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News

Record High Wait Times at Scotland’s Largest Children’s Hospital

By  Cameron Noble

 

Following the record attendance of 306 children at Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Children in one day, parents are encouraged to avoid A&E wherever possible.

71.5% of those who arrived at the emergency department of the Royal Hospital for Children were seen and admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.

Resulting from a dramatic decrease in Scotland’s emergency departments’ waiting time performance, nearly 500 children waited longer than four hours, and 17 waited more than eight hours in the week ending November 20th.

Attached to the Royal Hospital for Children, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital had managed to deal with 35.1% of attendees within a four-hour period – the worst figures for any individual hospital recorded, according to Public Health Scotland.

Over the entire of Scotland, wait time performance for the week ending November 20th dropped to 63.1% – an alarming figure, considering the Scottish Government’s target aims to deal with 95% of attendees within four hours.

Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, commented on the issue: “The figures for Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow are especially horrendous – the worst ever for any individual hospital with just 35.1% of patients seen within four hours.

“This is completely unacceptable and incredibly alarming for the safety of patients and staff at the hospital.”

Figures suggest the NHS will be undertaking the heaviest challenge to date over the winter period to find a way to improve their wait time performance and strive for 95% efficiency. Yousaf identified apparent factors which have contributed to the decreasing wait time performance and explained the £600m plan which is to be set to tackle the issue.

“Covid continues to impact the performance of services and pandemic backlogs, Brexit-driven staff shortages, and inflation costs have all contributed to make this winter the most challenging the NHS has ever faced.

“Delayed discharge continues to be the single biggest factor driving up A&E waits and we are working hard to ensure people are leaving hospital without delay, freeing up vital beds for those who need them most.

“A key focus of our winter plan is on social care and actions to encourage authorities to help ease delays.

“Our £600m winter plan will see us recruit 1,000 new NHS staff and our £50m urgent and unscheduled care collaborative looks to drive down A&E waits through scheduled urgent appointments, hospital at home and directing people to the most appropriate care.”

News

How are the Creative Industries performing?

By Gregor Boyd

The Creative Industries are a huge player within the UK’s economy which generates billions in revenue each year, The key areas being London, The Northwest, and the Southeast of England.

But what exactly is Scotland’s contribution to the UK’s creative sectors? According to gov.scot, the creative industry is one of Scotland’s fastest-growing sectors.

According to the Office for National Statistics, Scotland’s highest contribution to the creative sector appears to be within the IT industry massively outperforming the other sectors with the lowest performing sector being the Craft sector followed by Museums & Galleries.

Within the IT sector sits the Games Industry, a behemoth.

Scotland is home to several games studios as well as leading universities offering courses on Games Design.

Dundee has in the past been dubbed the video game capital of Europe (as well as the drug death capital…).

However, it has cemented its status within the video game industry as the home of Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto as well as bringing Minecraft onto consoles.

In more recent years Rockstar North has shifted itself to headquarters in Edinburgh.  Dundee’s future as a game’s mecca is ongoing but not unrecognised. With future planning proposals to build an E-sports gaming arena as well, Dundee aims to cement itself as a key industry player for gaming.

All around roughly the same turnovers are Publishing, Design, Architecture, and Performing Arts. Sectors that are essential to Scotland’s goals of competing on the world stage

In Music & Performing Arts. Scotland’s nightlife tourism industry is essential to the growth and regeneration of towns and cities. Huge artists frequent venues throughout Scotland as well as smaller acts tour up and down the country providing residents in more urban areas with valued nightlife experiences.

The economic benefit is felt throughout bars, pubs, clubs, and hotels. The Runrig concert brought an estimated 45,000 fans from all over the world to Stirling with an estimated £ 7 million benefit to the local economy. A great success model for building on future events.

Though in recent years, the night-time economy has been suffering due to the Covid-19 Pandemic which led to several businesses having to close their doors temporarily. Combined with the cost-of-living crisis, the night-time economy is going to suffer seriously.

The UK is a global powerhouse when it comes to producing content for movies or television. Above is a breakdown of the Film Industry breakdown for Scotland, showing that the bulk of the turnover is generated through motion pictures.

Glasgow became an ideal filming location for some films over the past few years, most notably the Matt Reeves blockbuster adaption of Batman in which Glasgow was used as the murky backdrop of Gotham city. Several iconic locations were used throughout the film with the most recognisable being the Necropolis used at the end of the film. The cancelled Batgirl film was also filmed in Glasgow just recently with it being noted that Glasgow Council paid to have Warner Bros shoot the entire production in the city.

Forecasts done by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) have found that the UK Creative industry is set to grow to be worth £97bn in revenue by 2026.

If the UK as a whole is to tackle the financial despair it’s been in for several years now. It needs to embrace the creative economy for the powerhouse it ought to be recognised as.