Articles by Katie Mackintosh
The newly established Welfare Reform Committee will listen and act, says its convener, Michael McMahon MSP
The call for the creation of a special committee to enable the Scottish Parliament to closely scrutinise and analyse the impact of the UK Government welfare reforms came directly from civic Scotland. Answering that call and establishing the Welfare Reform Committee was “the easy bit”, according to its convener, Labour MSP Michael McMahon. The greater challenge will be to now demonstrate to those organisations who fear the impact the changes will have on the already vulnerable individuals they work with that it was not an empty gesture.
“We want them to know that it wasn’t just a gesture, that it goes beyond just saying, ‘Yes, we heard you. We’ll set the committee up,’ says McMahon.
“What we want to be able to say is, ‘We heard you. We set the committee up, and here is the change you can see because of that.”
McMahon believes it was “the right decision” to form the Welfare Reform Committee and its establishment reaffirms the strength of devolution. However, he is clear that the committee was not created “to stick two fingers up at Westminster.” Neither he, nor his colleagues, want to be seen to be “antagonising” or “second-guessing” the democratic role and responsibilities of the UK Parliament.
“It is not for me to denounce or decry the process,” says McMahon.
“I can denounce and decry the outcome- I don’t like it. But the purpose of the committee is not to sit there in judgement of Westminster. It is there to say this is what has happened as a result of a decisio...
Continue reading...
As the Patient Rights Act comes into force in Scotland, Holyrood visits the new independent Patient Advice and Support Service “I don’t know how many tears I shed,” Isabella says quietly. She pauses to compose herself then continues to describe her recent stay in hospital where she was being treated for a broken hip. The toilets in the old ward were “filthy” with excrement up the walls and the food was “absolutely putrid”, she recalls. “I’ve never seen food like it. You had to put yourself in a prisoner-of-war scenario. If I didn’t eat I wouldn’t get the protein I needed to get better.” During her stay she contracted an infection but says at the time she felt too “frightened” to ask what or how. The whole experience was “dreadful,” [...]
Telehealth and telecare could be an asset to Scotland’s health and economy Scotland is moving into the “next era” of telehealth and telecare. In this new chapter, Professor George Crooks, director of the Scottish Centre for Telehealth and Telecare and medical director of NHS24, says telehealth is no longer regarded as a “Cinderella, nice-to-do, additional service” and is instead increasingly being recognised as a key way of delivering and supporting core, day-to-day health and care services. In its recent review of telehealth in Scotland, public spending watchdog Audit Scotland argued that telehealth provides an opportunity to treat patients in new ways and help manage rising costs and demand, and urged the NHS in Scotland to do more to consider it when introducing or redesigning services. Crooks acknowledges that some critics [...]
Raising awareness of the risks of head injuries and their impact on people’s lives Scotland was a very apt choice of host for the International Brain Injury Association World Congress last month. The congress, which its organisers believe is the largest of its kind in the world, saw around 1,200 delegates from over 40 countries gather in Edinburgh to discuss a wide range of issues from concussive injuries in sports through to blast injuries in the military and the effects of injuries in later life. Addressing the congress Public Health Minister Michael Matheson remarked: “It’s entirely appropriate, of course, that this congress is being held in Scotland given the substantial contribution that Scots have made to improve our understanding of brain injury and its long-term effects.” These contributions include major [...]
Learning the lessons from the tragic case of baby Peter Connelly The familiar image of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed and blue-jumpered Peter ‘Baby P’ Connelly stood on a black and white chequered floor will “haunt people who were part of the process of the review forever,” the chair of the Haringey Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB), Professor Graham Badman, told students assembled at a recent seminar held at the University of Dundee to discuss what lessons have and can still be learned from Peter’s too-short life and death. The social work students heard the unique insights of Badman, a former director of education and director of children’s services, who was appointed by the then Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, in December 2008 to take over as [...]
