According to new data from Public Health Scotland, in September 2020, there were 14,443 on the waiting list for key diagnostic tests, with 7,680 waiting more than four weeks and 6,265 waiting more than six. This is compared to 2,995 people waiting more than four weeks in the same period in 2019 and 1,913 people …
At the end of 2019, over 6,000 people in Scotland and 38m globally were living with HIV. I support HIV Scotland in their #GenerationZero campaign to end HIV. Find out more here: https://www.zero.hiv.scot/ From Covid-19 to AIDS, overcoming any global health crisis requires all of us to work together to guarantee everyone is able to …
In Edinburgh and the Lothians we have experienced a worryingly steep rise in private rents, which means that a significant and increasing percentage of residents’ disposable income is now going towards something as essential as housing. In the midst of a pandemic which has caused thousands of deaths, financial hardship and deterioration of our physical …
This week, when I visited Edinburgh Women’s Aid it was inspiring to speak with staff members and Chief Executive Officer, Linda Rodgers. During the pandemic, it is remarkable that Edinburgh Women’s Aid has been able to keep providing essential services to people who need them the most: women, children and young people whose lives have …
This week, Scotland made history by ending period poverty. The Parliament unanimously voted for Monica Lennon’s bill for free access to period products. Scottish Labour tirelessly worked to deliver this and once again, proved that it works for the many, not the few.
It is shocking that NHS Lothian chiefs will not reveal the numbers of Covid-19 positive patients discharged to a care home. Concerns have been growing for months about patients being discharged from hospitals and being sent to care homes.
Important that Scottish Parliament debated #16DaysOfActivism to end violence against women and girls. In Scotland between 2019 and 2020, we had the highest number of domestic abuse charges since 2015-16. Around 4 in 5 incidents of domestic abuse had a female victim and a male accused – a proportion which has remained stable since 2011-12. …
On Wednesday, I spoke at the debate on the catastrophic collapse of biodiversity in Scotland. We need to call it for what is – nature emergency and we need to act NOW.
Today is Equal Pay Day. It’s when women effectively work for free because of the gender pay gap in the UK. Recent analysis by Fawcett Society shows women in their mid-30s will never know equal pay in their working lives if progress towards tackling the gender pay gap is not accelerated. The pandemic creates further …
