Chamber and committees

The Scottish Prison Service strives to meet all offenders'' health care needs within available resources. The service acknowledges that there are geographical variations in the type, range and capacity of support services available in establishments and within the community for prisoners with mental health needs. These variations have a consequence on through-care, discharge arrangements and onward referrals to community services.

National monitoring is based on clients who set a ˜quit date˜/make a quit attempt with a cessation service. This will not include persons referred to services or who make initial contact with a service, but who do not go on to set a quit date.

Quit outcomes are monitored at one month, three months and 12 months after the client''s ˜quit date''.

The table below shows, for all quit attempts made using NHS cessation services in 2007 where the pharmacotherapy used was recorded as nicotine replacement therapy, the percentage of quit attempts successful at one, three and 12 months. Figures are based on client self-reported smoking status at each follow-up stage.

Data are based on the 2007 calendar year as three and 12 month quit outcomes are not yet available for the full 2008 calendar year.

Information is not available centrally on the quit outcomes of people using nicotine replacement therapy, but not attending NHS cessation services.

Quit attempts¹ made with NHS smoking cessation services in Scotland in 2007 using nicotine replacement therapy “ successful quits (%)² at one, three, and 12 months after ˜quit date''.

Source: ISD Scotland National Smoking Cessation Database; Tayside Pharmacies Database, and Greater Glasgow and Clyde local information systems. Ref: IR2009-01363

Notes:

1. Figures are based on total quit attempts, rather than total number of clients with a quit attempt, so could include repeat quit attempts by the same client.

2. Quit attempts not recorded as ˜successful'' will include clients still smoking and clients ˜lost to follow-up''/smoking status unknown. Regarding eligibility for follow-up - all quit attempts are eligible for follow-up at one month after the ˜quit date'', at the three month follow-up it is just those recorded as a successful quit at one month, and at 12 months it is all cases recorded as a successful quit at three months or ˜lost to follow-up''/unknown smoking status when followed up at three months.

The Scottish Prison Service has processes for the case management for prisoners with significant needs, including those for mental health care. It makes contact with community agencies on behalf of prisoners with mental health needs eight weeks prior to release from prison. The Scottish Prison Service cannot and does not monitor community agencies that offer follow-up care, nor does it determine when an ex-prisoner will be seen by a community agency.

The Scottish Prison Service has in place a range of health care audit and governance procedures. This includes a specific Healthcare Standard which defines prison mental health services, including provision for liberation and transfer of mental health care to the community.

From December 2008:

A new service each way between Aberdeen and Inverness;

A new service from Inverness to Wick and Thurso six days per week;

An additional all year round service on the Kyle of Lochalsh line.

From May 2009:

New morning connections from Glasgow and Edinburgh allow passengers to arrive at Kyle of Lochalsh by 4 pm.

The following interventions, which will contribute to faster and more frequent rail services, are recommended in the Strategic Transport Projects Review.

In order to promote vaccination uptake within this group a separate information leaflet for health workers was produced for the 2008-09 campaign, advising of the importance of the vaccination for health care workers and for the vulnerable people in their care. Separately the national Flu and Pneumococcal Group is also working with occupational health clinicians to look at how best to improve uptake of the flu vaccine by health workers.

Further Education Childcare Support

Each college has a further education childcare fund which parent students can apply to. This support is additional to bursary funding and applies to registered childcare only. Some colleges, however, may additionally offer different methods of childcare support such as on-site nurseries.

Higher Education Childcare Support

In addition to general living cost support (in the forms of grants and student loans):

Lone parent students can claim an additional £1,270 as lone parent grant from the Students Awards Agency for Scotland.

Funding of up to £1,185 can also be claimed towards the cost of formal registered childcare as lone parent''s childcare grant again for higher education students.

Each institution is also allocated a childcare fund as part of it''s discretionary funds. The higher education childcare fund is open to all eligible parent students and there is no cap on the maximum amount payable. It is for individual institutions to determine the level of awards. If this fund is exhausted, institutions are able to use their general discretionary fund to help with childcare costs.

Support for parents with the costs of childcare is also provided through UK tax credits and childcare vouchers.

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.