Latest news with #HealthandSocialCare
Daily Record
20-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
Praise for West Lothian teenager Jak's lasting legacy from cabinet secretaries
There are now five pop-up dens across Scotland thanks to the teenager's vision Angela Constance MSP paid tribute to a Livingston-based charity as she was joined by Scotland's Secretary for Health and Social Care Neil Gray MSP as it marked a decade of helping others. The MSPs, both cabinet secretaries, were visiting Jak's Den in Livingston to mark 10 years as a registered charity in Scotland. Jak Trueman was just 15 years old when he tragically died in 2015 following a fight with delta T-cell lymphoma. The teenager from Mid Calder in West Lothian passed away less than two weeks after being told by his cancer was untreatable. His vision was to provide a place for young people with cancer to gather where they could listen to music, relax and chat. Six days before his death Team Jak Foundation was launched and Jak's Den followed. There are now five dens throughout Scotland. Angela Constance MSP for Almond Valley who is Scotland's Justice Secretary, said: 'I was pleased to visit Jak's Den in Livingston with Neil Gray MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, as part of their 10-year anniversary to discuss how best we can continue to support the charity as they look forward to the future' 'Jak's dream to bring the community together in such a positive way has demonstrated what a remarkable young man he was. Jak's legacy has touched so many lives, thanks to his remarkable vision for improving services for others.' 'Jaks mum Allison has shown incredible strength in making Jak's dream a reality'. Both have inspired so many people to support their work and over the course of a decade have supported more than 500 families with bespoke emotional, social, and practical support, all borne through lived experience.' 'I have been particularly impressed with the determination and drive of staff and volunteers to make Jak's Den a reality. With five pop-up Dens now throughout Scotland, Jak's legacy has reached many more young people and families to ease the fear, confusion and loneliness of a cancer diagnosis or bereavement and ensure no-one feels isolated or alone' Allison Barr, Chief Executive at TEAM JAK Foundation, said: 'It was an honour and privilege to have a very special visit from Neil and Angela to mark our Ten Year OSCR registration. 'It meant the world to have the recognition from such prestigious MSPs. 'Having created our charity at the request of my inspirational 15-year-old son Jak before he died it has been a privilege and honour to watch it grow and see all the amazing services we now provide as a result of one young person lived experience and backed up by the Scottish Government's Childhood Cancer plan and identified gap in emotional support, alongside social and practical.' The charity also has a schools outreach programme which initially supported a small number of schools when one of their children was sadly dying. Now it not only provides support to schools with children who are dying or have died, but also those children affected returning to school. Team Jak's Bag of Worries and Bag of Hope programmes also provide bespoke wellbeing support. Allison added: 'Here's to Jak and his amazing legacy – and to all our superhero warriors' siblings and angels, now and always.' More info on Team Jak Foundation at:
BBC News
14-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
'I'm a better version of me now I'm a nurse'
A nurse who left Guernsey's hospitality industry to take up a role in mental health says the change has made her a "better version" of Darman first came to Guernsey to work at an island hotel before taking an assistant role at the hospital and training to become mental health has shared her story as part of a move by Health and Social Care to encourage people living in Guernsey to take roles in healthcare and reduce its staff Darman said that, since working as a nurse, she had developed her courage, determination compassion and respect. 'Learn constantly' Mrs Darman was working various roles at a hotel and became its mental health ambassador, which she decided to turn in to a profession. She got a job as a healthcare assistant at the hospital, where she was offered training as a substance misuse nurse, which she completed over six said the training and the role had taught her a lot about said: "The courage, the determination, the compassion and the respect have all developed... I do think that I am becoming a better version of myself working in this industry."You need to respond in the best way that you can and you will learn constantly, you never cease studying."She added: "I have colleagues who are mature students like me and I have colleagues who have done this their whole life."We are all different, just like our clients are different and unique." Susan Lesbirel, ward sister at Tautenay Ward, used to work in hospitality before taking a role as a healthcare assistant in said: "I got in because I wanted to find my own identity. "I was a mum-of-three, which was fine, then I got to a certain stage where I thought I need to do something else. "I started off as a bank nurse and it might only have been one night or two nights, but I found myself and I thought I really quite like doing this."Over the next 32 years, Mrs Lesbirel went from an auxiliary nurse to ward sister, only having started her full training at 50."It's been a wonderful journey," she said. Al Brouard, President of the Committee for Health and Social Care, said it was important to hire people who lived in Guernsey. He said: "It means that those members of staff have a local connection, they understand the island, they probably also understand the patients as well. "We have reduced the numbers of agency staff but we still very much value and rely on them."I don't think we will ever get to a position where we will be able to grow all our own staff. "So I think we will always have a reliance on support from other countries."
