Chamber and committees

The “Health and Social Care Standards: my support, my life” set out a range of standards on what people should expect when using health, social care or social work services in Scotland. These include the use of technology to support independence and having more control over their own health and wellbeing, and for those in 24 hour care that they are connected to the internet. The Standards also set out an expectation that people can access the right information at the right time, and patients rights and responsibilities in relation to their information is further enhanced by the Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities which sets out expectations around confidentiality and handling of medical information.

The development of the pilot e-prep clinic is in the early stages and is likely to involve a staged approach.

As this is a complex project, involving significant IT and clinical expertise to deliver well, it is not yet possible to provide a definitive start date. The development work that’s currently underway will determine the scale, start date and duration of the initial pilot. While we expect significant progress to be made in the coming months, it is important that when we launch the pilot we ensure that it is fit for purpose and will meet the highest standards of patient safety.

As I committed to during the Parliamentary Debate on World Aids Day, the Scottish Parliament will be provided with an annual report regarding the progress made towards the goal of ending HIV transmission within Scotland by 2030.

The Scottish Government remains committed to eliminating Hepatitis C as a major public health concern by 2024. We must nonetheless recognise the impact the pandemic has had across the whole health sector, including the detection and treatment of Hepatitis C. During the financial year 2021-22, 1,390 individuals across Scotland started direct-acting antiviral hepatitis C treatment. This is set out in a report on the PHS website: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/surveillance-of-hepatitis-c-in-scotland/surveillance-of-hepatitis-c-in-scotland-progress-on-elimination-of-hepatitis-c-as-a-major-public-health-concern-2022-update/

National target data for 2022-23 will be published as soon as the full data has been collected and subjected to the appropriate data quality checks.

Data on targets and treatment initiations at Health Board level cannot be provided centrally as it has not been subjected to the required data quality procedures. However, the Scottish Government can confirm national treatment targets are broken down to indicative levels by NHS Board area to assist with their planning.

Despite the challenges resulting from the pandemic, the PHS report linked above shows there is evidence to indicate that Scotland has already achieved the WHO target to treat 80% of those diagnosed with Hepatitis C.

As mentioned in answer to question S6W-13982 on 31 January 2023 a number of programmes being taken forward in Scotland that support the use of asynchronous communication. Whilst it is therefore not possible to give an exact figure related to asynchronous communication only, since the publication of the Digital Health & Care Strategy in October 2021 to December 2022, the Sottish Government has invested around £2 million in relevant systems.

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

We have significantly increased access to digital mental health treatments, products and services since the first cCBT treatment was rolled out in 2017. We now have 27 different computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) treatments available across all NHS Boards. In 2022 we launched Mind to Mind, a wellbeing site with short videos from advice from clinicians and people with lived experience of mental health services and links to support services. The majority of appointments using Near Me, the video conferencing service available across NHS Scotland, are for mental health and offer people access to support if they are unable or prefer not to attend in-person services.

This increase in cCBT treatments has been gradual, with products being piloted with a small number of Boards before national rollout. From 1 treatment in 2017 this increased to 12 in 2020 to reflect higher demand for digital support during lockdown. This increased to 21 treatments in 2021 including two new products that could be accessed by anyone in Scotland via a link, rather than requiring a referral from a GP or mental health professional. We continue to explore more options around self-referral and the role cCBT treatments play in offering mental health support that is accessible at any time.

We are currently developing a variety of asynchronous communication pathways across health and care in Scotland. Digital health and care developments provide a form of asynchronous communication including the Remote Health Pathways Programme (including the use of Connect Me), My Diabetes My Way, Renal Patient View, Dynamic Scot and vCreate Neuro. Email can also be used in a range of different ways to facilitate asynchronous communication with patients and, depending on local priorities and circumstances, individual Health Boards and local providers of health services continue to implement asynchronous appointments.

The Scottish Government has spent £5.512 million since Near Me was launched in 2019.

The Digital Health and Care Strategy was further reinforced in November 2022 with the publication of the Digital Health and Care Delivery Plan . In addition, a Data Strategy for health and care is due to be published early this year, which was consulted on extensively throughout 2022. This included public consultation, including in relation to patients' use of their own health and care information.

We do not set national targets for its implementation nor intend to do so. We are actively encouraging a public centred care approach which allows people to access services in a way which is comfortable and convenient for them. Where appropriate clinically and for the individual, everyone should have the choice of attending appointments via an easy and convenient Near Me video call and having this as an option has expanded public choice. Feedback can be provided at the end of each Near Me call through a survey and satisfaction rates from those who complete the survey remain high at 97%.

The Digital Front Door is currently in the programme startup phase of its development and is not currently a live service. The commitment is to introduce an interactive ‘Front Door’ by the end of this Parliament in 2026, following public consultation and engagement.