Four days to Hogmanay: a Scotland that cares
Four days before Hogmanay, Scotland feels like a country holding its breath. The streets glisten with frost after what feels like weeks of rain, a growing number of hills wear […]
Hope in the midst of uncertainty: a Christmas meditation on social care
The frost clings to the windows of a care home. Inside, a carer hums a carol, her voice soft against the hum of an oxygen machine. A resident stares at […]
Embracing Complexity: lessons for Social Care Reform in Scotland
Social care in Scotland stands at a critical juncture. Rising demand, workforce shortages, and financial pressures have created a system under strain. For years, reform efforts have focused on structural […]
Beholden: A Human Rights Day reflection on social care.
On Human Rights Day 2025, which will take place this coming Wednesday on the 10th we are called to remember not only the rights enshrined in law but the relationships […]
The Trees of Hallaig: Roots of Care, Leaves of Memory
The following extended blog is the substance of an address delivered to the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care conference on the 13th November. I want to begin not with policy, […]
A Budget that must care; Scotland’s social care disintegration demands action.
As the UK Chancellor prepares to deliver the Budget next Wednesday, Scotland stands at a crossroads. For too long, social care has been treated as an afterthought or as the […]
The Quiet Power of Friendship: A Reflection for Book Week Scotland 2025
When I was growing up, there were a few select books that appeared every year with faithful regularity on my grandmother’s bedside table. One of them which is still going […]
The stories we tell: reflections from Boston and the future of ageing
At the Global Ageing Conference in Boston, I found myself not just attending a keynote but entering a new narrative; a reframing of ageing that challenges our assumptions and invites […]
Beyond the Edge: from ‘crisis’ to reimagining social care in the Highlands.
The following is adapted from a speech given in Fort William on the 24th October at an event organised by Angus MacDonald MP whose primary focus was to explore his […]
World Stroke Day 2025: ‘Every Minute Counts’ – the critical role of social care.
Next Wednesday, 29th October, is World Stroke Day, which gives us an opportunity to reflect not only on the global burden of stroke but on its deeply personal and local […]
‘It’s Just My Age’ : A Reflection for World Menopause Day
Today, October 18, is World Menopause Day. When I was growing up, menopause was a word rarely spoken aloud. It was cloaked in euphemism and silence, even in health and […]
The long shadow of loss: Reflections for Baby Loss Awareness Week
Each October, Baby Loss Awareness Week asks us to pause and acknowledge the grief of parents whose children have died in pregnancy, at birth, or in infancy. It is a […]
Social care carries people: it is high time it was supported.
The following is based on an opening address given a couple of weeks ago at the Westminster Policy Conference. We meet in autumn. The air is a lot sharper. The […]
A place to belong: a reflection for World Older People’s Day
Wednesday coming is the 1st October, which as every year, is World Older People’s Day. In the UK, the theme adopted for the day by Ageing Better is “Building Belonging: […]
To age is to move: a reflection for National Fitness Day
Celebrated across the UK on 24 September 2025 National Fitness Day is an annual campaign by ukactive that highlights the role physical activity plays across the UK, helping to raise awareness […]
The need for Fair care – the struggle for equal pay
Thursday 18 September is International Equal Pay Day which is an opportunity to pause not just to measure pay differences, but to reckon with what those differences say about how […]
The Distinctiveness of Social Care Nursing – A Call to Discernment
Just occasionally in a conversation or an exchange you hear a word, and it sparks imagination or memory. I was fortunate and have been now for a few weeks to […]
Letting go: grieving in the age of Ai.
In the aftermath of the Scottish Bereavement Charter Conference on the Future of Bereavement in Scotland – held a couple of days ago and which gathered a very thoughtful range […]
A change of seasons and realistic hope: social care at a critical point.
This past week has felt like a bit of a transition week. For those of us who are parents of school-age children most of us will have experienced either this […]