Chamber and committees

We have engaged extensively with people with neurological conditions, and organisations which represent them, throughout the development of Adult Disability Payment. Also, during the process of passing the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, it was decided that private sector health assessments would not take place in the devolved social security system. Social Security Scotland makes entitlement decisions based on the individual’s account of the impact of their disability or condition and other supporting information. This includes information from people’s wider support network, in order to understand the full range of needs someone with a neurological condition has over a period of time.

Social Security Scotland do not carry out any functional examinations because they do not provide reliable information, particularly in relation to neurological conditions as needs can fluctuate over time. Instead, consultations are a conversation between the practitioner and the client, starting from a position of trust.

The Scottish Government committed £750,000 to developing the Scotland on Tour Fund in response to the impacts felt by the sector due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In total, the fund received 270 applications from individual artists, musicians, bands, organisations and independent promoters. These were assessed by a panel of representatives from the music industry, as well as Creative Scotland. Of those, 217 applicants were successful. Work is ongoing throughout the year to convert these successful applications into concerts.

Currently Scotland on Tour is on track to deliver 360 performances and concerts in over 100 venues across Scotland during 2022 and into early 2023.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with representatives of the GFG Alliance at official and Ministerial level.

Officials hold quarterly meetings to monitor performance in respect of the Scottish Government guarantee and maintain regular engagement at local and group level on business operations. 

Four Ministerial meetings have been held with the GFG Alliance in 2022.  These meetings involving the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism & Enterprise took place on 24 January, 18 February, 29 March and 1 April. 

The Scottish Government will continue to publish details of all Ministerial engagements via its website (https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/).

There are 15 prisons located throughout Scotland, 2 of which are managed privately.

Responsibility for providing prison healthcare was transferred from Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to NHS in 2011, and as such the Scottish Government does not hold data on the mental health workforce.

Data such as the number of staff in post or vacancies is collected on specific job roles but not within specific settings such as prisons.

While the Scottish Government provides funding for recruitment under Action 15, workforce and service planning is conducted by Integration Authorities according to the needs of their populations.

Under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-27, 54.4 whole time equivalent (WTE) mental health posts have been recruited to in our prisons.

There are 91 locations providing A&E services across Scotland. Of these, 30 are classed as Emergency Departments - larger A&E services that typically provide a 24 hour consultant led service.

The requested data on the number of mental health workers in A&E departments is not centrally collected. Data such as the number of staff in post or vacancies is collected for specific mental health professional groups in the NHS, but cannot be broken down by settings such as A&E.

Under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-27, an additional 179.2 whole time equivalent mental health posts have been created in A&E departments.

We have undertaken significant engagement with people who have lived experience of energy limiting conditions and organisations which represent them. Adult Disability Payment has been designed to be inclusive and accessible for people with energy-limiting conditions. Applications can be made through a choice of channels and the questions are relevant to people with fatigue and fluctuating conditions. Social Security Scotland makes entitlement decisions based on the individual’s account of the impact of their disability or condition and other supporting information, including from people’s wider support network. This is particularly helpful for people who may have difficulty accessing a diagnosis or treatment.

Consultations between a client and a health and social care practitioner employed by Social Security Scotland will only be held when necessary. Examinations, such as asking clients to touch their toes, will not be used as they do not provide reliable information, especially in relation to energy-limiting conditions. Social Security Scotland case managers also stringently apply the reliability criteria. This means that entitlement decisions must take into account the full impact fatigue has on individuals when completing activities, including any recovery time needed afterwards.

Regular open and constructive engagement with the early learning and childcare sector continues to be a vital part of our approach to policy development. This includes engagement with the sector representative bodies, and through the Childcare Sector Working Group, which last met on 16 June 2022.

Scottish Government and Education Scotland’s ‘Realising the Ambition – Being Me’, the national practice guidance on supporting young children’s learning, was published in 2020. Private providers contributed to its development via sector representative bodies and through a series of consultation events held across Scotland in order to seek the views of practitioners working in the public, private, third and childminding sectors.

There are additional treatment options for selected groups of people with COVID-19 who are thought to be at high risk with a prioritised clinical condition, as well as those taking part in registered clinical trials related to COVID-19. The high risk group does include those with rare neurological conditions such as:

• multiple sclerosis
• motor neurone disease
• myasthenia gravis
• Huntington’s disease

The decision on whether to prescribe a medicine for a patient is entirely for their clinician. Information on the arrangements for direct access to COVID-19 treatments in Scotland can be found at: Coronavirus (COVID-19): Treatments | NHS inform .

High risk individuals who have been diagnosed with chronic neurological disease are now included in the clinical risk group of the autumn/winter booster programme as advised by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

The following groups will be offered an additional booster dose from Sept 2022:

• residents in a care home for older adults and staff working in care homes for older adults
• frontline health and social care workers
• all adults aged 50 years and over
• those aged 5 to 49 years in a clinical risk group, including pregnant women
• those aged 5 to 49 years who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression
• carers aged 16-49 years

Letters will be sent out to the first eligible groups next month with appointments beginning in Sept. Discussions on the details of the delivery timetable are underway with health board partners. More information will be made available in due course.

As of 19 July 2022 we had issued 79 letters to people receiving Personal Independence Payment to let them know the transfer of their award to Adult Disability Payment has begun. These cases were selected as part of our small Personal Independence Payment to Adult Disability Payment pilot. Once Adult Disability Payment launches nationally on 29 August, we will begin selecting large numbers of Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment awards for transfer.

We have also developed and are delivering a strategic communication and engagement plan for case transfer. This includes a series of stakeholder roadshows to key stakeholders as well as stakeholder newsletters. We have also included case transfer messaging in our Adult Disability Payment communications such as media releases, opinion pieces, social media posts on Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland channels and paid for marketing campaigns that have run in the pilot areas. Paid for activity has covered radio, social media, digital and print. We will continue implementing this communication and engagement plan as the case transfer process continues.

It is not possible to provide the percentage of individuals admitted to NHS Scotland who are assessed for venous thromboembolism (VTE) as this data is not routinely recorded.

The General/Acute and Inpatient Day case Dataset (SMR01) contains records where pulmonary embolism and phlebitis and thrombophlebitis of the lower extremities are listed as the primary diagnosis.

These conditions are usually recorded in an inpatient setting, on the SMR01. The structure of the International Classification of Disease and Related Health Problems 10 revision (ICD10) does not allow for easy identification of Venous Thromboembolism.