Our blog

Welcome to NHS Health Scotland’s blog. Blog posts are written by our staff, partners and stakeholders. Opinions expressed are those of contributors and do not necessarily reflect the organisation’s views.

Showing 23 results

Farewell from Gerry McLaughlin
- 23 Mar 2020
- Corporate
- Gerry McLaughlin, Chief Executive
Our final blog comes from our CEO Gerry McLaughlin who retires from NHS Health Scotland on 31 March. Gerry reflects on our legacy and looks forward to a new era under Public Health Scotland.

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Stop doing what we've always done - it's time to get serious about housing to 2040
- 13 Feb 2020
- Housing
- George Dodds, Director of Health Equity
Homes that can adapt to physical, environmental and human requirements over the life course are key to creating 'A Scotland where we live in vibrant, healthy and safe places and communities'. In our latest blog, Director of Health Equity George Dodds urges us to get serious about the opportunity offered by 'Housing to 2040' to make transformational progress.

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The best way of seeing something? Using the right kind of health and social care data in different situations
- 07 Jan 2020
- Public health
- Andrew Pulford
Andrew Pulford, Public Health Intelligence Adviser, blogs about our recently developed health and social care inequality indicators and the importance of viewing health data from different perspectives.

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Human rights are for life, not just for Christmas
- 17 Dec 2019
- ACEs
- Katy Hetherington, Organisational Lead - Childhood Adversity
As we draw to a close on the year the UNCRC turned 30, we blog about making rights meaningful in the daily lives of children and families.

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The F-words: you can’t have one without the other
- 27 Nov 2019
- Immunisation
- Jessica Craig
Earlier this month we were invited to speak at the European Public Communication (EuroPCom) Conference in Brussels about Scotland’s work to tackle inequalities in immunisation uptake. Read about why facts and feelings both matter when we are communicating with the public.

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Everyone has a right to safe, healthy and happy relationships
- 22 Oct 2019
- Gender based violence
- Kevin Campbell, Senior Health Improvement Officer
People with learning disabilities have a right to engage in personal and sexual relationships, in a safe, healthy and happy way. With the right support and education, they can. We blog about improving the service response to women with learning disabilities who experience abuse.

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Stop scrolling, start strolling
- 25 Sep 2019
- Physical activity
- Brendan Paddy, Director of Ramblers Scotland
As the RSPH social-media free campaign ‘Scroll Free September’ draws to a close, Brendan Paddy (Director of Ramblers Scotland) blogs about how building everyday walking into our lives can take us away from the little worlds inside our screens, and strengthen our real connections with family, friends and colleagues.

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We can’t have one without the other
- 18 Sep 2019
- Housing
- Matt Lowther, Head of Place and Equity
In a vibrant, modern Scotland it should be possible for everyone to be as healthy as they can be. On Scottish Housing Day, we blog about housing as a human right.

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A more compassionate Scotland: a societal response to childhood adversity
- 23 Aug 2019
- ACEs
- Katy Hetherington, Organisational Lead - Childhood Adversity
In the absence of healthy relationships there is a tendency to be excluded instead of understood. We blog about the need to improve people's lives today - as well as influence the world that children will grow up in - as part of a societal response to childhood adversity.

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Soft skills at the hardest of times
- 24 Jul 2019
- Mental health
- Carly Grant, Senior Health Improvement Officer
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the perinatal period. On Samaritans Awareness Day, Carly Grant from our Public Mental Health Team blogs about the importance of soft skills at the hardest of times.

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