Welcome to the October Network Newsletter!

The Newsletter brings together news, stories and events of interest to the Network. 

In this month's edition, we have the usual round up of Network news, events and training!

With funding for CLW programmes continuing to be in the spotlight, just a reminder to read and share our blog 'Investing in Community Link Workers - Now or Never' which aims to explain some of the challenges around long-term funding for CLW programmes in Scotland.

The Scottish Community Link Worker Network is the national network, developed and facilitated by VHS, for primary care community link working in Scotland. Please visit our webpage for the latest blogs, reports and information about the Network. And don't forget to follow us on Twitter @ScotCLWnetwork

Events, Workshops and Training

Scottish CLW Network Autumn Events

Knowledge Exchange Event - 15 November

Our fourth knowledge exchange event on 15 November from 10.00-12 noon will feature speakers from Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland and The Pain Association Scotland. You can find details of all our events and book a place on our events page

Thank you to everyone who attended our recent Network events. We have now published the key messages from our September CLW peer support event which focused on overcoming challenges, training and support.

Other events

Voluntary Health Scotland Conference - The Health Creators' Summit

VHS's annual conference The Health Creators' Summit took place on Wednesday 25 October.  It was great to see some CLWs from the Network in the audience so we hope you enjoyed the day. The value and importance of CLWs' work in building a health creating society was referenced by a number of our key speakers which included Lord Nigel Crisp, Angiolina Foster and Michael Matheson. We will be sharing photos and key messages on our conference webpage soon, so please keep a look out for these and thank you to everyone who contributed to such a great event.  

Leading to Change - autumn activities

Leading to Change is launching a campaign to promote the range of development offers available via their website. They are also promoting The National Wellbeing Hub which is full of ideas about how to stay well this autumn. They have also produced a Stakeholder Toolkit to provide all the information and content you need. Visit What's on offer this autumn for more information.

National Academy of Social Prescribing webinar - 7 November

In recognition of UK Men's Day, The National Academy of Social Prescribing's webinar Men's Mental Health will take place on 7 November and will focus on mental wellbeing and how men can access social prescribing. 

Talk Money Week and Money Guiders' conference - 8 November

Talk Money Week kicks off on Monday 6 November and to mark this there are lots of events and resources available from the Money and Pensions Service to support raising awareness of the importance of financial wellbeing. Find out more about the Money Guiders Conference 2023 and download the participation pack on the talk money week webpage.

Supporting the wellbeing of young and student carers - 10 November

This event from the University of Edinburgh forms part of the Festival of Social Science and will focus on supporting and promoting the wellbeing of young and student carers. More information about this online event and other events as well as how to book can be found on their Festival of Social Science website.

Tackling loneliness: power of one event - 14 November 

Loneliness is one of the big public health issues of our time, but knowing how best to reach out to someone who is lonely and/or socially isolated can be hard.   Generations Working Together and Linking Lives are offering a free one-hour webinar, ‘The Power of One’, designed to inspire and equip individuals to make a positive difference in just one other person’s life.
Find out more and book your place.

Sporting Memories Conference - 16 November

Sporting Memories helps older people reminisce, replay and reconnect through the power of support and wellbeing. They are holding their online conference on 16 November from 10.30 - 12.00 with the theme of 'connecting the past to today.'  The conference will focus on how Sporting Memories supports older people, including those with long-term conditions.  Please email them to find out more and book your place.

Highlights from the Network

Edinburgh CLW Network Annual Event

The Edinburgh CLW Network recently hosted their annual celebration event where they launched their annual review for 2022-23. The photo above shows Ian Brooke, Deputy Chief Executive of EVOC and Anne Crandles, Edinburgh CLW Network Manager.  Alison Leitch, Assistant Service Manager commented, 'Our event was a great success with patients attending for the first time and taking part in a workshop where they spoke about their experience of working with a link worker.   A huge thank you to Jenny Minto, Minister for Public Health and Women's Health for sending a recorded message, it was well-received by the link workers'.

Edinburgh CLW Network make finals of the Scottish Health Awards

The Edinburgh CLW network has been selected as a finalist in the ‘Tackling Health Inequalities’ category as part of the Scottish Health Awards. You can read more about all the Scottish Health Awards 2023 - Finalists on the Awards website. Alison Leitch, Assistant Service Manager said, 'It is fantastic to see the link workers' hard work being recognised in this way and we are extremely proud to have made it to the final.'

We wish the team all the best of luck for the finals in November!

New video launches to promote CLW service in Inverclyde

Check out Your Voice Inverclyde Community Care Forum's fabulous new video about the CLW team in Inverclyde, highlighting the important role they play in primary care and their local communities.

Update from Sources of Support in Dundee

Staff from Sources of Support (Dundee's CLW team) have moved across to Primary Care and now sit under the newly created Health Inclusion Service. Theresa Henry, Team Leader, provided the following update on some training they have been involved in as well as a fantastic award nomination for one of their link workers!

NES Training: Developing person centred cultures - one of the Primary Care Link Workers recently assisted their colleagues in Professional and Practice Development by participating in a webinar as part of the NES Virtual Learning week for Healthcare Support Workers. The topic was 'developing person-centred cultures’, and the Link Worker's focus was on shared values and vision, how this enables effective team working and co-creating person-centred cultures.   

