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Daily Record
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Record
Scots carers waiting twice as long for key benefit as people living in England
EXCLUSIVE: Average processing times for Carer Support Payment have jumped to over 50 days. Scots carers who look after the disabled are waiting twice as long for a vital benefit compared to people in England. Average processing times for the devolved Carer Support Payment (CSP) have now soared to 54 days. Scottish Lib Dem MP Wendy Chamberlain, who uncovered the huge disparity, blasted: 'I've been approached by carers concerned that payments are taking so long to process. Scottish ministers might talk a good game about a gentler and kinder bureaucracy but what carers actually want is to get paid on time.' As part of the devolution of some social security benefits to Holyrood, CSP replaced the UK-wide Carer's Allowance, which is still in force south of the border. Carers can receive £83.30 a week if the person they look after receives disability benefits. But figures show the median processing time for CSP hit 54.3 working days in March, compared to 26-28.6 days for the DWP benefit in the same month. Social Security Scotland figures show the waits faced by carers in having their claims processed has been steadily climbing. The figure was a median average of 23.7 days in March last year and 28.2 in January before reaching 54.3 months ago. Nearly 650 carers also had to wait more than 41 working days in March alone. Around £89.5m was paid out in CSP between November 2023 and March this year. Chamberlain said: 'The whole point of devolving social security powers was to give Scotland a chance to treat claimants more humanely compared to the hated DWP. Unfortunately, on the SNP's watch, processing times keep getting worse.' Labour MSP Michael Marra said: 'These appalling waits show the SNP has broken its promise to deliver a fairer, more efficient social security system in Scotland. Under the SNP costs are spiralling but applicants are still being let down. Carers do invaluable work and they deserve a social security system that works for them, but they are being left in limbo for months on end due to SNP incompetence.' Green MSP Maggie Chapman said: 'This is shocking and my heart and solidarity is with everyone who has been left waiting. Carers do a vital role for their loved ones and for our society and they deserve our recognition and respect, and also our support. 'Nobody should be made to wait this long, and I have no doubt that it will have caused a great deal of stress and anxiety for people who are often in precarious financial positions. The Scottish Government must turn this around and ensure that we have a social security system that recognises the importance of carers and is based on compassion and doesn't leave people waiting.' A Social Security Scotland spokesperson said: 'Our priority is to process applications as quickly as possible and to make the right decision first time. Although average processing times for Carer Support Payment applications increased slightly earlier this year, the number of payments to unpaid carers more than tripled - putting more money in the pockets of people who do so much for others. "Unlike Carer's Allowance, the benefit it replaces, Carer Support Payment is available to more carers in education, including full-time students aged 20 or over and students aged 16-19 in advanced or higher education.'
Daily Record
14-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
Scottish health board spends 'eye-watering' £2m on locum psychiatrists in a year
EXCLUSIVE: NHS Highland spent £2.1m on the stand in doctors in 2024 - up from £1.9m the year before. A Scottish health board spent an "eye-watering" more than £2 million on locum psychiatrists last year. NHS Highland spent £2.1m on the stand in doctors in 2024 - up from £1.9m the year before. Labour said the spend was "a direct result of the SNP's woeful lack of workforce planning and failure to support rural health boards." The Lib Dems called for the Scottish Government to "end its shambolic approach to workforce planning and increase the number of consultant psychiatrists in training to plug these gaps." The health board paid an average £100,000 to the 21 locum psychiatrists it employed last year. The £2.1m spent was up from 2023, but was down from the 2022 figure of £2.2m. Before that its spend was about £1.2m per year. Locum doctors generally cost the NHS more money because they are on short-term contracts. They are often necessary to provide cover but can cost two or three times the funds that a permanent doctor would. Agency fees also drive up the cost of using locums as well as the increased hourly rate. Scottish Labour Health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said "These eye-watering costs will starve local NHS services of resources they badly need. "This is a direct result of the SNP's woeful lack of workforce planning and failure to support rural health boards. "Once again taxpayers are paying the price for SNP incompetence. "Our NHS is on life support as a result of SNP mismanagement and waste - it's time for a new direction." Lib Dem MP Wendy Chamberlain said: 'There is a dangerous staffing crisis within NHS mental health services, with vacancies at particularly high levels in rural and remote parts of the country. "Scottish Liberal Democrat research has previously revealed that 1 in 5 senior mental health roles are either lying empty or being filled on a temporary basis. That means longer waits for patients and vast amounts of money being spent on staff to try and plug gaps. 'The SNP Government needs to end its shambolic approach to workforce planning and increase the number of consultant psychiatrists in training to plug these gaps." A spokesperson for NHS Highland said: "NHS Highland's priority is to deliver safe, high-quality, and person-centred mental health care and services. "The reliance on locum staff highlights the psychiatric national workforce crisis. "In response to meeting the needs of our patients, we put every effort into coordinating both in-person and virtual appointments through our network of clinicians within the board's area." Mental Wellbeing Minister Tom Arthur said: 'We have record numbers of staff, providing more varied mental health support and services to a larger number of people than ever before. We have exceeded our commitment to recruit 800 additional Mental Health Workers to A&Es, GP practices, police station custody suites, and prisons. 'We are supporting NHS Boards to plan locally for service need and delivery. This has been supplemented by substantial investment in our future consultant workforce and the creation of several additional training places in psychiatry.'
