Chamber and committees

The H1N1 vaccination programme is proceeding well and health boards have indicated that vaccination has been offered to all patients in the initial priority groups. A mop up exercise is taking place to the end of January.

The second phase, for children over six months and under five years of age, has commenced and will continue over the next few weeks. We anticipate this will be completed by the end of January, with some mop up activity into mid-February.

No. NHS Scotland has now received the total supplies required to vaccinate all those in the initial at-risk priority groups. They have also received all of the vaccine supply required to vaccinate children over six months and under five years in the second phase of the programme.

The H1N1 vaccination programme was launched on 21 October 2009 and has proceeded with a phased roll out initially. The programme is progressing well and health boards have indicated that vaccination has been offered to all those in the initial priority groups and a mop up exercise is taking place to the end of January.

The Scottish Government anticipates that the second phase of the programme will be completed by the end of January with some mop up activity into mid-February.

At the start of the vaccination programme, patients in the at-risk groups were asked to wait until they were contacted by their GP before making an appointment to have their vaccination. Health boards have indicated that vaccination has been offered to all those in the initial priority groups and a mop up exercise is taking place until the end of January. Anyone who is in the initial priority groups who had not yet has their vaccination is invited to contact their GP practice to arrange an appointment now.

Phase two of the programme is offering vaccination to all children aged over six months and under five years. Vaccination of these children has commenced and will continue over the coming weeks. Parents of young children will be contacted by their health board or GP practice and invited for vaccination. We are asking parents to wait until they receive an invitation before contacting their GP practice in order to ensure that phone lines are free for emergency calls.

The Scottish Government has also set up the Scottish Swine Flu Vaccination Helpline (08000 28 28 16) for patients seeking further information about the H1N1 vaccination. This is in addition to the NHS 24 helpline (08454 24 24 24) for anyone who thinks they may have swine flu. Both helplines are available to provide patients with accurate information whilst relieving the demand on GP practices.

We are working to implement fully The Mental Health of Children and Young People: A Framework for Promotion, Prevention and Care (Bib. number 38415) by 2015. To support this we have made available £2 million on a recurring basis to accelerate the development of specialist child and adolescent mental health community services to reduce the need for admission to inpatient care.

For children there are nine beds provided on a national basis at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill).

For young people, the recently opened Skye House in the West of Scotland is an indicator of the progress with this agenda, providing 24 beds (an increase from 16). We are also working closely with NHS boards in the north and south east of Scotland. Currently there are 12 beds in Edinburgh and six in Dundee though consideration is being given to increasing this to 12.

The total potential figure of 48 beds is lower than previously announced but reflects the significant additional investment in intensive community services intended to reduce admissions that take children away from their families.

We are also investing an additional £6.5 million over the next three years to NHS boards that will significantly increase the number of psychologists working in specialist child and adolescent mental health services. These additional psychologists will be able to offer direct services and to support others in the work that they do with children and young people with mental health problems.

The number of children and adolescents requiring care and treatment in a secure forensic psychiatric unit in Scotland is very small, and even within this small group of patients the needs are very different, for example, some may have a learning disability, and it would not be appropriate to simply treat all child and adolescent forensic patients together given their differing needs. Scotland is part of the UK-wide arrangements whereby NHS National Services Scotland commissions a secure forensic mental health service for young people, resident in Scotland, from the Department of Health in England.

Improving mental health and wellbeing for children and young people is a priority for the Scottish Government. As part of that priority, the Scottish Government is working with NHS boards and other partners to deliver specific objectives and commitments set for children and young people''s mental health. There has been progress in attention to training and workforce planning, better early intervention, supported transitions, improved primary care and improved planning and delivery of specialist care, including age-appropriate inpatient care.

This is a matter for West of Scotland NHS boards (Ayrshire and Arran, Dumfries and Galloway, Forth Valley, Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Lanarkshire) who are jointly responsible for delivering a service for patients in their areas.

However, we are working closely with all NHS boards to increase the specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) workforce to deliver a service which meets all our expectations and takes account of the changing needs and increasing demand for role flexibility to support appropriate care models The additional £6.5 million that we are making available over the next three years to NHS boards will significantly increase the number of psychologists working in specialist CAMHS.

We are also making £2 million available on a recurring basis to accelerate the development of specialist CAMHS services, including access to inpatient beds and intensive community services.

There are no specific beds in psychiatric units dedicated to children and adolescents with learning difficulties. Children with learning difficulties who are assessed as requiring inpatient accommodation in a psychiatric unit will be treated in one of the nine beds for children provided on a national basis at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill). For young people requiring inpatient care, there are currently 24 beds available in the west of Scotland, 12 beds in the east of Scotland and six beds in the north of Scotland, with ongoing consideration to increase this to 12 beds. The £2 million that we are making available on a recurring basis to accelerate the development of specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) focuses on enhancing intensive community services to support these inpatient facilities.

This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0910-01.htm

This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0903-01.htm

We will continue to work with local government to develop policy in areas where local government has a key interest including our ambitions for swimming.

There are a number of local authorities such as Perth and Kinross, Moray and Inverclyde who already provide free or discounted access to their swimming pools.

sportscotland meets with local authorities and the governing body, Scottish Swimming, to discuss a wide range of swimming issues.

Scottish Swimming focuses on promoting their programmes such as Learn to Swim within local authorities. Scottish Swimming''s Learn to Swim programme sets national standards for swimming in Scotland, ensuring a fun, challenging and consistent approach to swimming for the swimmer, teacher, coach and parent.