Tag: prevention

Health body launches tools to boost equalities data

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Public Health Scotland has launched a suite of information resources to improve collection of equalities data, including reports, leaflets and a new learning hub.

The launch comes after a collaboration between PHS, University of Strathclyde and Homeless Network Scotland, that investigated the key barriers to gathering equalities data, which historically has been poorly recorded. 

Equalities data relates to patient information on protected characteristics under The Equality Act 2010, including age, disability, race or ethnicity, religion, sex, and sexual orientation.

Improving data quality will allow NHS services in Scotland to monitor and understand which groups of people experiencing disadvantages when it comes to health – who is or isn’t using services – and design services to meet patient needs.

An online survey of NHS Scotland staff with a duty to ask for equality data from patients as part of their usual healthcare role was also carried out.

Public Health Scotland said the engagement process found that barriers to patients providing information included information-sharing environments not feeling safe, secure or accessible, and experiences were not always free from racism or discrimination.

Healthcare staff highlighted they did not feel confident asking for equalities data and felt they did not have best practice guidance on how to do this.

➡ Read more and find links to the resources here.

August Network Briefing

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This month’s Network Briefing shares details of booking and sponsorship opportunities for Scotland’s annual homelessness conference in October, themed ‘Right here, right now’, spanning 2 days for the first time and delivered this year in partnership with Salvation Army.  

Early bird tickets are open until the end of the month, offering a 20% discount – there’s a range of packages available, including residential options for maximum convenience. Got something to promote? Check out this year’s expanded sponsorship options.

We also announce a brilliant celebrity addition to the speaker line-up… who could it be ❓

And we bring news of the Supported Housing Task and Finish Group, which published its final report and recommendations with a launch at Queens Cross Housing Association’s impressive Wellbeing for Young People service, attended by Housing Minister Paul McLennan.

Elsewhere in the briefing you’ll find news of a great new appointment to HNS, themes for the next All in for Glasgow design session, and a great success story from Salvation Army’s Eva Burrows Centre in Cambuslang.

As ever there’s a wide range of news, research and coverage across a range of sectors. And we’re pleased to bring you details of upcoming training opportunities in our Learning Lounge. Enjoy.

Read August’s briefing

May Network Briefing

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This month you’ll find analysis of ways to deliver more affordable homes, a raft of research and reports on the linked issues of health, housing and homelessness, a Covid-19 Inquiry invitation, commentary on recent political upheaval, news of All in For Glasgow, and much more.

Read the briefing

Change at top must not derail homelessness fight

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The collapse of the Bute House agreement, Humza Yousaf’s abrupt resignation as First Minister and the following period of renewal and change in government are drawing attention and energy away from the urgent task of addressing the housing crisis and ending homelessness. Homeless Network Scotland’s Jamie Milne sets out what needs to happen once the dust settles.

All change then. After little more than a year in the top job Humza Yousaf resigned as First Minister and we’re in another period of uncertainty – a new FM, return to minority government, new faces around the Cabinet table making decisions that affect our lives. 

That’s politics. But these things eat up time and energy while the housing crisis deepens.  

What has not changed is rising homelessness, the 10,000 children living in temporary accommodation, the mental toll on people waiting for social or affordable homes, the desperate lives of people trapped in difficult or dangerous situations because there’s nowhere else to go. 

Politics will dominate the news in weeks to come. But beyond the headlines we have a potentially game-changing Housing Bill in the early stages of the process towards becoming law.  

Progress towards this point must not be unravelled by politics. Once the dust settles, all parties must sharpen their focus on protecting the proposals in the Bill – not least the Ask and Act measures to prevent homelessness earlier, which will stand or fall on how they are resourced. 

Reversing the £200million cut to affordable homes in the Budget must also be at the top of the new First Minister’s in-tray.  

What better way to signal a new direction than to make it easier for people to find a decent home so they can build the foundations of a life? What better way to ease housing pressures on local authorities doing their best for people in urban and rural areas? 

The cost-of-living crisis, global events and the pandemic have played their part in stoking housing pressures, but we are not powerless to solve this, as 25 years of devolution shows. 

The new First Minister can re-energise our collective effort to end homelessness by explicitly making this his top priority.  

By finding common ground and working together, all parties at Holyrood can make the Scottish Government’s ambitious plans to end homelessness and destitution a reality – and ensure this period of uncertainty does not make things worse.

Homelessness is neither a personal choice or inevitable

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Homeless Network Scotland’s chief executive Maggie Brunjes, and Prof Andrea E Williamson from the University of Glasgow co-authored an editorial in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) published this month.

It highlights the stubborn collective consciousness that continues to divorce homelessness from the larger health and economic inequality that causes it – and encourages health professionals to adopt an ‘inclusion health’ approach that can help reduce the unacceptably poor health outcomes among people affected by homelessness. Find the BMJ article here.

Read the full article here