Chamber and committees

<>Audit Scotland's Scotland’s Colleges 2015 report states that a net pension deficit is sustainable in the short term because the liabilities will become payable over a long period. Nonetheless, the Scottish Funding Council monitors closely the financial impact of ongoing pension costs and the position of individual college pension deficits.

The Deputy First Minister recently asked the Scheme Advisory Board of the Local Government Pension Scheme in Scotland to consider and report to him on a range of funding issues for the pension scheme, including the impact of charges on employers within the wider financial environment.

The Scottish Government provided funding to NHS Health Scotland, NHS Education for Scotland and Healthcare Improvement Scotland to jointly develop the Scottish Antenatal Parent Education Pack (SAPEP), launched in 2011. The pack is for professionals in Scotland to design and deliver consistent parent education that respects and reflects the individual needs of pregnant women and their partners. All 14 health boards have reported that they are delivering antenatal education and implementing SAPEP. NHS Health Scotland has commissioned an evaluation of SAPEP, which is currently underway and due to report shortly. This evaluation will also consider the effectiveness of delivery to vulnerable parents.

The Scottish Government funds NHS Health Scotland to develop and publish Ready, Steady, Baby!, a guide to pregnancy which is given to all pregnant women at their first booking appointment with a midwife. Ready, Steady, Baby! contains advice for new parents to promote babies’ wellbeing and development. NHS Health Scotland is currently reviewing the publication to improve the accessibility of parenting and health information for parents and carers, covering pregnancy to age five. The review process includes a comprehensive health inequalities impact assessment which takes account of the needs of vulnerable parents groups.

One of the key principles of the Refreshed Framework for Maternity Care (published by the Maternity Services Action Group) states that early intervention, prevention and promotion of maternal and infant health and wellbeing are integral elements within maternity care planning and provision. It asks health boards to develop mechanisms to follow advice and guidance on this. NHS Health Scotland has developed a website for early years workers which brings together published evidence and guidance on maternal and infant health and wellbeing, and includes a briefing paper on attachment which is aimed at increasing understanding of the theory and practice of promoting secure attachment.

In conjunction with the development of the health visiting pathway a caseload weighting tool has been developed. The aim of the tool is to enable health visiting practice to be targeted towards areas of greatest deprivation and families who are most in need of support, beginning in the antenatal period. NHS boards are responsible for ensuring that any necessary administrative support is in place to support health visitors.

There is a strong existing evidence base around psychological antenatal interventions for vulnerable expectant mothers. Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network 127 guidelines cover the management of perinatal mood disorders:

http://www.sign.ac.uk/pdf/sign127.pdf.

National Institute for Care and Health Excellence quality standard 115 contains detailed information about a range of antenatal and postnatal mental health issues:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs115/chapter/related-nice-quality-standards.

The NHS's guide to delivering evidence-based psychological therapies in Scotland also contains guidance on antenatal care that can be provided for certain mental health issues, in particular regarding alcohol problems:

http://www.evidenceintopractice.scot.nhs.uk/media/131943/nes-matrix.pdf.

I want to ensure that services are providing interventions and treatment that reflects the evidence base. The importance of early interventions for early years is a theme that is being developed as part of our ongoing engagement on the next mental health strategy.

Clinical supervision is a formal process of professional support and learning which provides a safe and confidential environment for staff to reflect on and discuss their work and their personal and professional responses to their work. The focus is on supporting staff in their personal and professional development and in reflecting on their practice. NHS boards are responsible for ensuring that their workforce is sufficiently developed to enable practitioners to provide appropriate standards of care. I expect NHS boards to have a structure in place for clinical supervision to support all practitioners which would include regular practice supervision by appropriately qualified professionals.

Health visitors are equipped with the knowledge and skills to recognise, assess, intervene and promote attachment by their learning and practice experience. Health visitors undertake the specialist community public health nursing course which includes the theory and practical application of attachment. In line with the refreshed role of health visitors, this education programme and continuous professional development were refocused in 2015. Health visitors visit families with children under five years of age at regular intervals as outlined in the health visiting pathway and carry out continuous assessment and identification of child and family health and wellbeing needs. The importance of attachment and bonding is one of the core issues which health visitors assess and promote at many of these contact points.

Social work qualifying courses have been specifically identified as having a systemic focus on attachment in a mapping study commissioned by the Scottish Government that reported in December 2012.

https://www.celcis.org/files/4814/3817/9734/Attachment-Matters-For-All.pdf.

All social work qualifying courses must meet the Standards in Social Work Education, which include the need for students to understand psychological and physiological theories of individual and social development, identity and functioning from infancy onwards.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to introduce a target for advanced clinical postgraduate attachment training for social workers, however the Standards for Social Work Education are being reviewed by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC, a Scottish Government non-departmental public body) to ensure they reflect changes in policy and practice.

The SSSC also provides a range of support to employers of social service workers to help them deliver their responsibilities to support and assist workers to achieve the qualifications required for the role they undertake and for their continuing professional development.

Matters relating to the deployment of Scottish Funding Council (SFC) grant are for the SFC itself. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive of the SFC to reply to the member's question directly.

The Scottish Government is guided on vaccination policy by the independent expert body, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Following the JCVI's advice, the Scottish Government added the meningitis B (men B) vaccine, on 1 September 2015, to the routine childhood vaccination schedule at two, four and 12 months of age, making Scotland one of the first countries in the world to have a national men B vaccination programme. All infants who are now aged up to 10 months should have been offered the men B vaccine.

When any new vaccination programme is introduced, there has to be a date to determine eligibility – a decision based on the best independent clinical recommendation to ensure we can protect those children most at risk of men B. In light of the recent petition regarding men B, the Scottish Government wrote to the JCVI to ask them to consider reviewing the evidence on their current advice to determine if it should be changed. The JCVI has responded confirming that its recommendation on men B was based on the best available evidence and this remains the case. The JCVI continues to monitor all available evidence in respect of its recommendations, and advice can be updated if new information or evidence becomes available. The Scottish Government will of course consider carefully any future JCVI recommendations on men B vaccination.

To increase awareness about the men B vaccine, parents of eligible children are sent an appointment letter for the vaccines (including men B) due to be given at their routine appointment, asking them to attend with their child at their GP practice. The introduction of any new vaccination programme is always accompanied by public information materials.

The Scottish Government is committed to protecting children against meningitis B (men B) which is why Scotland is one of the first countries in the world to have introduced a national men B vaccination programme to tackle the effects of this disease.

Since 1 September 2015 infants have been offered the men B vaccine at two, four and 12 months of age as part of the routine childhood vaccination programme. There was also a catch-up for infants aged three and four months who were attending for their routine vaccination appointments when the programme started. All infants who are now aged up to 10 months should have been offered the men B vaccine.

Vaccinating infants with men B will also provide protection for older children, adolescents and the wider population as it will help to reduce the overall prevalence and transmission of the disease (also known as herd protection).