Paul Johnston - Public Health
Scotland chief executive Get the latest top news stories sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter More Newsletters Subscribe Please enter a valid email Something went wrong, please try again later. More Newsletters We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show me See Our Privacy Notice See Our Privacy Notice × Group 28 Get the latest top news stories sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up No thanks, close We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info × Group 28 Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show Me No thanks, close See our Privacy Notice Scotland's health is getting worse despite progress in the past, the head of Public Health Scotland has said. The public health body's chief executive Paul Johnston called for a preventative approach, saying the burden of disease from an ageing nation is likely to grow. He made the comments in an article for the think tank Reform Scotland. Improvements in Scots life expectancy stalled in 2014 to 2016, and recent data showed a decline. The PHS boss warned the NHS cannot deal with the issue alone. He said: "Tackling poverty impacts on health, as does the availability of good work, high-quality education and childcare, affordable housing, addressing climate change and tackling
racism." Read More Related Articles Boy, 14, rushed to hospital after attack in Glasgow park as teen arrested Read More Related Articles Mum tracks down violent video of "vulnerable" son's arrest as officers probed He added: "People in Scotland now die younger than in any other western European country. People spend more of their lives in ill health. The gap in life expectancy between the poorest and the wealthiest is growing. We have seen great progress in the past but, at the moment, Scotland's health is getting worse. We must be bold and brave in the face of the health challenges we face. "A focus on increasing prevention is increasingly gaining traction and it is important we look to shape these opportunities, particularly in reforming and modernising our public services." Chris Deerin, director of Reform Scotland, said: "This is a thoughtful and significant intervention by the chief executive of PHS, which does not seek to hide from the crisis we face in our national health and in our health service. Join the Daily Record's
WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. "His focus on the preventative agenda makes good sense in terms of population health and public expenditure, and his stark admission people in Scotland die younger than people in other western European countries and the gap in life expectancy between the poorest and wealthiest is growing is a call to action for our political leaders." Scottish Lib Dem leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said: "I am yet to meet a doctor or nurse who thinks Humza Yousaf's so-called NHS Recovery Plan is up to scratch. The Scottish Government has not delivered the vision or the resources required to tackle the strain our NHS is under." Read More Related Articles Major
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Labour health spokesman Jackie Baillie said: "Scotland's health inequalities are nothing short of a national scandal – presided over by Tory economic chaos and an SNP government which has shamefully failed our NHS for years." The Scottish Government said: "Austerity, the pandemic and the cost crisis have all contributed to slowing progress in health outcomes over the past decade. We are using all powers and resources available to tackle poverty, reduce inequality, increase healthy life expectancy and create a fairer Scotland." Top news stories today Grieving parents demand justice for tot Dad's knife threat after school fight Mum threw weedkiller in cop's face Scots paedophile
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