Joseph Anderson Latest News | The Scotsman

Joseph Anderson

Health Correspondent

Joseph Anderson is the Health Correspondent for the Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday. His scoops on NHS Scotland, doctors and nurses pay disputes, social care and coronavirus lockdown measures have set the news agenda and been debated in the Scottish Parliament. He also covers politics, having spent time at Holyrood Magazine and as the BBC's Local Democracy Reporter for Edinburgh. He previously worked as a news editor for Newsquest titles back in his home county, Cumbria, and started off his career at ITV.

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Latest Articles

A survey found 43 per cent said they had learned more about sexual health from TikTok than they did at school

The supposed link between TikTok and Scotland's increasing abortion numbers

Data released via freedom of information request by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) shows wholetime fire appliances were “off the run” 6,272 times in 2022

Scottish fire fighting appliances unavailable more than 6,000 times last year

Here’s what you need to know about Covid ahead of winter in the UK amid a surge in cases of a new strain, Pirola.

Scots urged to get vaccinated as new Covid strain spreads to communities

An image of how a drug consumption room set up in Scotland could look. Picture: John Devlin

Safe consumption room pilot set for Glasgow city centre amid 100 deaths a month

A drug user prepares heroin (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Drug users at 'safe consumption rooms' will not be prosecuted says Lord Advocate

Analysis Is Covid over in Scotland? Will we ever be forced into lockdown again?

During last winter’s NHS crisis, the RCEM warned there was an excess mortality of 50 deaths in Scotland every week, due to the pressure on emergency departments.

Top medics warn Scotland to prepare for worst winter crisis on record

Zero Waste Scotland estimates that up to 26 million disposable vapes were consumed and thrown away in Scotland in the last year

Scotland to explore ban on disposable vapes

Healthcare workers are “worried” about their safety following the discovery of unsafe concrete in hundreds of NHS Scotland buildings, a union has claimed

Healthcare workers worried about safety of concrete in NHS buildings

Labour has urged the government to launch an urgent audit into the use of RAAC in the construction of all public sector buildings after more than 100 school building deemed at risk of collapse in England were forced to close. (Credit@ Jacob King/PA Wire)

Concrete risk in Scottish NHS buildings a 'complete unknown' says Labour

The number of people declaring themselves homeless due to eviction from a private tenancy has increased from 262 to 455 between 2021/22 and 2022/23.

Number of Scots being made homeless due to housing costs rises

Disgraced surgeon Sam Eljamel, Photo: Contributed

Demand for health board to resign over failing to act on disgraced surgeon

According to PHS, the meta-analysis shows that MUP “has reduced deaths directly caused by alcohol consumption by an estimated 13.4 per cent and hospital admissions by 4.1 per cent, with the largest reductions seen in men and those living in the 40 per cent most deprived areas”.

Government could ban alcohol ads and raise MUP rate to curb drink deaths

The latest alcohol-specific deaths statistics raise an interesting question - if public health policies are effective, why is the number of deaths increasing?

Analysis: If MUP is effective, then why are alcohol deaths increasing?

The latest report on MUP from Public Health Scotland (PHS) claimed the policy saved the lives of 150 Scots during 2022/23

Alcohol deaths in Scotland at highest level in 14 years, figures show

Alexandra Anderson, Head of Let’s Be Heard, and Lord Brailsford, chair of the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry, at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh . Pic: Stewart Attwood

Scottish Covid Inquiry: Day one defined by high promises and low accusations

File photo dated 01/12/06 of a man drinking a pint of beer, as campaigners are urging people to show compassion towards those who have lost someone due to alcohol or other drugs in an effort to reduce the stigma associated with alcohol-related deaths.

Latest figures on alcohol deaths due today as campaign launched

Studio filming took place within the disused Wills Tobacco cigarette factory, on Alexandra Parade. 30 of the film’s 50 locations were filmed in Dennistoun.

New drug trends define Scotland's second 'Trainspotting generation'

Exclusive ‘Hundreds of deaths’ missing from Scotland's drug statistics

Many families living in food poverty need to use food banks. Picture: Getty Images.

Victorian-era 'poverty disease' once again rears its ugly head in Scotland

The number of annual drug deaths in Scotland has decreased by over 20 per cent - but Scotland still has the highest drug deaths rate in Europe.