STAR awards: one of Sources of Support Link Workers was invited to attend the STAR awards as a finalist in the ‘unsung hero’ category.  The Link Worker was nominated for providing support and encouragement to a patient who was dealing with several socio-economic challenges, alongside low self-confidence, low mood and anxiety. It was a wonderful opportunity to showcase the work of the team as a whole and for the CLW to be recognised alongside their clinical colleagues.  

Cash First training: one of Sources of Support Link Workers has been invited to develop and deliver training alongside Faith in Community Dundee.  This is part of a wider training programme for volunteers to deliver the Cash First approach to food insecurity around the city.  The Link Worker will bring expertise around what support is available for people in crisis through primary care and other useful mental health and wellbeing resources.  

Network at Royal College of General Practitioners' Conference

Roisin exhibited at this year's Royal College of General Practitioner's annual conference, along with Alison Leitch from Edinburgh's Community Link Worker Network who was there in her capacity as Chair of the Scottish Social Prescribing Network. The 2 day conference brought together GPs and practice team colleagues from across the UK. It was lovely to hear so many GPs stop and chat to us about how great their CLWs are!  The photo below shows Roisin and Alison with Dr Gregor Smith, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland who was taking part in a panel session on the social determinants of health. 

Other News

Discussions ongoing around preventing cuts to Glasgow’s community link workers

The Herald has reported that proposed cuts to community link workers in Glasgow’s most deprived areas could be avoided amid suggestions the Scottish Government is willing to provide £700,000 in extra funding. Michael Matheson has reportedly told stakeholders he is open to “meeting halfway” with the city's health and social care partnership which has insisted that a £1.35m shortfall in the 2024-25 budget will force them to cut the number of full-time posts from 70 to 42 from April 2024. 

Study notes patients in deprived areas seen for less time by GPs

A study by the University of Glasgow has that on average patients in more deprived areas had slightly more contacts with their GP practice compared to those in less deprived areas,  but they were seen for less time. The largest difference that has been found is that those with three or more long-term conditions in more deprived areas were seen by their GP on average 28 minutes less than those with the same conditions in less deprived areas.

Carer Support Payment pilot to open for applications from November

The Scottish Government has highlighted the Carer Support Payment will open for applications in pilot areas from November 2023, subject to parliamentary approval of regulations setting out rules and eligibility. Adults living in Perth and Kinross, Dundee City and Na h-Eileanan an Iar, will be the first of those eligible to apply ahead of a phased national rollout from spring 2024 and national availability by autumn 2024.

University of Oxford Link Working Evaluation

Dr Stephanie Tierney from the University of Oxford's Nuffield Department Primary Care Health Sciences has been conducting some NIHR funded research into the 'Implementation of social prescribing link workers in primary care: She recently presented her early findings from a realist evaluation involving seven sites across England at a National Academy of Social Prescribing International Evidence Collaborative. 

The research team is now also conducting a study on the retention of link workers in their role and factors that can shape this. They are inviting link workers/social prescribers, based in the UK, to complete a short questionnaire on this topic that takes about 10 minutes to complete. 

Primary Care Inequalities Short Life Working Group Progress Report

The Primary Care Health Inequalities Short Life Working Group Recommendations progress report has now been published, providing further information on how the group's recommendations are being taken forward.

Agenda on Realistic Medicine takes a forward step

The Scottish Government has published a Value Based Health and Care Action Plan, which aims to keep the promise it set out in Delivering Value Based Health and Care: A Vision for Scotland. Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Gregor Smith, has laid out 13 steps for Scotland to ‘accelerate’ its efforts to transform its health and social care system into one where sustainability, evidence-based practice, and kindness is at its core by 2030.  

Scotland's unpaid carers struggling to make ends meet

A report commissioned by Carers Scotland has found four in ten unpaid carers across the country are struggling to make ends meet amid the cost of living crisis. It revealed the number of unpaid carers in Scotland cutting back on essentials has more than doubled since 2021, while one in six unpaid carers have been forced to visit food banks and struggled to meet rent or mortgage payments. Carers Scotland suggested the report “paints a bleak picture for Scotland’s 800,000 unpaid carers”.

Scottish Parliament Information Centre: Life Expectancy in Scotland

Estimated life expectancy in Scotland has fallen again, decreasing by 3 weeks for males and 5.7 weeks for females. Now the Scottish Parliamentary Information Centre (SPICe) has published a blog on life expectancy in Scotland.  The blog explores recent changes in life expectancy and how this varies across Scotland.

NCD Alliance Scotland publishes report into non-communicable disease prevention

The NCD Alliance Scotland has published its cross-party inquiry report into non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention. At the start of 2023, NCD Alliance Scotland facilitated a cross-party inquiry into NCD prevention with involvement from several MSPs from across the four main parliamentary parties. The aim of the inquiry was to examine the evidence on the drivers of the consumption of health harming products and the potential measures that could be taken by the Scottish Parliament and Government to address them.

CAELUS project: drones for medical delivery in Scotland

The University of Strathclyde is one of a consortium of 16 partners including the NHS within an innovation project called CAELUS (Care and Equity - Healthcare Logistics UAS Scotland). 

The team is exploring the use of drones to improve medical care quality and distribution in rural and remote communities in Scotland, as part of an NHS 'Once for Scotland' approach. They are keen to hear people's views and you can visit their engagement platform or email the project team directly to find out more.