Nicola weds

Nicola Sturgeon, Cabinet Minister for Health and Wellbeing, attended to her own health and wellbeing by marrying her partner of several years, Peter Murrell, Chief Executive of the Scottish National Party, on Glasgow Fair Friday, 16 July.
The couple held the ceremony in Oran Mor function suite on Great Western Road, Glasgow, surrounded by close family then had a reception for friends.
MSP for Govan, Nicola celebrates her 40th birthday on Monday 19 July and her flower girl, niece Harriet Nicola Owens, had her 4th birthday on the wedding day. ‘She also had a cake’ said an insider.
Dressed in an elegantly simple white satin dress, Nicola made time to pose for a battery of press photographers and some SNP supporters who brought Golden Sun rice to shower the couple with ‘golden’ ‘sunny’ thoughts.
Proud groom Peter was wearing a kilt in what he called ‘Highland Battle’ tartan. So while the couple are officially on holiday from Hollyrood, Peter, at least, is still prepared for battle.

Plans for £840m Southern General campus are revealed

Southern General City is on its way. The blueprint for an £840m hospital campus on the Govan/Linthouse site of the present Southern General had been unveiled by Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon.
The largest single NHS hospital project yet undertaken in Scotland, it will cost £670m to build with the additional £170m being the kitting out costs for internal roadways, patient transport termini and equipment.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) have awarded the building contract to Brookfield Europe, a developer with experience in the healthcare field. They judged it was the best value for money though not the lowest bid.
A 14-floor adult hospital with 1109 beds will be created with every patient having their own en-suite. This will help in the fight against hospital infections.
A children’s hospital, with a separate identity and entrance, will be next to the adult hospital. It will have 256 beds over five storeys and will replace the existing Royal Hospital for Sick Children. Children helped design some features which include a covered roof garden and a stage for theatrical productions. There will be a mix of four-bedded and single-bedded rooms because a child’s health benefits from being around other children.
The children’s hospital will be linked to the adult hospital as well as the maternity wing which is being redeveloped at a cost of £28m. Early in 2010 the maternity hospital is expected to be opened.
Said Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon, who is MSP for the area: ‘This is a major milestone in Scotland’s biggest ever hospital building project. This is good news for patients and the entire community. Every penny of the cost will be met from the public purse and the jobs created by the construction will provide a major boost to the local economy.
‘The designs I’ve seen for the adult and the children’s hospitals will provide world-class facilities and be important weapons in our fight against hospital infections. I look forward to seeing this radical design transforming the Govan skyline.’

Diana Kras – End of the line for herbalists could be in sight

Beware! The Government is encouraging you to buy – via the internet or back street shops – polluted herbal preparations ‘spiked’ with banned substances such as toxic heavy metals which have caused liver failure and long-term health problems.

As the European Union tightens the rules on the supply of herbal products, their sale, except for a small number of products for ‘mild illnesses’, will be banned from 2011.

Since 2000, the Government have been consulting on how to bring the 2,500 UK qualified herbalists and traditional medical practitioners (Chinese, Tibetan and Ayurveda) under statutory regulation.

The first consultation, which was published in 2005, had an overwhelming response in favour of statutory regulation.

This most recent consultation process, which closes to public comment on November 16, has been slammed for being far too complicated, with herbalists and their patients unable to respond to the obscure consultation questionnaire. This could affect the chances of its success. If the Government fail to proceed with statutory regulation, practitioners here will lose the right to supply their traditional preparations and medicines.

Then the six million Britons who use herbal practitioners may be forced to scan the internet, which abounds with substandard and potentially dangerous products.

‘We fear if the Government refuses statutory regulation, we will see a black market in herbal products, with unlicensed, potentially dangerous remedies’. Said Dr Michael Dixon, of the Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health

The UK Department of Health said currently there was currently no timeline for further action on a regulatory scheme.

Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon’s department said they are working towards a solution that ensures public protection, and ‘Any regulatory proposals must meet the specific needs of the people of Scotland’.