During my third week in post as the new Policy Engagement Officer at VHS I attended my first Health Policy Officer’s Network (HPON) meeting which took place at the Scottish Parliament. HPON is a peer support and networking group of policy officers based in health and is administered jointly by VHS … [Read more...] about Kiren’s Blog: Meeting with the Health and Sport Committee
Claire’s blog: what does Brexit mean for health?
Holyrood Magazine’s editor Mandy Rhodes hosted a fascinating panel discussion (22nd September 2016) on Brexit’s implications for health. Panel members were GCU’s Professor Alison Britton, Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar MSP, BMA’s Dr Peter Bennie and Unison’s Dave Watson. All four described … [Read more...] about Claire’s blog: what does Brexit mean for health?
Community Link Worker survey now open
Can you tell us about any Community Link Worker initiatives you are involved in? VHS's national scoping exercise for The Scottish Government, announced in August 2016, is now underway. Mapping of existing third sector provision will help inform the government’s plans to develop 250 Community Link … [Read more...] about Community Link Worker survey now open
Health Policy Officers Network
The Health Policy Officers Network or HPON is a peer support network for health policy officers working in small to medium sized charities. The group is administered jointly by Voluntary Health Scotland (VHS), and the Queens Nursing Institute for Scotland (QNIS), and meets regularly to discuss key … [Read more...] about Health Policy Officers Network
Responding to Mental Health in Scotland – A 10 year vision
During August/September 2016 the Scottish Government consulted on their proposed framework and priorities to transform mental health in Scotland. The VHS response focused around 3 priorities that we think can help deliver any transformation: giving the third sector an explicit role at the core of … [Read more...] about Responding to Mental Health in Scotland – A 10 year vision
Rob’s blog: Health Policy Officers Network gets underway
Recently, the Queens Nursing Institute Scotland and VHS agreed there was potential for a networking group of policy officers based in health. Working in smaller organisations can be difficult, in terms of limited capacity to keep up to date with the latest developments. A network would provide … [Read more...] about Rob’s blog: Health Policy Officers Network gets underway
Catherine’s blog – some parting words…
Today marks my final day with VHS and, although my time here has been relatively brief, a lot has happened in the past 8 months in health policy world and there’s lots more coming up too. It seems appropriate to wrap things up by highlighting some key areas of work on the VHS radar over the coming … [Read more...] about Catherine’s blog – some parting words…
VHS study – scoping community links workers
The Scottish Government has commissioned VHS to carry out a scoping exercise to inform the development of a national Community Link Workers programme. This is to honour the SNP 2016 election manifesto pledge: ‘Scotland’s most deprived communities need additional support, so we will recruit at least … [Read more...] about VHS study – scoping community links workers
VHS Membership Survey 2016 – Results Report
In May 2016, VHS sent out a membership survey to its 156 member organisations. 87 completed surveys were received, covering 57 member organisations (37% response rate). A small number of surveys were completed anonymously - those completed in this way are not included in the organisational … [Read more...] about VHS Membership Survey 2016 – Results Report
Catherine’s blog – Realistic medicine: I thought the doctor(s) knew best too…
"Doctors generally choose less treatment for themselves than they provide for their patients" That's what Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Catherine Calderwood highlighted to delegates at the final plenary of the NHS Scotland Event 2016. Realistic medicine at its most basic, is about doctors and … [Read more...] about Catherine’s blog – Realistic medicine: I thought the doctor(s) knew best too…
