart disease; cancer; alcohol problems (hospital admission for those under 75, and deaths aged 45-74); and deaths aged 15-44.
Source: Long-term Monitoring of Health Inequalities: First report on headline Indicators, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | SG press release
Date: 2008-Sep
A report said that adults with learning disabilities in Scotland living with their families appeared to receive fewer choices and services than those in supported accommodation. Annual spending per head for people with learning disabilities living at home ranged from £7,000 to £30,000, according to responses from 11 Scottish councils.
Source: Lucy Johnston, Missed Out, Missing Out, Quarriers (01505 616138)
Links: Report | Quarriers press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Sep
A report examined life expectancy for administrative areas within Scotland over the period 2005-2007. Overall life expectancy at birth had improved over the previous 10 years from 72.3 years to 74.8 years for men, and from 77.9 years to 79.7 years for women.
Source: Life Expectancy for Administrative Areas within Scotland, 2005-2007, General Register Office for Scotland (0131 314 4243)
Links: Report | GROS press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Sep
A report summarized the key findings from a module in the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2007, exploring attitudes to drinking and the role of alcohol in Scottish culture. Many people (67 per cent) believed that 'drinking was a major part of the Scottish way of life': at the same time, nearly half (48 per cent) saw the amount of alcohol people in Scotland drank as something to be ashamed of.
Source: Rachel Ormston and Catriona Webster, Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2007: Something to be Ashamed of or Part of Our Way of Life? Attitudes towards alcohol in Scotland, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Date: 2008-Aug
The Scottish Government began consultation on proposals to reform and streamline the children's hearings system, to improve the support given to vulnerable young people and create a more integrated system.
Source: Strengthening for the Future: A consultation on the reform of the children's hearings system, Scottish Government (0131 556 8400)
Links: Consultation document | SG press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Aug
A report explained the legal and administrative underpinnings of devolution and how they shaped the health policies pursued in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It identified various kinds of tension building up along administrative and physical borders, and the likelihood of major intergovernmental conflict.
Source: Scott Greer and Alan Trench, Health and Intergovernmental Relations in the Devolved United Kingdom, Nuffield Trust (020 631 8450)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Jul
An audit report in Scotland said that the new contract for family doctor practices should have been better planned, and would take time to improve care for patients. However, there was evidence of improvement in the care of some patients.
Source: Review of the New General Medical Services Contract, Audit Scotland for Accounts Commission and Auditor General (0131 477 1234)
Links: Report | Audit Scotland press release | BMA press release | RCN press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jul
The Scottish Government announced that it would legislate to prevent commercial companies being able to run family doctor services.
Source: Press release 8 July 2008, Scottish Government (0131 556 8400)
Links: SG press release | FT report
Date: 2008-Jul
The Scottish Government began consultation on proposals for tackling alcohol misuse. Key proposals included: raising the minimum age for off-sales alcohol purchases to 21, and setting a minimum price at which a unit of alcohol could be sold.
Source: Changing Scotland's Relationship with Alcohol: A discussion paper on our strategic approach, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Consultation document | SG press release | BMA press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Jun
The Scottish Government published a Bill to promote public engagement in the health service. Elected health boards would make the National Health Service more accountable and responsive to the public by creating a greater sense of ownership and participation in decision-making.
Source: Health Boards (Membership and Elections) (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Policy memorandum | SG press release | BMA press release
Date: 2008-Jun
The Scottish Government published a report which said that health inequalities remained a significant challenge in Scotland. Tackling health inequalities required action from national and local government, and from other agencies including the National Health Service, schools, employers, and third sector. Priority areas were children, particularly in the early years; 'killer diseases' such as heart disease; mental health; and the harm caused by drugs, alcohol, and violence.
Source: Equally Well: Report of the ministerial task force on health inequalities, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report part 1 | Report part 2
Date: 2008-Jun
A report examined cases in Scotland of suicide and homicide by people with mental illness. It made recommendations designed to strengthen training and services for the management of drug and alcohol misuse, including a focus on 'dual diagnosis' patients; and to improve outreach services for patients at risk of losing contact with care.
Source: National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, Lessons for Mental Health Care in Scotland, Centre for Suicide Prevention/University of Manchester (0161 275 0700)
Links: Report | Summary | Manchester University press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Jun
The education inspectorate in Scotland examined the education of looked-after children. It highlighted a continually changing population of children and young people with a complex range of educational and care needs. It identified a number of 'signposts for improvement' through which the quality of services and educational outcomes for looked-after children could be improved.
