Distinctive actions of devolved governments in Scotland and Wales, and of
local democratic bodies
See also
- Scotland's new first minister, Henry McLeish, is considering footing the bill for long-term care of the elderly north of the border, raising the prospect of a fresh divide between Holyrood and Westminster. Guardian 6 November 2000.
- Pensioners throughout Britain will rightly see the Scottish parliament's decision to introduce free personal care to all pensioners north of the border as a victory for justice, equality and compassion (Rebels force u-turn on care for elderly, January 26).
Guardian letter from Jack Jones, 27 January 2001.
- Devolution is drawing an indelible line across the UK. On one side students pay tuition fees, the teaching profession is in crisis, and many of the frail and elderly must pay to help meet the costs of their care. On the other there are no tuition fees, teachers have won a 21.5% pay deal, and now it looks as though all pensioners will enjoy free long-term care.
Guardian, 27 January 2001.
- The Scottish executive has embarked on a collision course with Westminster after a parliamentary rebellion forced the first minister, Henry McLeish, to offer free long-term care for all Scotland's pensioners.
Minutes before a vote on the issue in the Scottish parliament yesterday, the executive announced a dramatic policy u-turn and said it would implement plans to fund long-term care for all pensioners.
Scottish pensioners will now get free personal care, including bathing, changing dressings and assistance with eating - services that pensioners in England and Wales will continue to pay for.
Guardian, 27 January 2001.
Scottish NHS plan: the basics.
Sam Crowe
Scotland published a national plan, setting out how its health
services should develop, in December last year. The document outlines tough
action on waiting times - no patient will wait longer than 9 months for
treatment, and from October 2001 no woman with breast cancer who needs
urgent treatment will be seen within one month. By 2005 no patient urgently
referred for cancer treatment will have to wait more than two months. Access
to health services will be improved - every NHS board will develop one stop
clinics, and pharmacists will be encouraged to offer advice in high street
pharmacies. Nurse prescribing will be extended and NHS 24 - offering round
the clock telephone advice - will be rolled out in pilot areas in 2001.
Telemedicine pilot projects will begin in April 2002 in each health board to
cover populations living in remote or rural areas. NHS management will be
restructured with unified NHS health boards in each area, fewer managers and
a stronger local identity for the NHS in each board area.
Guardian Society Tuesday March 20, 2001
- Nh5>Scottish NHS plan: the issue explained
Juliet Shedden
Action on waiting
The plan promises:
By 2003 no patient will wait longer than nine months for treatment (currently 12 months in Scotland and 18 months in England)
By 2002 the maximum wait for angiography will be 12 weeks from seeing a specialist, and 24 weeks from angiography to surgery or angioplasty
By October 2001 women who have breast cancer and need urgent treatment will get it within one month where appropriate
By October 2001 the maximum wait for children needing urgent cancer treatment will be one month
By 2005 no patient urgently referred for cancer treatment will wait more than two months.
Improvements in access
The plan promises that:
Every NHS board will set a programme for the redesign of services (like one-stop clinics), building on the 44 national pilot projects already underway
NHS 24 will be rolled out in pilot areas in 2001 offering 24-hour access to health advice from nurses
Scotland's 1,100 pharmacists will expand the range of services they offer to include repeat prescriptions. They will also offer more health advice to customers in high street pharmacies
£1m pounds will be invested in improving the health services available in small and medium-sized workplaces
More nurses will be trained to prescribe treatments and certain drugs - the range of treatments will also be increased
No patient will wait longer than 48 hours to see an appropriate member of the primary care team, including a GP
By April 2002 people in remote and rural Scotland will see pilot projects to expand telemedicine rolled out in all health boards with a remote population.
Rebuilding a national NHS
The plan proposes that:
New unified NHS boards will be created to integrate local decision making and increase local accountability
A reduction in the number of NHS boardrooms from 43 to 15, and the number of ministerial appointees by one-third or around 100 posts
Unified NHS boards will have greater staff and local authority representation. They will also have joint responsibility for health improvement and developing NHS services
There will be single comprehensive local health plans in each NHS board area
A stronger local identity for the NHS will be developed, and the proliferation of names and logos will end
The management and decision making structure of the NHS will be subject to a long-term review.
