Chamber and committees

The Mastermind project is being implemented in the four participating health boards in Scotland – NHS Grampian, NHS Fife, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Shetland. NHS 24 are project managing this. By 30 September 2014, all four health boards were live with their first patients participating in computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) as part of the trial. The Beating the Blues license is being used for the cCBT package. The project is on track and the focus now is on building the number of referrals and increasing the scale of activity within the participating health boards. The learning and evaluation from the Mastermind project will be used to inform discussions and planning on potential wider rollout of cCBT in Scotland.

Data from the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland Young person monitoring 2013-14 document published in October 2014 shows that there were 202 admissions to non-specialist inpatient facilities involving 179 young people.

The increase may be due to an increase in demand for specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), through better identification of children and young people with problems, better diagnosis and more people being prepared to come forward.

Data collected from the Information Services Division shows that numbers of children and young people seen by specialist CAMHS has increased from 807 in September 2012 to 1,318 in September 2014, which may have resulted in an increase in demand for access to inpatient beds.

There are occasions when it may be clinically judged to be more appropriate to admit young people to adult wards or the young person and their family have a preference for an admission to a local adult ward. Most of these admissions will be young people aged 16 or 17.

Since 2008, we have increased the CAMHS workforce by 45% and specialist adolescent inpatient beds will increase from the current 42 to 48 beds by spring 2015. This will ensure young people in need in Scotland can have quicker access to high quality treatment and support.

In this context, developmental disorders refers to autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

ADHD services for children are already provided by specialist child and adolescent health services in partnership with social work and education authorities. As part of commitment 33 of the Mental Health Strategy for Scotland: 2012-2015, a consultant psychiatrist completed a six month project funded by the Scottish Government. This project included raising awareness and providing training on adult ADHD through practical workshops delivered to mental health, primary care, criminal justice and education authorities. Good practice clinical guidelines are in development with the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Work is also underway with Addressing the Balance, a charity set up by adults with ADHD and their relatives/carers.

The Scottish Strategy for Autism (SSA) highlighted the need for capacity and awareness-building in mainstream services to ensure people with ASD are properly supported by trained staff. To address this, NHS Education for Scotland has produced Optimising Outcomes: the NHS Education for Scotland Autism Training Framework, and are developing a training plan to be rolled out in 2015 to improve the knowledge and skills of those who work with people with ASD.

In October 2014, NHS boards undertook a mental health bed audit to establish data on the use of mental health beds in Scotland. A report is planned for publication by the Scottish Government in spring 2015. Scottish Government and NHS boards will use the data from this report to inform improvements to specialist services in respect of mental health and developmental disorders.

As part of the SSA, the Scottish Government has also developed a Menu of Interventions (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/11/9710) which provides a guide to interventions and supports required by people with ASD. The menu will help professionals identify available advice and support and set out the referral and assessment process for services and interventions.

Marine Scotland Science monitors the return rate of sea trout at the river Sheildaig in Torridon and the Scottish Government fund the Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland to routinely carry out sweep netting across the west coast and islands to determine abundance of sea lice on sea trout. The Fish Health Inspectorate carry out surveillance for fish disease which includes investigating reported mortality in wild fish. While rare, where serious notifiable disease has occurred in aquaculture, Marine Scotland Science has conducted short term monitoring of wild fish for disease. Marine Scotland Science and other Scottish researchers, aided by monitoring data, continue to improve the knowledge and understanding of salmonid interactions issues.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) monitors compliance with licences for discharges of polluting substances and medicines from aquaculture. The licences issued by SEPA to permit the operation of fish farms include limiting conditions set in a way to ensure that the environment outwith the immediate vicinity of the fish farm is protected and this protection extends to any wild fish populations which may be present. The monitoring work undertaken by SEPA includes an assessment of data returns from the industry, monitoring surveys undertaken by fish farm operators and surveys undertaken by SEPA itself.

We commissioned the Mental Health Foundation and Voices of Experience to undertake the 10 year follow up review of the state of mental health services in Scotland. Work continues and the report is now expected to be published before summer 2015.

The ‘Mental Health and Learning Disability Bed Census: One Day Audit’ and the ‘Mental Health and Learning Disability patients: Out of Scotland and Out of NHS Placements Census’ was held on 29 Oct 2014.

NHS boards are in the process of validating and submitting their data to the Scottish Government for analysis and publication. A report is planned for publication by the Scottish Government in spring 2015.

The report will be accessible via the Scottish Government's publications webpage: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/Recent

Further information about the censuses is available here:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health/DataSupplier/MHandLD.

Yes. Scotland’s regulatory framework provides the right balance between growing the sector and protecting the marine environment on which both aquaculture and wild fish sectors depend. It was further enhanced by the Aquaculture & Fisheries (Scotland) Act, which commenced in September 2013 and ensures farmed and wild fisheries and their interactions continue to be managed effectively, maximising their combined contribution to supporting sustainable economic growth with due regard to the wider marine environment.

The Ministerial Group for Sustainable Aquaculture, which I chair and comprises the aquaculture industry, wild fish interests and other stakeholders, was established to facilitate industry to achieve their 2020 sustainable growth targets with due regard to the marine environment.

The national survey that has been underway since 2013 is due to report by the end of March 2015, with the outcomes published later in the year.

During the survey a number of potential incidents were reported to Police Scotland, which have been, or are being, investigated. An intelligence-led operation regarding pearl fishers also took place in the River Spey in July 2014, supported by local water bailiffs and Scottish Natural Heritage. No incidents were identified, but it was the first joint operation undertaken for freshwater pearl mussels and has laid the foundations for further such operations.

One of the outcomes of the national survey relating to the River Spey, was published ahead of schedule on 12 December 2014:

http://snh.presscentre.com/News-Releases/Action-to-create-better-conditions-for-freshwater-pearl-mussels-153.aspx). This survey found wildlife crime is one amongst several pressures that are contributing to the local decline in pearl mussel numbers.

The Crown Office has received no reports concerning relevant offences in respect of freshwater pearl mussels since 28 May 2013.

All applications are assessed using criteria agreed with Scottish Natural Heritage. In determining the River Spey abstraction application, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, using the agreed criteria, undertook a hydrological assessment of the potential impact on flows in the River Spey. This assessment concluded that the proposal would not cause a breach of ‘good’ river flow standards within the River Spey and would not be likely to have a significant adverse impact on the water environment or its species.

<>Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) recently published the results of its most recent condition assessment of the freshwater pearl mussel feature in the River Spey Special Area of Conservation. The Report of Site Condition Monitoring survey of freshwater pearl mussels in the River Spey during 2013 and 2014 is available via the following weblink: http://www.snh.gov.uk/docs/A1478200.pdf.

The report contains a number of recommendations which SNH will progress through the Spey Catchment Initiative.