NHSScotland Chief Executive's Annual Report 2010/11
8th November 2011
The NHSScotland Chief Executive’s Annual Report presents an assessment of the performance of NHSScotland in 2010/11. It explains the financial and policy context of the achievements made and challenges faced by the NHS in Scotland. In his report, Derek Feeley, Director General Health and Social Care and Chief Executive of NHSScotland reflects on the improved performance in a significant number of areas and progress towards our ambitions for safe, effective and person-centred healthcare through the implementation of the Healthcare Quality Strategy for Scotland.
Weblink: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/11/02154655
Calling All Healthcare Workers Looking for a New Challenge Overseas
3rd November 2011
Healthcare workers across Britain are being challenged to take up their most demanding but rewarding career move yet as international development charity VSO launches its recruitment drive for 100 much needed skilled healthcare professionals to volunteer in some of the world’s poorest countries next year.
VSO is the world’s leading independent international development charity that works through volunteers helping to tackle global poverty by sharing their professional skills and changing the lives of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.
With cut backs and redundancies affecting the UK’s health sector workforce, VSO is urging professionals to seriously consider taking a career enhancing and possibly life-changing break for one to two years which will ultimately help save the lives of some of the poorest and most disadvantaged populations in developing countries.
One child dies every three seconds from diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria and over half a million women still die annually as a result of complications in pregnancy*. In sub-Saharan Africa the odds of a woman dying from maternal related causes is 1 in 22, compared to 1 in 7,300 in the developed world*. Many of these deaths could be avoided with access to the right medical care.
The charity urgently needs to recruit 100 health managers, hospital doctors, midwives, nurses, obstetricians & gynaecologists and paediatricians who can start vital volunteering posts throughout 2012 in developing countries like Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. UK healthcare professionals will work with VSO’s partner organisations within national ministries of health and local communities.
Volunteers will be involved in a wide range of work, depending on their experience and skills. This could involve everything from training doctors and midwives to developing improved curricula in training schools, giving technical support to health service development at community and district health level to improving health management.
Brian Rockliffe (OBE), director of VSO UK said: “We’re urging healthcare professionals who are looking for an exciting, rewarding and life-changing experience in 2012 to get in touch. If volunteering and helping to save and change lives of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people is something you’ve always wanted to do, then this could be your chance. It’s also an excellent way to develop professionally and personally.
“There’s increasing concern about how to overcome the global health challenges and ensure significantly improved health outcomes for the world’s poorest communities. Poverty is one of the fundamental causes of ill health. However, through VSO’s vital health work and your assistance we can develop stronger and more accessible health systems through our knowledge sharing so that the poorest and most vulnerable populations in the 44 countries where we work can realise their right to health care.”
Pam Wilson is a senior charge nurse from Dundee and volunteered with VSO in Malawi as a clinical instructor in a Malawian Government College of Nursing. She said: “It was a fantastic, life changing experience for me. It was very rewarding being able to share my nursing skills with so many student nurses. It was also comforting to know that I was able to adapt my nursing skills to work in a developing country. My Malawian students and colleagues were also able to teach me a great deal about their culture and health care systems.
“The students I taught are now working in Government hospitals looking after Malawian people. They’re sharing the skills I taught them with the nursing students and Malawi colleagues working in their wards. I’ve been back to Malawi twice now and was very pleased to see the improvements in their health care system.
“After volunteering for VSO I have a greater understanding of different cultures and global health care systems. I’m also much calmer and can cope better with challenging situations at work. For any nurses thinking of volunteering, you have a lot to give so do apply now to VSO to share your skills with others in a developing country and make a difference.”
Those applying for volunteering posts will be assessed and matched to the best placement for their skills and experience. VSO's recruitment process normally takes between four and nine months. Those wishing to volunteer are advised to start the process within 12 months of being ready to volunteer.
VSO volunteers are provided with full training, flights, accommodation and an allowance to cover basic costs. Unlike many UK-based volunteering organisations, VSO does not charge individuals to volunteer and its recruitment policy is based on matching the right professionals with the correct skills and qualities rather than on the ability to pay.
The charity is holding a series of free events which interested healthcare professionals can attend to find out more about volunteering on;
- 8 December, London
- 17 January, London
- 21 February, London
Full details can be found at www.vso.org.uk/events/.
For further information about healthcare volunteering, please visit www.vso.org.uk/volunteer/.
*Source – VSO Health Goal Strategy 2009-2014/UN 2007 MDG Update
Weblink: www.vso.org.uk/volunteer
European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)
1st July 2011
If you’ve ever been on holiday in Europe, you may have had an E111 form to entitle you to free or reduced-cost health care, if you get ill or have an accident. The E111 form was replaced with a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) in 2005. You can apply :
- by completing the online form (your card will be delivered in seven days),
- by calling 0845 606 2030
- by completing a form in the post office
Every family member needs their own card. You can apply for an EHIC for your spouse/partner and any children up to the age of 16 (or 19 if they are in full-time education) at the same time as applying for your own. Before you apply, you need to have the name, date of birth and NHS or national insurance (NI) number of everyone you are applying for.
The EHIC lasts for 3-5 years and allows UK nationals, resident in the UK, to receive free or reduced-cost emergency healthcare when visiting European Economic Area (EEA) countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The Department of Health website explains where the EHIC is valid. The treatment will be free or at a reduced cost, but private treatment is not usually covered.
If you do have to pay, it is a good idea to claim for a refund from the relevant authority in the country where you have been staying. Should you need to make a claim once you return to the UK call the Overseas Healthcare Team (Newcastle), 0191 218 1999 (Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm).
If you're going to a European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland, it's also important to make sure you have private health insurance. This is because the EHIC may not cover all the costs of your treatment, and never covers the cost of getting you home (repatriation) if you are seriously ill.
For more information on the EHIC see the Department of Health's advice for travellers or call the EHIC Enquiries Line on 0845 605 0707.
Weblink: http://www.ehic.org.uk
Post Polio Syndrome Report
29th June 2011
Post Polio Syndrome has in recent years been recognised as a distinct clinical condition with agreed diagnostic criteria. Its essence is that those who had had polio go on to develop in later life new neurological difficulties that cannot be explained on the basis of the acute attack, ageing or another disease. Owing to its insidious development and the length of time between the initial infection and the presentation of symptoms, both patients and healthcare professionals may not be alert to the possibility of PPS as the explanation for the presenting symptoms.
The report helps to explain the condition and suggests ways of managing the symptoms.
PDF: Condition - Polio - SMASAC Working Group - Post Polio Syndrome _ Late Effects of Polio Report - Final Printed version
Doing more with less: a South East (NHS) Education Forum Conversation
13th June 2011
Date: Friday 24 June 2011, 09:30 – 15:30.
Location: Scottish Health Service Centre, Edinburgh.
In a rapidly changing, complex and uncertain world, there is a growing realisation that the NHS workforce is heading towards the perfect storm in which key aspects of the system are all under strain simultaneously.
Faced with these circumstances, what are elements of an appropriate response?
Professor William Reid and colleagues in the SE (NHS) Education Forum Planning Team for this partnership event with SEAT (Derek Phillips, David Christie, David Lee, Janice Laing, Fiona Gailey and Andrew Lyon of the International Futures Forum) invite you to participate in this timely Forum conversation to explore useful responses to this challenge and focus on what to do next.
There is no charge to attend, however, spaces are limited and you must register.
To register for a place please go to www.shsceventsbookings.co.uk and select Doing more with less from the list of conferences.
PDF: Flier | Programme
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