Chamber and committees

NHS Scotland is participating in the EU Commission-funded epSOS programme. Launched in July 2008 in 12 member states, this involves large scale pilots supporting interoperability of health information systems across borders, for patient summaries and ePrescription of drugs. At this early stage of assessing each member states'' current position, the degree to which NHS Scotland will be involved has not yet been decided.

The Scottish Government has made clear, as recommended in the GRIPS report, that we recognise chronic pain as a long term condition, thereby aligning it with the work on long term conditions which we are taking forward in partnership with the Long Term Conditions Alliance Scotland, including implementation of the national strategy for self-management.

NHS boards are being asked by the Long Term Conditions Collaborative to include chronic pain in their long term conditions delivery plans. The North of Scotland Planning Group is considering the development of a pain management service in its area, rather than sending people to the specialist pain management hospital in Bath.

The Scottish Government has provided pump-priming funding for the Chronic Pain Managed Clinical Network that now operates in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. We want to encourage other NHS boards to adopt that model, to promote the systematic integration of pain services across primary, secondary and tertiary care.

NHS QIS will also report on progress with each of the actions in the GRIPS report on a regular basis to the Long Term Conditions Steering Group which the Chief Medical Officer chairs.

The NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) annual report refers on page 21 to the report it published in November 2007 on the incidence of aphasia following a stroke, the services currently available, its current management and its impact on individuals and their families. Since then, NHS QIS has published, in June 2008, a response entitled The Road to Recovery, setting out recommendations on raising awareness of the condition and the future development of services for people with aphasia in Scotland.

NHS QIS is currently considering with key stakeholders the holding of collaborative events in Spring 2009. These will enable practitioners and key organisations to come together to review their current practice and identify opportunities for improvements based on the findings from the aphasia in Scotland report and other policy drivers.

We are also considering the actions to improve services for those with aphasia following a stroke which might be included in our revised coronary heart disease and stroke strategy.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-18171 on 3 December 2008.

At its annual review on 23 September 2008, the Scottish Health Council identified the following approaches it is taking to ensure that patients, carers and the public are able to make their views on health services known:

Support the development of Public Partnership Forums;

Support boards to develop mechanisms that will help them to hear the views of seldom heard groups;

Support patient feedback through the Council''s input to Better Together, the patient experience programme;

Ensure availability and access to the Independent Advice and Support Service, which is commissioned by boards from Citizens'' Advice Scotland, and

Monitoring how NHS boards are fulfilling their duties to ensure that advocacy services are provided to those who need them.

The annual review process, which is led by ministers, holds all NHS boards to account for their performance and provides an opportunity for patients, carers and the public to express their views on NHS services.

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.

The evidence base for the success of the Counterweight programme is based on the ability of the programme to deliver clinically beneficial weight change.

Clinically beneficial weight change is recognized to be greater than or equal to 5% loss of body weight. The Counterweight programme was designed to assess if this clinically beneficial weight loss could be achieved in a primary care setting, where the intervention was delivered by busy primary care team as part of other day-to-day activities. Counterweight was originally evaluated from 2000 to 2005 in 65 general practices across the UK. The research demonstrated that 30% of all patients who attend Counterweight appointments achieve greater than or equal to 5% weight loss and this weight loss is maintained at 1 and 2 year follow-up.

The Counterweight programme is seeing similar results in NHS boards to those previously seen during the research.

Counterweight are collecting a range of data to help assess and audit the impact of the programme. This includes:

Numbers of practices/service implementing the programme;

Numbers of patients eligible to take part in the programme (based on body mass index);

Numbers of patients being offered the programme;

Numbers of patients starting the intervention;

Number of appointments per patient attending the programme;

Numbers dropping out and at what stage, and

Weight change outcomes for patients followed up at three, six,12 and 24 months.

NHS boards complete a self-assessment of their Patient Focus and Public Involvement (PFPI) activities following discussion with key patient and community groups, including public partnership forums. The self-assessment reports on how they have involved patients, carers and the public. This is then endorsed by the Scottish Health Council as an accurate account of PFPI progress, based on the council''s own discussion with the community. The individual NHS board reports can be found on their respective websites.

An overview report of the NHS boards'' performance in relation to their PFPI activities during 2007-08 will be published shortly by the Scottish Health Council.

The Scottish Health Council is part of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland and is sponsored by the Scottish Government Health directorates. As part of that sponsoring role the Health directorates provide funding and on-going advice, guidance and support for the Scottish Health Council.

The Scottish Government has made clear that it is not anti-alcohol and we are proud of our distillers and the premium products they make. However, Scotland''s relationship with alcohol is out of kilter and we need to rebalance it.

Issues concerning the promotion of alcohol and potential measures under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 are being considered in light of the responses to the Scottish Government''s consultation Changing Scotland''s Relationship with Alcohol, but we are clear that we do not intend to ban promotions that explain the method of production, history and heritage of Scotland''s quality products. We have already given the Scotch Whisky Association an assurance that we will discuss these matters with them before proposing any regulatory action to end the irresponsible promotion of alcohol. We have also made clear that there is no question that distilleries will be prevented from offering drams as part of a distillery tour.

The Scottish Government will announce it''s response to the consultation early in 2009.

The Scottish Government is committed to reinforcing suicide prevention action across a range of sectors. By 2010, 50% of key frontline mental health services, primary care, substance misuse and accident and emergency staff will be educated and trained in using suicide assessment tools and suicide prevention training programmes.

As part of action to help achieve this target, capacity has been built within Alcohol and Drug Action Teams (ADATs) by continuing to develop provision of suicide prevention and awareness training. Growing linkage between ADATs and local Choose Life suicide prevention implementation groups recognises that substance misuse staff are key gatekeepers for drug users who are at increased risk of suicide. Suicide prevention training skills training is an increasing priority for many ADATs.