Guardian Society
Tuesday March 20, 2001
- The Scottish executive's review into how nurses can contribute to improving Scotland's health has almost 100 recommendations, the most radical of which is the establishment of an 80-strong team of public health practitioners, who will "take on a roving local brief to help families and communities to make improvements in their own health".
Guardian Society
Tuesday March 27, 2001
- Q&A: regulating care standards in Northern Ireland Guardian Society
Wednesday April 18, 2001
- Welsh NHS breaks away from England
The NHS is about to undergo the most radical changes in its 50-year history as Wales diverges from England's centralised healthcare system
Guardian Society
Wednesday May 16, 2001
- Scotland's first minister, Henry McLeish, has promised that new
legislation will pave the way for the introduction of free personal care
north of the border by next spring. Guardian
Society Thursday September 6, 2001
-
Lines on the map could improve public health. Public health has
traditionally been nobody's priority, but the arrival of the English regions
may give it a welcome boost, write William Plowden and Scott Grier. Guardian
Society Friday November 9, 2001
- Bill faces rough ride in Wales Mark Gould explains why the Welsh assembly
is likely to give the health service reforms a rough ride. Mark Gould Guardian
Society Wednesday November 14, 2001
- Q&A: the cost of personal care for the elderly. Guardian
Society Thursday January 17, 2002
- Glasgow's hospitals face a costly revolution - but is big necessarily
better? Observer
Sunday January 27, 2002
- McConnell beats off union revolt. 'No alternative' to private cash
for public services. Stephen Khan, Scotland editor Observer
Sunday February 24, 2002
- Report urges overhaul of child protection in Wales. Guardian
Society
Tuesday March 5, 2002
- Introduction this week of free personal care for elderly people in
Scotland has again highlighted the government's refusal to follow suit south
of the border. But new research suggests there is another, more invidious,
anomaly affecting care home residents. David Brindle The
Guardian Wednesday July 3, 2002
- Scotland breaks ranks over payouts for hepatitis C patients. Sarah
Boseley, health editor
Thursday November 7, 2002 The Guardian
-
Wales goes own way with NHS reform.
The devolved government of Wales has
rejected New Labour's policy of creating autonomous foundation hospitals,
arguing that it undermines the health service concept of universal provision.
Instead, the first minister, Rhodri Morgan, stressed yesterday, Wales was
pursuing a different reform of making the service more accountable to
communities and of treating patients as partners. He made clear that a
"consumerist" agenda pursued by the government in England had little relevance
in Wales. Peter Hetherington, regional affairs editor
Friday November
15, 2002 The Guardian
- A comrade in Cardiff. Now we know why Tony Blair objected to Rhodri
Morgan. He's a thinking socialist. Roy Hattersley
Monday
December 30, 2002 The Guardian
- The red dragon is starting to roar. Five years after Wales gained
devolution by a wafer-thin referendum margin, a re-branded government in
Cardiff is preparing to challenge New Labour over a range of social and
economic policies. Peter Hetherington
Thursday January 2, 2003 The Guardian
- Elderly enjoy the benefits of devolution. Neasa MacErlean finds out
why the regional assemblies could mean better care for all OAPs.
Sunday
February 23, 2003 The Observer
- All remaining 26 NHS trusts in Scotland are to be abolished under a shake
up announced by the Scottish health minister, Malcolm Chisholm. In a bid to
cut bureaucracy, the trusts' role will pass to 15 existing NHS health boards,
which are the equivalent of English health authorities. Matt Weaver
Thursday February 27, 2003
- The Labour party's pledge to scrap prescription charges in Wales will put
pressure on Westminster to do the same, a health economist has predicted. Matt
Weaver and agencies
Wednesday April 2, 2003
- All references to NHS trusts in Scotland will be wiped from the statute book
as part of wide-ranging legislation to modernise the health service. Jennifer
Trueland
Friday June 27, 2003
- Freed from England, the Welsh do management differently - but still keep
an eye on their neighbour over the border. By Peter Davies.
