This information is not held centrally in the format requested.

The following tables show the number of deaths from stroke in Scotland between 1999 and 2008 that occurred outwith hospital (including deaths at home and in care homes) broken down by NHS board area.

Health Board	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Ayrshire and Arran	239	230	263	256	227
Borders	48	27	51	46	53
Dumfries and Galloway	89	87	93	115	109
Fife	156	167	176	172	169
Forth Valley	129	147	157	141	140
Grampian	234	246	238	277	274
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	660	688	673	655	646
Highland (inc Argyll and Bute)	150	121	124	144	159
Lanarkshire	193	227	236	238	205
Lothian	388	362	381	358	333
Orkney	5	2	10	12	16
Shetland	7	3	8	6	8
Tayside	200	211	191	243	242
Western Isles	10	12	16	24	13
Total	2,508	2,530	2,617	2,687	2,594

 

Health Board	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Ayrshire and Arran	225	189	163	162	200
Borders	45	45	35	37	31
Dumfries and Galloway	94	87	75	93	65
Fife	143	138	126	131	137
Forth Valley	109	110	111	107	104
Grampian	221	241	225	205	208
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	640	595	533	464	446
Highland (inc Argyll and Bute)	132	140	114	160	155
Lanarkshire	197	230	192	202	194
Lothian	328	292	282	253	252
Orkney	7	9	3	3	8
Shetland	6	4	6	5	8
Tayside	232	195	198	175	170
Western Isles	11	14	16	10	16
Total	2,390	2,289	2,079	2,007	1,994

Source: GROS.

In 2010, the Scottish Stroke Care Audit plans to look at pre-hospital care of people who have had a stroke, by developing links with relevant data from the Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS24.

We are working with NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to support Psychological Therapies Training Co-ordinator posts in Health Boards to provide the educational infrastructure necessary to ensure training and supervision are well-organised, sustainable, and have maximum service impact.

Good quality psychological therapies supervision is essential for the delivery of evidence-based care. NES has developed competence-based psychological therapies supervision training, which is being rolled out on a training for trainers basis across Scotland.

In partnership with the Scottish Government, NES has supported or commissioned training in a number of evidence-based therapies, including those orientated towards older people.

The Scottish Government Health Directorates obtain advice from a range of expert sources when developing policy, including from professionals involved in delivering psychological services across Scotland. This system works effectively and there are no plans currently to consider the appointment of a lead officer for psychology in Scotland.

In response to the increased demand for access to applied psychologists and psychological therapies, we are currently considering the role that applied psychologists can play in developing the overall psychological competence of the workforce. NHS boards have been asked to comment on a draft report and recommendations which aims to inform local workforce planning and service delivery and we look forward to their response.

Copies of the report and covering letter have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 49878 and 49879).

The Scottish Government and the British Psychological Society (Scotland) are jointly funding the secondment of two health psychologists for 12 months from April 2009, to inform public health policy development.

The Chief Scientists Office (CSO) also funds research to which health psychology expertise is central, including projects to investigate sexual risk behaviour in adolescents with anti-social behaviour problems; interventions which increase adherence to medication after stroke, and the relationship between chronic pain and disability in the community.

The Scottish Government is developing and making use of this discipline to inform a number of social marketing campaigns including Take Life On and the Steps for Stress campaigns.

Psychologists are also working directly with patients in various parts of the NHS, and the Scottish Government is working in partnership with NHS Education for Scotland to provide, and broker the provision of, training in evidence-based psychological interventions, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to support this work.

Furthermore the Government has funded the stage two professional training
(i.e. professional chartership) for seven health psychologists through NHS Education Scotland at a number of Scottish health boards.

We have a specific commitment to expand and improve access to psychological therapies for all ages in a range of settings, and we are working closely with NHS Education for Scotland and NHS boards to deliver on this commitment and meet patient''s needs better and sooner.

We have established a Psychological Therapies Group to oversee the implementation of the advice in The Matrix - a tool for NHS boards to use in reviewing available evidence and in considering which psychological interventions might best be used to meet local need and demand - its continuous updating, and to expand its coverage to other key priority areas in Mental Health.

We have been actively working with NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to develop training, both for shorter MSc courses for psychologists and for a range of other clinicians to deliver psychological therapies.

Since NES took over responsibility for Clinical Psychology Doctoral Level training, there has been a significant increase in both the numbers of Clinical Psychologists in training - rising from 100 in 2002, to 198 in 2008 - and the number employed in NHS Scotland - rising from 359 in 2002, to 582 in 2008.

While we recognise that historically the availability of psychological services for older people has been poor, the Scottish Government has committed to develop an access target for psychological therapies and is giving particular consideration to the needs of older people in that work.

Patients accessing specialist mental health services are given a full assessment and will be offered, following discussion with them, treatment appropriate to their needs. This may include pharmacological, talking therapies or social support, or a combination of all three of these. They will be offered support by the team to make their choice based on the best evidence available to improve outcomes in their condition (using evidence from the NICE, SIGN, and Cochrane guidelines).

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-29412 on 8 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.

Copies of the report and covering letter have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 49878 and 49879).

I refer the member to the answer to questions S3W-29641 and S3W-29645 on 15 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.