Source: Count Us In: Improving the education of our looked after children, HM Inspectorate of Education in Scotland (01506 600200)
Links: Report | HMIE press release | LTScotland press release
Date: 2008-Jun
The care services regulator in Scotland said that more than half of Scotland's 236 residential care services for young people needed to make improvements to their standards of practice.
Source: Protecting Children and Young People in Residential Care: Are we doing enough?, Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SCRC press release | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-May
The Scottish Government published a strategy aimed at cutting the estimated annual £2.6 billion financial burden of problem drug use to the Scottish economy and society. It said that tackling problem drug use required effective policies on the economy, tackling poverty, and supporting families and children.
Source: The Road to Recovery: A new approach to tackling Scotland's drug problem, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Strategy | SG press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-May
Researchers examined strategic approaches to the provision of parenting support and services in Scotland.
Source: Linda Hutton, Sarah MacQueen, Joe Curran and Bill Whyte, Support and Services for Parents: A review of practice development in Scotland, Scottish Government (0131 244 0894)
Links: Report | Summary | Literature review
Date: 2008-May
The report of an independent review said that despite some practical difficulties in its formative years, the free personal and nursing care policy in Scotland remained popular and had worked well on the whole, delivering better outcomes for Scotland's older people. But it predicted that the costs of free provision would nearly triple within 25 years.
Source: Stewart Sutherland, Independent Review of Free Personal and Nursing Care in Scotland, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SG press release | COSLA press release | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Apr
The watchdog in Scotland for the rights of children and young people said that vulnerable children were leaving care when they were too young, ending up homeless and potentially vulnerable to drug/alcohol problems and unemployment. Eight times as many young people left care at 16 as at 18, despite law and policy strongly advising that they should be encouraged to stay in care until they were 18.
Source: Sweet 16? The age of leaving care in Scotland, Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People (0131 558 3733)
Links: Report | Summary | Herald report | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Mar
A report, which drew on data from the first sweep of the 'Growing Up in Scotland' study, examined the extent to which parents with young children had access to, and drew upon, informal sources of support with parenting. Mothers with no qualifications and those from low-income households were more likely to agree that seeking help from professionals would result in interference, and to express difficulty with seeking help or advice, than mothers with qualifications and those from higher-income households.
Source: Paul Bradshaw with Lynn Jamieson and Fran Wasoff, Use of Informal Support by Families with Young Children, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Mar
A report examined the additional non-medical aspects of service required to ensure that people in Scotland with substance use problems were given every opportunity to recover from their problems.
Source: Essential Care: A report on the approach required to maximise opportunity for recovery from problem substance use in Scotland, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | SG press release
Date: 2008-Mar
An audit report said that free personal and nursing care in Scotland needed to be better planned, managed, and funded for it to continue to benefit older people in the future.
Source: A Review of Free Personal and Nursing Care, Audit Scotland for Accounts Commission and Auditor General (0131 477 1234)
Links: Report | Audit Scotland press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Feb
The Scottish Government began consultation on proposals for greater public involvement in the National Health Service and direct elections to health boards.
Source: Consultation Document: Local Healthcare Bill, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Consultation document | SG press release
Date: 2008-Jan
Researchers examined the use of 'deferred payment agreements' in Scotland, which provided an option for care-home residents to have part of their care home fees met by the local authority with the balance met from their estate. There was support for deferring payment of care-home fees across all groups included in the research.
Source: Mari Mair and Barry McLeod, An Evaluation and Assessment of Deferred Payment Agreements, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | Summary | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Jan
A report examined how the health systems in the United Kingdom's three devolved administrations had developed, and how their approaches had differed from those in England, since 2003.
Source: Paul Jervis, Devolution and Health, Nuffield Trust (020 631 8450)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Jan
A report examined the values embedded in the health services and policies of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the European Union. It highlighted some very different entrenched values, including commitments to: 'collaboration and collectivism' in Scotland; the very similar 'communication and collectivism' in Wales; democratic participation, neutrality, and the new public health in Northern Ireland – 'having a say rather than having a choice'. All stood apart from England in their commitment to communities and participation rather than markets and technical solutions.
Source: Scott Greer and David Rowland (eds.), Devolving Policy, Diverging Values? The values of the United Kingdom's National Health Services, Nuffield Trust (020 631 8450)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Jan