Scotsman
13-07-2025
- Health
- Scotsman
Vaccination plea following death of child after contracting measles
Measles vaccination rates have fallen to their lowest level in a decade in Scotland Sign up to our Politics newsletter 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... Scottish ministers have been urged to drive up measles vaccination rates after reports of a child in England dying after contracting the virus. The child ws said to have died at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool amid an outbreak in the region - the hospital said it had seen a surge in 'seriously unwell' children being admitted after contracting measles. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Parents are being urged to vaccinate their children. | AFP via Getty Images The Scottish Government is now being urged to do all it can to encourage parents to vaccinate their children. Dame Jackie Baillie MSP, Scottish Labour's health spokeswoman, said: 'The vaccine for measles has saved countless lives in Scotland and across the world. 'These immunisations are a modern miracle, but they are only at their most effective when everyone gets vaccinated. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'The Scottish Government needs to ensure families have the information and confidence to access immunisation programmes. 'We must work together to reverse this worrying trend and keep kids and our country safe.' Lib Dem MP Wendy Chamberlain added: 'Measles is highly contagious and for some people it can be very serious. 'As a result, it is concerning to see reports of vaccination rates falling in Scotland. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'The Scottish Government needs to be stressing the importance of getting vaccinated because that is the best protection from becoming ill and helps to prevent major outbreaks.' Most childhood vaccines were lower in Scotland in 2024 compared to 2023. The latest data from Public Health Scotland shows the uptake of the first dose of the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine by the age of five declined to 95.2 per cent. This is the lowest level recorded in 10 years. Uptake of the second MMR vaccine was 89 per cent. The difference between those in the most and least deprived areas getting both doses of the MMR vaccine was 10.3 per cent. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The UN's target is for 95 per cent to be immunised against measles and the NHS says having the MMR vaccine is the 'best way' to prevent measles. Measles starts off with cold-like symptoms followed by a rash, and is spread by breathing, coughing and sneezing. However, complications can include blindness, swelling of the brain and potential brain damage, severe diarrhoea and dehydration, ear infections, and severe breathing problems such as pneumonia. Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said: 'We continue to urge all parents and carers to vaccinate their child when invited to do so. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'This protects them against serious disease including measles, meningitis and pertussis. 'Childhood immunisation rates in Scotland remain high and we are working with Public Health Scotland and the NHS to increase uptake.'
