Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has good working relationships with stakeholders involved in the care and support of people living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In collaboration with stakeholders we were able to contribute to the recent public awareness campaign lead by NHS inform with an article published on their website.

 

The article was published to coincide with World Arthritis Day (12 October) and was circulated using social media. The article focussed on the benefits of physical activity and highlighted the importance of early consultation with GPs regarding any of the signs or symptoms of RA.

The Scottish Government has also provided Section 16B health grant funding of £81k over three years, to Arthritis Care Scotland to help establish its website “Connect Scotland”. The site is has been written by and is for people living with arthritis. It aims to help individuals and health professionals to access information, share experiences and build community networks.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to ensuring that the NHS in Scotland delivers high quality, safe and effective person centred care. The Scottish Government has overall responsibility for healthcare policy; however, it is for healthcare providers and professionals to implement that policy at local level, adhering to the legislation, regulations and guidance that are in place.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence provide guidelines for use in England and Wales, however these guidelines have no formal standing in Scotland.

Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guidelines are recommended to NHSScotland and should be taken into account when services are being developed. Implementation of SIGN guidelines is the responsibility of NHS Boards and their operating divisions, reinforced by the twin “levers” of clinical governance and Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

The SIGN guideline 123 on the Management of Early Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) was published in February 2011 and covers the diagnosis and management of early RA.

The Scottish Government has not issued any specific guidance to NHS boards regarding the assessment of services required for people living with rheumatoid arthritis.

The role of the Scottish Government is to provide policies, frameworks and resources to NHS boards in order that they can deliver services that meet the needs of their local population. It is for NHS boards to plan and provide services in accordance with national and local priorities and in line with the health needs of their resident populations. NHS boards are expected to review services and facilities regularly to ensure that they continue to reflect local needs and provide the best quality healthcare services.

The Scottish Government has fed into the discussion at the UK level on the future framework programmes and the shape that these will take. These discussions are led by the Department of Health and do not generally extend to the level of particular diseases. The finalised programmes have yet to be announced and we are unable to give any detail of the programmes.

Under the current EU framework programme [FP7], medical research is supported in the following areas; brain research, human development and ageing, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and obesity, rare diseases, and severe chronic diseases. It is under this final category that RA research has been funded.

Scottish research institutes bid competitively for FP7 funding, most commonly in collaboration with other researchers across the EU.

As of 29 June 2012, Scottish researchers have been awarded FP7 funding of 52,914,890 under the Health element of the programme.

The breakdown of this funding into particular therapeutic areas is not centrally held.

The information for those in rheumatology specialty training is in the following table, by NHS Education for Scotland Deanery:

Rheumatology WTE Training Grade Establishment

	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13
West	11	11	13	13	13
South East	4	4	5	5	5
East	3	3	3	2	2
North	4	4	3	3	2
Total	22	22	24	23	22

The Scottish Government has no plans to hold a summit on rheumatoid arthritis at this time.

We have good working relationships with key stakeholders and are in regular contact with them to discuss any concerns regarding care and support for people living with all forms of arthritis.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

6 November 2012

Index Heading: Health and Social Care

Helen Eadie (Cowdenbeath) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what (a) recent assessment it has made of the effectiveness of rheumatoid arthritis services and (b) steps it (i) is taking and (ii) plans to take to encourage NHS boards to deliver services in line with this assessment in the next six months.

(S4W-10473)

Michael Matheson: The recently published Health Care Needs Assessment (HCNA) on Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) was conducted by the Scottish Public Health Network at the request of Scottish Government. The HCNA outlines current RA service provision across Scotland and makes a number of recommendations that aim to assist NHS boards to plan and develop services for people living with RA.

The role of the Scottish Government is to provide policies, frameworks and resources to NHS boards in order that they can deliver services that meet the needs of their local population.

It is for NHS boards to plan and provide services in accordance with national and local priorities, in line with the health needs of their resident populations. NHS boards will need to consider how they will take the recommendations in the HCNA forward. A number of the recommendations within the HCNA are applicable nationally and we are considering these and how we can support NHS boards to take them forward.

A Health Care Needs Assessment (HCNA) on Rheumatoid Arthritis has recently been published. This was conducted by the Scottish Public Health Network at the request of Scottish Government and outlines current RA service provision across Scotland. It also makes a number of recommendations that aim to assist NHS boards to plan and develop services for people living with RA.

The Scottish Government has overall responsibility for healthcare policy; however, it is for healthcare providers and professionals to implement that policy at local level, adhering to the legislation, regulations and guidance that are in place.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence provide guidelines for use in England and Wales and these guidelines have no formal standing in Scotland.

Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guidelines are recommended to NHSScotland and should be taken into account when services are being planned and developed. Implementation of SIGN guidelines is the responsibility of NHS boards and their operating divisions, reinforced by the twin “levers” of clinical governance and Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

The SIGN guideline 123 on the Management of Early Rheumatoid Arthritis was published in February 2011 and covers the diagnosis and management of early RA.

The Scottish Government is taking a range of work forward to ensure GPs have appropriate knowledge and skills in supporting self management across all conditions. This agenda has been taken forward through the appointment of the Scottish Government’s Clinical Lead for Self Management and Health Literacy, who is a GP. The training curriculum for GPs is under the stewardship of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), the clinical lead is working closely with RCGP on this agenda - not just regarding rheumatoid arthritis, but for those living with any Long Term Condition.

In addition, Community Health Partnerships (CHPs) around Scotland have incorporated learning events for GPs on self management, raising awareness of self management programmes particularly around arthritis and pain.

For example, Angus CHP have been proactive in raising awareness amongst GPs of courses and support for people with arthritis and pain including Arthritis Forum and pain management courses run by Pain Association Scotland.

In addition the implementation of Scottish Service Model for Chronic Pain is being taken forward by the Scottish Government’s Lead Clinician on Chronic Pain. The model has a strong focus on improving supported self management in primary care for people living with pain.

<>The Scottish Government supports access to affordable and healthy food for all. We acknowledge that with increasing food prices this is becoming a greater concern. In order to assess the impact we monitor the percentage of Scottish household expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages by income decile. This is included in our 'Food and Drink in Scotland Key Facts 2012' publication which can be accessed here http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2012/03/3347.