Question reference: S5W-16082
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 19 April 2018
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Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 May 2018
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on developing a (a) platform that showcases the digital health options that are available to people and (b) formal approval system of health apps.
Answer
As set out in my answer to S5W-14011 on 1 February 2018, the Scottish Government is undertaking a Proof of Concept with the West of Scotland NHS Boards to examine how a Health and Social Care Services Portal may be developed to help citizens in the management of their health and wellbeing. Scotland's Digital Health and Care Strategy published on 25 April 2018 further confirms that to support excellent care at point of contact we will deliver the digital capability for citizens to access and update information about their health and wellbeing, including their records and from personal monitoring, and to interact with services. This will build on Proof of Concept work and through developments such as NHS Inform.
A multi-disciplinary working group convened by Scottish Government is currently testing a Quality Assurance Framework for Mobile Health apps for Health and Care Professionals in Scotland. The intention of the Framework is to provide quality and risk assessment for apps in relation to technology, information governance, use of high quality up to date evidence, sustainability and impact evaluation.
All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .