Chamber and committees

The target for 2009-10 is a developmental one that has provided a focus for NHS boards and the Waiting Times Delivery Board in their work to implement the new referral to treatment waiting time target. It has focussed attention on workforce, services, data collection, quality of care, referral protocols and information systems. A three month pilot started with NHS boards in January 2010 to ensure that appropriate data-gathering systems are in place to allow their performance around the waiting time target to be monitored.

The waiting time target, to be in place from April 2010, means that by March 2013 no one will wait longer than 26 weeks from referral to treatment for specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). It is supported by our additional investment of £5.5 million more each year in CAMHS by 2011-12 that will enable us to significantly increase the CAMHS capacity in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is currently developing proposals for a programme of health checks for people when they reach 40 in association with NHS 24. We will make an announcement shortly.

The Scottish Alcohol Needs Assessment (SANA) 2009 research report, which considered current provision of support and treatment services for alcohol, found that community and residential alcohol services provided a range of treatment interventions. Community services most commonly provided structured psychological/cognitive interventions, advice (including on abstinence), and brief interventions, while residential agencies provided residential rehabilitation (including detoxification) and inpatient treatment.

The Scottish Government has established a working group, through the Scottish Ministerial Advisory Committee on Alcohol Problems (SMACAP), to update core services for alcohol treatment and support. This group is revisiting the principles underpinning the Alcohol Treatment Services Framework; identifying and updating effective interventions, and setting out guidance on development of integrated care pathways which take into consideration multiple and complex needs.

The Essential Services working group will report at the end of the year.

Decisions on the most appropriate treatment for individual clients are taken by clinicians who determine the most appropriate form of treatment, taking account of the needs, circumstances and goals of each client. Their aim is to ensure that the treatment package will provide the most effective, evidence-based support for the individual concerned. Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs), supported by National Support Co-ordinators (NSCs), consider the evidence on effective interventions when commissioning services, and build in arrangements for assessing treatment outcomes.

The new national drug strategy “ The Road to Recovery - recognises the importance of providing person-centred care, support and treatment opportunities that suit individual choice and need. We are interested in evidence-based treatments and care approaches which benefit those with substance misuse problems. This is why the Scottish Government has commissioned a National Drugs Evidence Review, on behalf of the National Drugs Evidence Group, whose role it is to advise Scottish Ministers on the research and information priorities required to deliver the national drugs strategy.

The purpose of this review is to assess the adequacy of the existing evidence base from Scotland, the UK and internationally with a view to understanding more about what works for people in drugs recovery. The research will also identify the gaps in existing knowledge and set out the priorities for addressing these.

The recently launched Quality Strategy sets out the Scottish Government''s commitment to develop a clear framework of measures which allow us to monitor, improve, report and manage the quality of healthcare, with a clear focus on the benefits and outcome for patients.

This will involve the development of a set of high-level measures that reflect our shared understanding of quality, and will be developed jointly by representatives of NHSScotland and the Scottish Government Health Directorates.

The measures will be based around, and capture change across, the six dimensions of quality as identified by the Institute of Medicine - Safe, Effective, Person-Centred, Timely, Efficient and Equitable. It is important to state that the measurement of quality will include the whole spectrum of services the NHS provides, from prevention and health improvement through to healthcare treatment.

Decisions on the most appropriate treatment for individual clients are taken by clinicians who determine the most appropriate form of treatment, taking account of the needs and circumstances of each client. Their aim is to ensure that the treatment package will provide the most effective support for the individual concerned.

The national drug strategy “ The Road to Recovery - recognises the importance of providing person-centred care, support and treatment opportunities that suit individual choice and need. We are interested in evidence-based treatments and care approaches which benefit those with substance misuse problems. This is why the Scottish Government commissioned a National Drugs Evidence Review, on behalf of the National Drugs Evidence Group, whose role is to advise Scottish Ministers on the research and information priorities required to deliver the national drugs strategy.

This is why the Scottish Government commissioned a National Drugs Evidence Review, on behalf of the National Drugs Evidence Group, whose role it is to advise Scottish ministers on the research and information priorities required to deliver the national drugs strategy. The purpose of this review is to assess the adequacy of the existing evidence base from Scotland and UK and internationally with a view to understanding more about ˜what works'' for people in drugs recovery. This research will also identify gaps in existing knowledge and set out the priorities for addressing these.

However, because drug users may experience various treatment types over the course of their recovery, it is not possible to say definitively, from the evidence available, that one type of treatment is more effective than another. Furthermore, because drug treatment should be tailored towards the needs of individuals, different treatment types may have very different client groups, for example, in terms of their experiences and their motivation to recover.

It is well established that early intervention and treatment can be effective in preventing more serious alcohol problems developing in the first place. This is why the Scottish Government has invested record funding in alcohol support and treatment services and established a NHS target for the delivery of alcohol brief interventions and are introducing a NHS target to reduce drug and alcohol treatment service waiting times.

The Scottish Government has established a working group, through the Scottish Ministerial Advisory Committee on Alcohol Problems (SMACAP), to update core services for alcohol treatment and support. This group is revisiting the principles underpinning the Alcohol Treatment Services Framework; identifying and updating effective interventions, and setting out guidance on development of integrated care pathways which take into consideration multiple and complex needs.

The Essential Services working group will report at the end of the year.

The Scottish Government is currently developing proposals for a programme of health checks for people when they reach 40 in association with NHS 24. We will make an announcement shortly, including on how these health checks might be rolled out for people at other key life stages.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-28814, on 2 December 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

There are approximately 1,300 staff in NHSScotland, equating to less than 1% of the workforce, covered by the executive and senior management performance pay arrangements.

The executive and senior management pay arrangements were introduced with effect from 1 October 2005 and comparable figures therefore exist for the last four years. Pay progression and the payment of non-consolidated awards are both determined by performance. The performance management arrangements for this group are the responsibility of individual Health Board Remuneration Committees with national oversight and moderation provided by the independently chaired National Performance Management Committee.

Non-consolidated payments to NHS executives and senior managers have been made in three of the last four years. The percentage payments for specified levels of performance are set out in the relevant pay circulars which are: CEL(2007)4, CEL(2007)22 and CEL(2008)52.

The Scottish Government does not hold pay records relating to individual health boards but does receive national data from the payroll system. The following information is taken from that source.

Year	Total of Non-Consolidated Payments	As % of total Executive and Senior Management Paybill
2006-07	£330,091	0.38%
2007-08	£484,008	0.53%
2008-09	£397,036	0.39%
2009-10	0	0

 

The Scottish Government is funding an initiative on patient pathways and referral criteria as part of the process of developing an access target for Psychological Therapies. This work will be co-ordinated within the Psychological Interventions Team - to be hosted within NHS Education for Scotland. It will cover a wide range of evidence-based approaches, from those suitable for patients with milder problems (including psycho-educational groups, computerised CBT and guided self-help ) to interventions designed for use with the most complex difficulties.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) delivers and commissions training for clinical psychologists, clinical associates in applied psychology, and neuro-psychologists, as well as specific training for particular evidence-based therapies which require a significant professional expertise. Training in counselling is available and commissioned elsewhere.