Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government awareness raising and active intervention strategies include Breathing Space, a national telephone advice and signposting service for those experiencing low mood, depression or anxiety. It is available nationally and free on 0800 83 85 87 and has a related website www.breathingspacescotland.co.uk While protecting anonymity callers are offered advice and contacts within relevant local care and treatment services. Over 4,000 calls per month are received.

Individuals have access to their primary healthcare team including their local GP practice team to discuss symptoms and concerns. The Scottish Government has published a patient pathway for primary practices in Scotland (Bib. number 45194) designed to strengthen the links between health, local authority, voluntary sector and others in offering medical and non medical sources of support, the latter through leisure, welfare, education, culture, employment, debt/benefits and other advice. Further guidance was published in 2007 on standards for Integrated Care Pathways for those with depression.

Other avenues for advice include NHS 24, Community Pharmacists self help groups, local community support groups and relevant voluntary sector organisations.

Planning is also at an advanced stage on establishing a pilot for a new telephone advice line, NHS Living Life to widen access to online and telephone based supports for those in need. This is of particular, but not exclusive, interest for remote and rural communities.

The information requested is not available centrally.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that patients have rapid access to the full range of services they need from the NHS. Specific targets are in place for first out-patient appointments following referral by a general medical or dental practitioner, for acute hospital admissions following a decision to place a patient on the waiting list, and for treatment for specific conditions, including heart disease and cancer. But the Scottish Government is also committed to improving access and reducing waiting times for a broader range of services, and is supporting the NHS in Scotland to drive down waiting times for services not presently covered by waiting times targets.

For example, we have published targets and commitments for change and improvement in mental health services to make specific, measurable improvements across the range of service users. We have also allocated £25 million to NHS boards this year specifically for tackling alcohol misuse, up from £10 million last year. This will support boards in ensuring that screening for alcohol misuse and delivering brief interventions, where appropriate, will become standard NHS practice.

We intend that the recommendations should be implemented as soon as possible, in view of the shortage of organs for transplantation.

The Scottish Government is grateful that the Scottish Transplant Group has agreed to oversee implementation in Scotland, and it has already begun work on this. We have also agreed with the Department of Health (DH) in London Scottish representation on the group which is being established to take forward implementation across the whole of the UK, as well as links with the National Clinical Director for Transplantation recently appointed by DH.

It is clear that we will need to recruit additional donor transplant co-ordinators in Scotland in order to implement recommendation 9 in the first report from the organ donation taskforce, which calls for an expansion and strengthening of the current network of co-ordinators.

Detailed work is being undertaken on the number of donor transplant co-ordinators that will be required in Scotland under the new arrangements.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-5468 on 31 October 2007. No updated figures are available.

Fuller details on the estimates can be found in Cost to Society of Alcohol Misuse in Scotland: An Update to Alcohol Misuse in Scotland Trends and Costs (Scottish Executive, 2005).

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/webapp/wa.search.

An obesity action plan providing details of how the Scottish Government will be investing £56.5 million, of which £40 million is newly allocated to this area, over the next three years in initiatives dedicated to tackling obesity, healthy eating and physical activity will be published later this spring.

A range or sources and published research is referenced in our report, Developing Social Prescribing and Community Referrals for Mental Health in Scotland (Bib. number 45194) which also sets out the potential care advantages of social prescribing for those with anxiety and depression or other mental illness.

The report provides current service examples and offers guidance on steps that can be taken to encourage and arrange access to the arts; creativity; physical activity; learning; volunteering and other approaches for the positive impact these pursuits can have on mental wellbeing.

Developing Social Prescribing and Community Referrals for Mental Health in Scotland (Bib. number 45194) was published and promoted within primary care last year setting out the care advantages of and steps toward social prescribing for those with anxiety and depression or other mental illness. The report sets out roles for community mental health partnerships and others.

As part of the response for the change prompted through the NHS HEAT target for reduction in antidepressant prescribing and national guidelines for the management of different types of depression and anxiety, GP practices are being encouraged and supported by NHS boards, community health partnerships and local mental health teams to refer patients toward non pharmaceutical interventions to address their symptoms of depression and anxiety. This applies for those with or without other long term conditions where clinically appropriate. Alternatives include physical activities, bibliotherapy, volunteering, and others approaches.

This information is not held centrally.

We published a guidance report last year setting out the care advantages of and steps toward social prescribing for those with anxiety and depression or other mental illness.

That report, Developing Social Prescribing and Community Referrals for Mental Health in Scotland (Bib. number 45194) provides current service examples and offers guidance on steps that can be taken to encourage and arrange access to the arts; creativity; physical activity; learning; volunteering and other approaches for the potential positive impact these pursuits can have on mental wellbeing. The report sets out roles for community mental health partnerships and others.

Attention on progress is maintained through our focus on delivering the now four HEAT targets for mental health which include action on alternatives to medication and on reducing admissions to hospital care both of which have relevance to the social prescribing objectives. In addition, work is underway on the contribution that community mental health nurses can make to community referrals/social prescribing and the attention we are promoting to increase access to psychological therapies.

Further, the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 requires local authorities to promote the wellbeing and social development of those individuals who have or who have had a mental disorder, including promoting and facilitating access to recreational, social and cultural activities.