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Scotland’s GP crisis, £1.8bn ‘wasted’ on NHS restructuring and how getting more kip will help your memory

Scotland is facing a crisis in general practice because of an effective £1bn cut in investment over the past decade, The Times reports this morning.

The figures come from an RCGP Scotland report which said that GPs’ share of the NHS budget has fallen year on year from 9.8% in 2005/06 to 7.8% in 2012/13 – representing a real terms cumulative loss of investment of £1.1 billion.

The report stated: ‘Rising workloads, a shortage of GPs and declining resources are putting intolerable pressure on local practices and posing a threat to patient care.’

Elsewhere, Sky News reports that the Government has ‘wasted’ £1.8bn on redundancy pay-offs under the latest overhaul of the NHS.

It says latest figures show more than 5,500 people made redundant since 2010 have been re-employed, despite some receiving payments of over £200,000.

Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: ‘This was a reorganisation that didn’t need to happen. They’ve thrown money at redundancies, given people payoff cheques like confetti at the NHS at a time when we’re not doing right by the staff of the National Health Service.’

However, a Department of Health spokesperson said: ‘The new figures this week actually showed that our changes saved far more than expected at £6.9bn, and cost less than originally estimated’.

Lastly, getting a good night’s sleep is scientifically proven to help you remember things,The Telegraph reports today.

Apparently research has shown that sleeping not only protects memories from being forgotten but also helps you retrieve and recall memories.