Scotsman
02-05-2025
- Health
- Scotsman
Health Secretary tours site of Scotland's largest vaccine producer
Scotland's largest vaccine producer, Valneva Scotland Ltd, recently welcomed Neil Gray MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, for a tour of its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Livingston. Sign up to our Scotsman Money newsletter, covering all you need to know to help manage your money. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Scotland's largest vaccine producer, Valneva Scotland Ltd, recently welcomed Neil Gray MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, for a tour of its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Livingston. Valneva is a specialty vaccine company that develops, manufactures and commercialises prophylactic vaccines for infectious diseases with unmet medical needs. Most recently Valneva was awarded Best Biotech of 2025 at the 16th Annual Vaccine Industry Excellence Awards in Washington D.C. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad During the visit, Neil met with some of Valneva Scotland's leadership team and wider employees at its manufacturing centre of excellence in West Lothian. The tour covered various aspects of Valneva's operational lifecycle from the Quality Control Sample Lab in the Manson building to the cleanroom manufacturing area in the new Almeida facility which boasts some of the highest specification lab space in the UK. Greig Rooney, Managing Director at Valneva Scotland Ltd, and Scottish Government Health and Social Care Secretary Neil Gray Scottish Government Health and Social Care Secretary Neil Gray said: 'I was pleased to see the continued success of Valneva in Scotland and its valuable contribution to improving health and the economy. 'Vaccine development for infectious diseases can help keep people safe at home and abroad; I congratulate Valneva on their pioneering and ongoing research in this field. 'Life sciences is a key sector of our economy, recognised internationally for its distinctive businesses and research institutions. As well as protecting people from infectious diseases, Valneva's research has potential to support high value jobs.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Greig Rooney, Managing Director at Valneva Scotland Ltd added: 'It was a pleasure to welcome Neil to our manufacturing facility and showcase the ingenuity of our talented workforce and the sustainable practices we deliver every day. The UK continues to be a global leader in life sciences investment, thanks to its thriving manufacturing sector, and we're proud to play our part in that success.
BBC News
01-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Guernsey electoral candidates asked to support LGBTQ+ community
Electoral candidates in Guernsey can get a "rainbow mark" to use on election materials if they show their support to the LGBTQ+ community, a charity has Rainbow Alliance said candidates have been invited to pledge support to "five asks" to identify themselves as "committed to equality, inclusion, and fairness".Requests from the charity include fair laws and equal rights, inclusive education and increased support and Jones, Liberate CEO, said people from all over Guernsey's community wanted a way to know which candidates would represent their views. 'Informed decisions' They said: "The LGBTQ+ community make up around 10% of the population, with this rising to between 19%-25% amongst younger people in Guernsey, as shown in the two most recent Children and Young People Surveys."We were asked to help people make informed decisions when voting, and together we came up with these five asks."The charity said its first request "nothing about us without us", was a commitment to "not creating or voting on laws or policies that directly affect the LGBTQ+ community without first engaging with us".Liberate said "we are so proud of Guernsey's progress", but added LGBTQ+ islanders and families faced unfair treatment and asked for fair laws and equal said the third ask was for "fair and inclusive education", with the charity asking for candidates to support stronger anti-bullying rules, provide training for teachers, and respect for trans+ children and their families. 'Visible and vocal' In the fourth request to candidates, Liberate said: "We would like you to support the fantastic progress already made by Health and Social Care (HSC) in LGBTQ+ inclusive healthcare."This ask includes ensuring sexual health services continue to be free, safe and accessible, continue ongoing training for healthcare staff on respectful language and inclusive care, and developing improved pathways for trans+ healthcare."The charity also said it wanted LGBTQ+ people to "feel seen, heard, and valued in Guernsey's political and public life"."Candidates are asked to be visible and vocal allies, to invite LGBTQ+ consultation in decisions, and support Channel Islands Pride which brought £1.25m to the island's economy in 2024," it added."We are grateful to any candidates who decide to publicly support the Asks and hope it helps islanders to make informed voting decisions."
Local Norway
25-04-2025
- Health
- Local Norway
Norway bans marketing of unhealthy food to children
Jan Christian Vestre, Norway's Minister of Health and Social Care, said that the directive put Norway at the forefront of countries acting to nudge their populations away from the consumption of unhealthy food. "With this regulation, Norway is a pioneer," he said in a press release . "We are taking responsibility and ensuring that fewer children are exposed to negative pressure that leads to an unhealthy diet, which in turn can be harmful to children's health." The change was issues as a directive, meaning it did not require a vote in parliament. Companies judged by Norway's Directorate of Health to have violated the ban will be asked to withdraw the marketing concerned and will risk a fine if they fail to comply. The ban on the most unhealthy foods, called Annex 1, will apply to advertising in cinemas showing films aimed at children under the age of 13, to competitions aimed at those under the age of 18, and to the distribution of taste and product samples to children. Other marketing will be assessed on whether the product is "primarily consumed by or may particularly appeal to children" and whether the marketing is designed to "particularly appeal to children" by, for example using children's language, bright colours, animations or cartoon characters. Marketing could also fall under the ban if it involves children or "persons who will appeal to children", or uses gifts, toys, coupons, discounts, collectibles, contests or games that "may particularly appeal to children". The marketing ban will apply to all chocolate and confectionery, energy bars and sweet spreads and desserts, to cakes, biscuits and other sweet and/or fatty pastries, to popcorn, cornflakes, salted nuts and salted nut mixtures, to salty crackers, pretzels and salt sticks, to ice cream, and to soft drinks, energy drinks, and juice drinks. It will also apply to juice or milk drinks if they include added sugars or sweeteners, and to breakfast cereals with more than 12.5g sugar per 100g. The ban will apply to fast food or prepared meals with more than 950 kJ (225 kcal) or 4g of saturated fats per 100g. A McDonald's Big Mac has 964.8 kJ (230.9 kcal) and 4.2g of saturated fat -- putting it above the calorie and saturated fat limits. Meanwhile, its Happy Meals are over the caloric threshold , with the total fat and calories depending on the meal. Advertisement The Norwegian Cancer Society welcomed the ban, with Secretary General Ingrid Stenstadvold Ross calling it "a simple measure that gives children and young people a better starting point for good health throughout life". LHL, the patients group for heart, vascular and lung diseases, also welcomed the ban, with Secretary General Magne Wang Fredriksen calling it a "big day for public health and for our children".
