Heath and wellbeing profiles for CHP areas

A new set of health and wellbeing profiles for CHP areas in Scotland has been published by the Scottish Public Health Observatory. The new profiles comprise 61 indicators of health and wider determinants of health. There are individual profile reports for 30 of the CHP areas in Scotland. Profiles for the 10 Community Health (and Care) Partnership areas in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have been produced separately by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, although these are accessible via the ScotPHO website. In addition to the individual CHP profile reports, ScotPHO have produced a Scotland Overview report (including data for NHS boards) and a full technical report. The profiles should highlight health and social inequalities, show trends in key indicators, and provide local information for targeting resources and priority setting. The profiles can be found here.

National consultation launched on alcohol consumption

Proposals for tackling alcohol misuse in Scotland were launched this week. The discussion document 'Changing Scotland's Relationship with Alcohol' sets out the Scottish Government's strategic approach to dealing with alcohol misuse and illustrates the scale of alcohol-related harm. It outlines key actions already underway which will contribute to tackling both the underlying causes of, and the negative effects resulting from, Scotland's complex relationship with alcohol.

The framework for action also sets out new proposals to reduce alcohol-related harm in Scotland, on which views are invited. Informed by the comments generated by the discussion paper, the next stage is to work to develop more specific actions.

Staff changes

We recently said goodbye to two of our staff at the Maria Henderson Library. David Burns has taken up a new job at the National Centre for Prosthetics and Orthotics in the University of Strathclyde, and Sally Bell has started work at the Media Library at the BBC. We wish them both all the best for the future.