Wednesday November 26, 2003 The Guardian
- Health and social care workers in Scotland will be able to access a
patient's full medical history with a click of a button once ministers
kick-start a programme of NHS modernisation. Linda Jackson
Wednesday February 11, 2004
- The Scots are going their own way with a healthcare shake-up that will see
GPs and pharmacists working alongside hospitals and local councils, says
Jennifer Trueland.
Wednesday February 11, 2004
- The Scottish executive today unveiled its charter for children, which sets
out how carers and child welfare services should protect and respect their
rights. David Batty
Monday March 22, 2004
- Mothers in Wales are to be encouraged to choose home births as part of a
wider drive to develop the role and influence of midwives, the Welsh minister
for health and social care has announced. Annie Kelly
Thursday May 20, 2004
- Scotland is failing to show results in return for recent big increases in
health spending, according to Scotland's public service watchdog. Audit
Scotland's findings come in its first published post-devolution report on
Scotland's NHS. The report criticises the Scottish Executive for failing to
demonstrate how increased funding and changes in service delivery are
benefiting patients. Hélène Mulholland
Thursday August 5, 2004
- Last orders were called yesterday on the age-old Scottish drinker's
triptych of a hauf 'n' a hauf 'n' a fag after the Scottish executive announced
it would introduce legislation before Christmas to ban smoking in enclosed
public spaces. By spring 2006, drinkers will have to live without a cigarette
to go with the traditional half pint and a dram of whisky as all pubs, clubs,
restaurants and workplaces in Scotland become smoke-free environments. Gerard
Seenan
Thursday November 11, 2004 The Guardian
- A cut in prescription charges introduced today in Wales has prompted fears
of a rise in "health tourism" with people flooding across the border in search
of cheaper medication. From today, prescriptions in Wales will cost £4,
compared to £6.50 in England, after the Welsh Assembly implemented a £1 cut in
charges. A 12-month pre-payment certificate will now cost £57.46 compared to
£93.20 in England. Annie Kelly
Friday April 1, 2005
- The government today announced sanctions to cut "intolerable" NHS waiting
lists in Northern Ireland, where hundreds of patients are waiting for more
than 18 months for treatment. Trusts unable to provide treatment within 12
months will be forced to offer patients a fully funded "second offer" at
another hospital, in line with a similar scheme in Wales. The move is part of
NHS reforms being planned for the province, where concerns are growing over
the wide variation in service delivery across the 19 Northern Ireland health
trusts. Hélène Mulholland
Monday July 4, 2005
- Something rather bizarre will happen in Wales
tomorrow. In a move to see off 'prescription tourism' before it happens, the
Welsh Assembly will introduce measures to stop English residents crossing the
border to take advantage of the lower prescription charges which prevail in
Wales. Only prescriptions issued in Wales will be eligible for the lower Welsh
pricing system. Neasa MacErlean
Sunday
July 31, 2005 The Observer
- Scotland is gaining confidence to go its own way on matters previously
driven by Westminster. Take the NHS, where stress on joint working means health
services are becoming very different to England's more market-led beast. Extract
from Jennifer Trueland
Wednesday November 2, 2005 The Guardian
-
MSPs support free
prescriptions. The Scottish Parliament's health committee has backed a bill
put forward by the Scottish Socialist Party to make prescriptions free. The SSP
claims 75,000 Scots go without some or all of the medicine they require because
of the cost of prescriptions and say that prescription charges undermine the
core principal of the NHS - a service free to all in need. But Scottish health
minister Andy Kerr rejected the proposal, saying "it wouldn't be good value for
money."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of BBC Online 11 January 2006
-
Scotland's go-it-alone policy of providing free personal care for older people
is a lot fairer than the charging schemes operating elsewhere in the UK,
according to research today from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. John
Carvel
Wednesday February 1, 2006 The Guardian
- Wales must lead
renationalisation of UK health service, say doctors. At its first public
meeting in Wales, speakers from the campaign group Keep Our NHS Public said the
NHS in England was now headed for complete privatisation of its work, with the
NHS itself reduced to a commissioning agency for contracting companies working
for profit. This was the gloomy forecast from Dr Jonothan Richards, senior GP in
Merthyr and professor at University of Glamorgan, and Dr Julian Tudor Hart,
veteran GP and Medical Research Council pioneer in Glyncorrwg. However, they saw
a ray of hope in the Wales Assembly's power to resist the privatisation drive
from Westminster.