Scotsman
13-07-2025
- Health
- Scotsman
Vaccination plea following death of child after contracting measles
Measles vaccination rates have fallen to their lowest level in a decade in Scotland Sign up to our Politics newsletter 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... Scottish ministers have been urged to drive up measles vaccination rates after reports of a child in England dying after contracting the virus. The child ws said to have died at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool amid an outbreak in the region - the hospital said it had seen a surge in 'seriously unwell' children being admitted after contracting measles. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Parents are being urged to vaccinate their children. | AFP via Getty Images The Scottish Government is now being urged to do all it can to encourage parents to vaccinate their children. Dame Jackie Baillie MSP, Scottish Labour's health spokeswoman, said: 'The vaccine for measles has saved countless lives in Scotland and across the world. 'These immunisations are a modern miracle, but they are only at their most effective when everyone gets vaccinated. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'The Scottish Government needs to ensure families have the information and confidence to access immunisation programmes. 'We must work together to reverse this worrying trend and keep kids and our country safe.' Lib Dem MP Wendy Chamberlain added: 'Measles is highly contagious and for some people it can be very serious. 'As a result, it is concerning to see reports of vaccination rates falling in Scotland. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'The Scottish Government needs to be stressing the importance of getting vaccinated because that is the best protection from becoming ill and helps to prevent major outbreaks.' Most childhood vaccines were lower in Scotland in 2024 compared to 2023. The latest data from Public Health Scotland shows the uptake of the first dose of the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine by the age of five declined to 95.2 per cent. This is the lowest level recorded in 10 years. Uptake of the second MMR vaccine was 89 per cent. The difference between those in the most and least deprived areas getting both doses of the MMR vaccine was 10.3 per cent. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The UN's target is for 95 per cent to be immunised against measles and the NHS says having the MMR vaccine is the 'best way' to prevent measles. Measles starts off with cold-like symptoms followed by a rash, and is spread by breathing, coughing and sneezing. However, complications can include blindness, swelling of the brain and potential brain damage, severe diarrhoea and dehydration, ear infections, and severe breathing problems such as pneumonia. Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said: 'We continue to urge all parents and carers to vaccinate their child when invited to do so. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'This protects them against serious disease including measles, meningitis and pertussis. 'Childhood immunisation rates in Scotland remain high and we are working with Public Health Scotland and the NHS to increase uptake.'
STV News
12-07-2025
- Health
- STV News
Nearly 2m waiting over four hours since A&E target last hit
Almost two million people have waited more than four hours in A&E since the last time the Scottish Government's target was hit, figures show. The Government aims for 95% of people each week to be seen and subsequently admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours in the country's emergency departments. But that figure has not been hit since the week of July 12 2020, in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the number of people going to hospital plummeted. According to analysis by the Scottish Lib Dems, since the target was last hit, 1,921,053 people waited four hours or more. Elsewhere, 237,623 people waited more than 12 hours during that period and 588,480 people waited longer than eight hours. First Minister John Swinney has pinpointed the NHS improvement as key for his Government, announcing this week an £85 million investment in Hospital at Home provision in an attempt to keep people out of hospitals and reduce delayed discharge, as well as placing frailty teams in A&E units to divert elderly patients to other services and free up emergency care. Lib Dem MP Wendy Chamberlain said: 'Under this SNP government, A&E has been mired in crisis for years. 'Staff are stuck working under pressure-cooker conditions and patients are stuck having to wait hours for vital care. 'We are now on our fourth different Health Secretary since this SNP government last met the A&E waiting time target. 'Jeane Freeman, Humza Yousaf and Michael Matheson have all come and gone without making a dent and it looks as if Neil Gray will go the same way.' She added: 'Alongside efforts to alleviate the pressure on A&E and ambulance staff, we need to invest in care services to get people out of hospital and free up space. 'That's why Scottish Liberal Democrats fought for more money for social care in the budget and back a new UK-wide minimum wage for care workers that is £2 higher.' Scottish Tory public health spokesman Brian Whittle said: 'Under the SNP, millions of patients have suffered because they can't meet their own targets. 'Real lives are being lost to delays that could and should have been avoided. 'Dedicated frontline staff are working tirelessly for their patients, but they're had the carpet pulled from under them by successive nationalist health secretaries. 'The SNP still don't have a credible plan to fix this crisis. This is a national scandal.' Scottish Labour's deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: 'These stark figures lay bare the human cost of SNP incompetence. 'Scots have lost their lives as a result of these dangerously long waits and many more have suffered in agony for hours on end. 'Year after year, an array of different SNP health secretaries and first ministers have all promised to fix the crisis in our NHS, but they have all failed. 'If the SNP was capable of fixing this mess it would have done it by now – our NHS needs a new direction and a new government with Scottish Labour.' The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
