Chamber and committees

Health Boards have reporting systems in place to capture data on violence and aggression. At present, Health Boards collect this data locally.

We are exploring how we can improve incident reporting systems and investigating proposals for developing standardised approaches to reporting and handling incidents nationally.

We are working to ensure that all staff are aware of currently available reporting mechanisms and ensure they have the psychological safety to report incidents when they occur.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34097 on 12 February 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Guidance for staff in relation to usage of IT is provided in the IT Code of Conduct, which sets out acceptable usage for Scottish Government devices and networks. It covers:

• personal use of SCOTS and the internet
• misuse of IT misconduct examples
• accidental access to restricted sites
• sharing sensitive data by email
• monitoring

The code aligns with the wide range of legislation to tackle the potential criminal and civil liability issues that may arise from colleagues’ misuse of communication facilities while at work.

Scottish Government staff sign an agreement to adhere to the IT Code of Conduct. The IT Code of Conduct sets out guidance on the acceptable use of the official platform (SCOTS), in particular email and use of the intranet. The Code also outlines our policy on the personal use of Scottish Government IT facilities.

No-one should be the victim of abuse or violence while at work and assaults on NHS staff are completely unacceptable. We encourage Health Boards to support criminal proceedings, where appropriate, against anyone who assaults staff. NHSScotland staff can access a range of services to care for their physical and mental health. This includes employee assistance programmes, trauma counselling services and pastoral support, to ensure a safe working environment.

The wellbeing of our health and social care workforce remains a key priority and we are working to ensure that the right level of support is offered across the system. Scottish Government funding provides our workforce with access to psychological interventions and therapies, self-service resources through the National Wellbeing Hub and the National Wellbeing Helpline delivered by NHS 24 to support their wellbeing. We also provide access to confidential mental health services through the Workforce Specialist Service.

Public Health Scotland publishes monthly Official Statistics on the number of people remaining in hospital after being declared ready for discharge, along with the reason for their delay. This information is recorded within each NHS board using a common set of definitions and codes applied across all NHS boards in Scotland.

Inpatients are determined clinically ready for discharge by the consultant/GP responsible for the inpatient medical care and where a multi-disciplinary team has agreed that the individual’s care needs can be further assessed or properly met outside a hospital setting. Clinical readiness is not synonymous with surgical fitness for discharge.

Refusal to leave hospital is not directly captured as a reason for delay in the common delayed discharge definitions.

Delayed discharges due to patients exercising their statutory right to choice of care home accommodation are captured under two reason codes:

• 71: Standard delays due to Patient exercising statutory right of choice, and
• 71x: Complex (Code 9) delays due to Patient exercising statutory right of choice where an interim placement is not possible or reasonable.

Patients recorded as delayed due to exercising their statutory right to choice (71 and 71x) should not be interpreted as refusing to leave hospital.

Codes 71 and 71x are used when a patient has exercised their right to their choice of residential care home, which is a statutory right under The Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 (Choice of Accommodation) Directions 1993. This right is subject to provisions, including that the chosen accommodation will be available within a reasonable period, the provider is willing to provide accommodation and the cost to the local authority is not more than it would usually expect to pay.

The definitions further specify that code 71x: “…should only be used where long travel distances or limited transport infrastructures restrict the ability of families and friends to visit and where the placement may isolate the individual from a vital family and social network. This code should only be applied where remaining in a hospital setting is a more appropriate outcome and is the only viable alternative to an interim move. In all other choice cases (code 71) the underlying principle should be that remaining in hospital is not an option.”

Any patient who refuses to leave hospital for any other reason other than exercising their statutory right to choice of accommodation may be recorded as delayed due to “Other patient/carer/family-related reason”, however not all patients recorded with this reason code can be said to be refusing to leave hospital.

As discussed in answer to question S6W-34114 on 12 February 2025, the standard definitions of delayed discharge in use across NHS Scotland since 2016 do not identify patients as surgically fit for discharge, and the reasons for delayed discharge (when patients remain in hospital after being declared clinically ready for discharge) do not allow a direct count of patients who have refused to leave hospital.

As such, using the data we have at a national level it is not possible to analyse the impact of refusal to leave hospital on hospital capacity, and no such analysis has been undertaken.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

This is a matter for NHS boards and Police Scotland. The information requested is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government uses industry leading firewall and perimeter security technology to categorise websites and to either allow or block access to those categories accordingly. Access to certain categories is entirely blocked from all devices connected to the Scottish Government network. This covers all internal and external Scottish Government network access and blocks not only direct access attempts to prohibited websites, but also indirect access or referrals from other websites that are not blocked. The blocked category list includes all websites classified as pornographic.

Abuse towards NHS staff is unacceptable, and Health Boards must take appropriate action against anyone who assaults a staff member. It is an employer's duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely in partnership with Health Boards to identify ways to protect staff and deter perpetrators at a national level.