Keep our NHS Public
10 March 2006
- Breast cancer patients living in Wales are getting the
so-called "wonder drug" Herceptin free at a hospital but women living in England
have to pay, it emerged yesterday. The "postcode lottery" surrounding the
potentially life-saving drug means that women in Wales do not have to pay for
the treatment at the Royal Shrewsbury hospital because Herceptin provision is
funded by their health board. But women in the early stages of breast cancer who
live in England must raise the £30,000 a year cost themselves, because their
primary care trust will not foot the bill. The disparity - which illustrates the
differences in priorities between different PCTs - was exposed yesterday by Owen
Paterson, the North
Shropshire Tory MP. Since February, all Welsh local health boards have
agreed to pay for the drug for women living in Wales who need it, even if they
are treated in England. Sarah Hall, health correspondent
Monday
April 10, 2006 The Guardian
- Can England learn from its neighbours? With the NHS in England convulsed by
an imperative to cut overspending, what is happening elsewhere in Britain? Have
the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales avoided such problems?
Jennifer Trueland and Laura Sloman
Wednesday April 12, 2006 The Guardian
- Prescriptions
free for everyone…But only if you live in Wales. Anger is growing over
Britain's two-tier health service after prescription
charges were abolished in
Wales. Anyone registered with a Welsh GP will get their drugs and medical
supplies free from April 1 but patients in England and Scotland will continue
to be charged £6.65 for each item. There is already resentment over the
decision by the Scottish Parliament to provide free care for the elderly while
councils in England are warning services will be slashed and fees raised. It
emerged last week that Englishman George King is moving 105 miles from his
home near Middlesbrough to Melrose in the Scottish borders to get life-saving
treatment for bone marrow cancer. Prescription charges in Wales have been
gradually reduced in line with a 2003 Labour promise. Welsh Health Minister Dr
Brian Gibbons said: "The vast majority of ordinary working-class people will
benefit substantially and, for us in Welsh Labour, that's what we are proud
about." Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Express
26 January 2007
- Wales drops
prescription charges. All patients in
Wales are now entitled to free prescriptions, although the cost rose to
£6.85 in the rest of Britain. The decision of the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff to
scrap prescription charges, which it had already reduced to £3, raised the
prospect of a two-tier NHS. Prescription charges rose by 20p in England,
Scotland and Northern Ireland. Three million patients registered with a Welsh GP
and 15,000 Welsh patients who have an English GP, will qualify.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
2 April 2007
- Sturgeon: public
may get to quiz health boards. NHS managers could be quizzed by the public
in front of ministers, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has said. She promised
to consider holding question-and-answer sessions in future amid disappointment
in the audience at NHS
Greater Glasgow and Clyde's annual performance review. Before the session at
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, scores of campaigners protested against the
introduction of car parking charges at the city's hospitals. Ms Sturgeon spoke
to the protesters, promising their voices will be heard as a probe into the way
boards levy parking fees is conducted by the Scottish Government. However,
during the three- hour meeting which followed, frustration grew among some
members of the audience that they could not have a say on other matters. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Herald
11 October 2007
- Health board plans up for
debate. Plans for direct elections to health boards have been set
out by the
Scottish Government.
Care & Health 09 January 2008
See Guardian Politics special report on
Scotland
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