Analysis: Why drug deaths problem remains despite step in the right direction

Exclusive Foreign national care services have been unsuccessful, new study claims

A small survey of 45 Scottish GPs has revealed gaps in GPs’ understanding of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards in Scotland.

More than half of GPs are unaware of drug treatment standards, new survey claims

Theo Burrell, 36, who joined BBC's Antique's Road Show team in 2020, has been diagnosed with a grade four brain tumour. Stock photo by Greg MacVean.

Antiques Roadshow expert says fellow brain tumour patients are being "let down"

Almost 150,000 NHS 24 calls were abandoned before the caller spoke to an operator in the first half of this year, according to new figures.

Hundreds of thousands of NHS 24 calls go unanswered due to long waiting times

Exclusive Alarm at soaring number of nurses and midwives moving overseas

The Fife Arms, Braemar, has been at the heart of the village for over 100 years. Pic: Contributed

The crisis in Scotland's GP services as another rural practice folds

The latest Public Health Scotland statistics showed that 7,924 patients in A&E waited longer than four hours to be dealt with.

Fears over “completely avoidable” deaths due to worsening A&E waiting times

Dentists say the current NHS dentistry system is 'broken' and fundamental reform is required (Picture: Rui Vieira/PA)

Hopes new payment system will save High Street dentistry, but at a cost

Nurses doing rounds at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary

Two thirds of Scottish student nurses consider quitting due to money

The government’s care sector watchdog, the Care Inspectorate, has revealed it received 5,910 complaints regarding care facilities in Scotland in 2022/23. Picture: Getty Images

Complaints against Scottish care homes double as bosses warn of vacancy crisis

The proportion of adults who reported themselves to be current smokers in 2021 was 11 percent, down from 28 per cent in 2003.

Does the government have the right to tell you what to do with your own body?

Bottles of wine are displayed for sale in a shop. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

UK alcohol duty: Will it save lives, or will it decimate the drinks industry?

Social media app WhatsApp, displayed on a mobile phone screen. A watchdog has reprimanded a health board after staff members shared patients’ personal data on WhatsApp hundreds of times. Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire

NHS health board rapped for sending images of patients to WhatsApp group chat

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary's Emergency Department

Edinburgh A&E operating above capacity for 500 days in a row

Professor Andrew Elder, president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE), said his organisation is “deeply concerned” about care home closures, warning these could impact on NHS care over the winter.

Scottish Government urged to hold 'urgent talks' on care homes

A report by The Institute of Economic Affairs - Alcohol Advertising: What does the evidence show? - examined studies that looked at how marketing alcohol affected demand.

Campaigners clash over effectiveness of proposed alcohol ban

Scotland's drug-deaths rate is far higher than the rest of the UK and Europe (Picture: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

'Appalling' scale of drug crisis revealed as more than 100 die in a month

Searching for symptoms online, or ‘Dr Google’ as it colloquially known, can cause a great deal of anxiety for patients

Health anxiety: Why GP crisis is leading more patients to 'Dr Google'

Public Health Scotland (PHS) has investigated a spike in deaths among children between four weeks and one year old which occurred last April.

Scottish health chiefs reassure public following spike in baby deaths

Lawyers are reporting “major delays” of over eight hours in courtroom proceedings across Scotland due to the “disgraceful” custody provided by contractor GEOAmey.
Photo: Danny Lawson/PA Wire

Courts experiencing 'major disruption' due to prisoner transfer problems

Dr Alexandra Anderson and Lord Brailsford of the inquiry team at the NHS memorial statue within the grounds of The Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. (Pic: Stewart Attwood)

Costs hit nearly £8m in Scottish Covid inquiry before a public hearing is held

The treatment of degenerative brain diseases could well become the medical marvel of our generation.

New treatments for Alzheimer's could be this generation's medical miracle

One of the biggest concerns lay people express regarding the Covid-19 vaccine is the speed at which the vaccine was produced. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Fact check: Covid vaccine conspiracies and misinformation

Last year alone, 1,927 children's operations were cancelled, including 660 in Glasgow.

'Shocking scale' of cancelled NHS Scotland children's operations revealed

Stornoway, Lewis and Harris

Hebrideans warned about the dangers of taking drugs on the mainland