News Archive

Support For Perinatal Mental Health

Mums, dads and families at risk of poor mental health during pregnancy and the early years will be able to access enhanced peer support, parenting support and perinatal counselling services, with new annual funding of up to £1 million.   The Perinatal and Infant Mental Health fund will provide crucial help by supporting third sector organisations to deliver key services and address gaps in provision.  

New Guarantee On Death In Service Benefits For Frontline Health And Care Staff During Pandemic

The families of health and care workers on the frontline in England will benefit from a new life assurance scheme during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.   New life assurance scheme launched for eligible frontline health and care workers during the coronavirus pandemic Families of eligible workers who die from coronavirus in the course of their frontline essential work will receive a £60,000 payment.  

Emergency Eye Care Provision - New centres to reduce the need to attend hospital

New measures have been introduced to help patients with emergency eye problems, reducing the need for them to attend hospital during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.   Backed by up to £3 million of Scottish Government funding, Emergency Eyecare Treatment Centres have been established in all health board areas.  

Help To Tackle Coronavirus - Laboratories Providing Scientific Equipment And Expertise

The Environment Secretary has praised Scottish scientific institutions which normally focus on infectious diseases in livestock, environmental security and nutrition for offering support to tackle coronavirus (COVID-19).   The Scottish Government-funded James Hutton Institute, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), and Rowett Institute are providing vital scientific equipment to help with testing and have volunteered staff to work on projects too.  

Highland Council Has Now Helped Over 2,300 Businesses Obtain A Small Business And Self-catering Grant But 70% of Applications Forms Not Complete

The COVID-19 small business and self-catering grant scheme, set up to help companies stay in business during the coronavirus crisis, has now paid out £26.89million to 2341 Highland businesses.   The latest figures show that grants were given to 1341 businesses, to the value of £14.8m, within the past week alone.  

Hydrogen fuelled tractor enthusiasm grows on Scottish farm

David Barron of Nether Aden in Aberdeenshire was one of a small number of farmers who has worked with SAC Consulting, part of Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), to identify ways to reduce his farm's carbon footprint.  What started as a cursory interest in adapting practices on the 203-hectare 130-cow suckler beef and arable farm, has resulted in Mr Barron retrofitting two tractors and his farm jeep with a hydrogen electrolyser saving him 20% on his fuel costs, he suggests.  

NHS Highland tells MSP it is working on care model to help care home staff

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, has been told that NHS Highland is developing a model which will help care home staff during the Covid 19 pandemic.   Mrs Grant has now received a response from the health authority after last week criticising it for a lack of information on how care home residents and staff can be protected during the Coronavirus crisis.  

Looking Beyond Lockdown - First Minister Opens Discussion On "new Normal".

A document outlining how decisions will be taken to control coronavirus (COVID-19) while restoring a degree of normality to everyday life has today been published by the Scottish Government.   The paper - COVID-19: A Framework for Decision-Making - sets out the position during this ongoing period of lockdown and outlines the factors that must be considered as we move gradually to ease restrictions.  

What Future Do Airlines Have? Three Experts Discuss

This article is part of Conversation Insights from The Conversation web site that allows free sharing of content.   The Insights team generates long-form journalism derived from interdisciplinary research.  

National Records Of Scotland - Deaths Involving Covid-19, Week 16 - 13 To 19 April 2020

s at 19th April, 1,616 deaths have been registered in Scotland where COVID-19 was mentioned in the death certificate, according to statistics published by National Records of Scotland (NRS) today.   Between 13th April to 19th April, 651 deaths relating to COVID-19 have been registered, up from 610 deaths in the previous week, 6th April to 12th April.