Symbolically, by comparison to Westminster’s slap in the face, this pay offer appears as a victory for decency. But we’ve got to start holding our government to higher standards than “one notch better than Westminster”.

Source Direct: Help for #Heroes



The conclusions of a much-awaited report into discharges of patients from hospitals to care homes should be treated with care. It shows that the risk of a care home outbreak is more clearly related to the size of the care home (larger more likely to have an outbreak) than by the extent of hospital discharge into a […]

Take care with the hospital discharges to care homes report



The announcement of NHS Highland buying out HC-One’s Home Farm care home in Skye has taken away the focus in much of the media from the Care Inspectorate’s official inspection report at Home Farm from 18 May, which has only just been published by the care regulator now. You can access it here.  It makes absolutely […]

The Home Farm buy-out leaves a sour taste


Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has announced she will not be seeking re-election next year. Freeman joins Mike Russell, Aileen Campbell and Roseanna Cunningham in being the latest Minister to announce that she will be stepping down.  “While I have a great deal of energy left and more I want to do, I think it is […]

Jeane Freeman to step down at Holyrood elections



While the media’s attention was focused on the answers of Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans in the first day of the Holyrood-Salmond inquiry yesterday, Health Secretary Jeanne Freeman came up with some pretty curious answers of her own in response to questioning about the care homes crisis in parliament on Tuesday.  Asked about the Sunday Post’s […]

The Scottish Govt can’t wash its hands of hospital discharge to care homes



Health Secretary Jeane Freeman is set to take questions today from MSPs on the care homes crisis, the eye of the Covid-19 storm in Scotland.  Yesterday’s weekly National Records of Scotland statistics revealed that there are now more deaths in care homes than the rest of Scotland combined, a tragic outcome three months into a […]

Care Homes crisis: 4 questions for the Health Secretary