The Scottish Governmentis not funding any research on alcohol and depression at this time. However, theNational Research Register, a UK-wide research database, records a number ofon-going projects in the UK on alcohol and depression. Details of these are availableat www.nrr.nhs.uk.

There is no planto set a target for the reduction of the rate of undiagnosed HIV infection. AnHIV sub-group of the National Sexual Health Advisory Committee has been lookingat issues relating to the diagnosis and prevention of HIV among men who havesex with men (MSM), the group for which the issue is most relevant, andalthough recommendations around HIV testing are being considered, these do notinclude target setting. The reason for this is that, in recent years much hasbeen done to improve the uptake of HIV testing among MSM and heterosexual menand women, including those attending antenatal clinics.

Two relativelyrecent policies have improved, dramatically, testing uptake and thus diagnosisof HIV. In 2003, the introduction of routine HIV testing among women attendingantenatal clinics occurred and since then, only one or two HIV infections amongpregnant women have remained undetected during their pregnancy; this means thatthe transmission of HIV from mother-to-child in Scotland is now rare.

Boards undertake anumber of activities to promote physical activity and nutrition that contributeto the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity. These include support forbreastfeeding. An additional investment of £11.5 million each year between2008-11 has been made available through Spending Review 2007 to fund initiativesto tackle obesity, particularly in children, and to implement the Physical ActivityStrategy and the forthcoming Food and Health Delivery Plan. Details of an ObesityAction Plan will be published in early 2008.

Our plans are to increasethe range of nursing and other health care support available to school-aged childrenand young people. A health care model targeted at deprived and other areas withhigh numbers of disadvantaged children will be developed in 2008. We will also usefindings of the current review of the sexual health strategy to determine how bestto support the contribution of community and public health nurses in deliveringthe strategy.

There are no plansto do so at this time, but we are working to drive downwaiting times for any patient groups that sit outside the maximum waiting time targets.The Better Health, Better Care Action Plan (Bib. number 44287) reaffirmedour commitment to driving forward our ambitious improvement programme for mentalhealth, a priority which is now receiving more attention than ever before, and whichis also recognised clearly in the NHS performance HEAT targets for mental healthfor 2008-09.

The national sexualhealth strategy, Respect and Responsibility included an action for NHS Quality ImprovementScotland (NHS QIS) to take forward the development of appropriate clinical standardsfor dealing with sexually transmitted infections. NHS QIS produced draft standardsfor consultation in July 2007. These include standards for chlamydia testing andpartner notification. A specific piece of work was undertaken to ensure that thedraft standards met the needs of remote and rural areas. The final standards willbe published in March 2008 and will be taken forward by NHS boards.

The fundingprovided to NHS Boards for Bloodborne Virus prevention work – including HIVprevention work – is calculated using annual incidence data for HIV and hepatitisC. Funding therefore responds to changes in epidemiology of the disease. BloodborneVirus funding to NHS boards this year will amount to £8.9 million.

We expect boardsto keep under review how this funding is used to ensure that it is fit forpurpose and meeting the needs of patients and the public.

The Chief MedicalOfficer and Chief Nursing Officer have recently issued a joint letter to all doctorsand nurses in Scotland on “Improving the detection and diagnosisof HIV in non-HIV specialities including primary care”. It states that a specialeffort on the part of nurses and doctors would do much to improve the situationand highlights best practice about offering and recommending, where appropriate,HIV testing in all healthcare settings, not just those traditionally offering thisservice.

The information isnot available in the form requested. Action for ME has, however, produced a reporton the scoping exercise which it carried out with funding from the Scottish Government.The report presents an overview of ME/CFS services in Scotland from the perspectives of key stakeholders, including people with ME,general practitioners, NHS boards and specialist service providers.

We are currently makingarrangements to publish the report and to distribute it to interested bodies suchas the Cross Party Group on ME.

Better Together, the new programme for improving health careexperience, which was announced in March 2007, will provide the information neededto monitor this target.

The first part ofthis programme of work, which is currently underway, is to determine what aspectsof healthcare are most important to patients and carers in Scotland. The results of this work will inform the next stageof the programme, which will collect information on patients’ and carers’ experiences.

Information from thein-patient experience survey, which will be carried out from 2008-09, will feedinto the new measure. The indicator will be developed in collaboration with NHSboards and the programme co-ordinators, and will represent experience relating tothe areas that are of most concern to patients and carers.

The purpose of BetterTogether is to enable patients, carers and health care staff to work togetherin partnership to initiate service improvements and redesign, based on enhanceduse of information and feedback.