Chamber and committees

Information on the total cost of the methadone treatment programme is not available centrally.Total costs include the cost of methadone, fees to pharmacists to dispense methadone and to supervise consumption, the cost of counselling and social support and fees to GPs participating in shared care schemes. There are also costs of providing specialist drug services.Health boards received an additional £2 million for all drug treatment services this year, giving a total of £14.352 million.

The Executive recognises and welcomes the contribution made to oral healthcare by the whole dental team, including that of the professions complementary to dentistry. It is examining how to encourage more dentists into remote, rural and deprived areas. However, the level of service that can be delivered by dental therapists is a reserved matter, and I refer Mary Scanlon to the answer I have given to question S1W-16389.

Heroin and methadone are opioids that act in the same way on receptors in the brain. Opioid dependence is a well-established and clearly defined phenomenon. It is characterised by physical and psychological dependence, which becomes more likely as the dose and duration of use increase.Users of heroin experience a euphoria, but addicts become tolerant to the pleasurable effects of the drug quite rapidly. Methadone does not produce euphoria.Street heroin varies in purity and heroin requires more frequent "hits" than methadone.Heroin is generally thought to be more addictive than methadone. However, because methadone is long acting and the withdrawal effects, though less severe, can last much longer, drug users often claim that methadone is "harder to come off" than heroin.

Towards a Safer Healthier Workplace, the occupational health and safety service strategy for NHSScotland staff, requires all NHSScotland organisations to offer a comprehensive, competent and confidential occupational health and safety service to all staff as an integral part of their Human Resources Strategy. The proposal adopted by the Yorkhill NHS Trust is to provide its employees with the opportunity to have a lifestyle fitness assessment and forms part of the criteria for the Scotland's Health at Work Silver Award. This is in line with current policy for NHSScotland employers to achieve the Scotland's Health at Work Award and for staff to be encouraged to improve and manage their own personal health.

The Scottish Executive shares the concerns of Her Majesty's Government about the impact of illegally imported cigarettes and alcohol. There is close contact with HM Customs and Excise Law Enforcement Directorate about a range of serious and organised crime issues through the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency.The UK Government announced, in March 2000, the "tackling tobacco smuggling" strategy, which aims to put cigarette smuggling into decline within three years. The strategy will deliver more aggressive enforcement activity, which will detect and deter other forms of smuggling, including alcohol.

Information on the total cost of drug and alcohol treatment and rehabilitation for Scottish patients outwith Scotland is not available centrally.Health boards received an additional £2 million for drug treatment services this year, giving a total of £14.352 million. Local authorities have been allocated an additional £6.8 million for drug rehabilitation services. This additional funding will enable Drug Action Teams to plan an integrated approach to the provision of services locally.

Training on drug and alcohol addiction is provided by each of the five medical schools in Scotland. It is also included in pre-registration nursing courses, and within the Diploma in Social Work qualification.

The New Deal for Disabled People will be extended nationally from July 2001 to all people claiming incapacity benefits which will offer new opportunities for people with mental health problems.The Disability Discrimination Act already protects people disabled by mental illness. The UK Government has asked the Disability Rights Commission to look at the Disability Discrimination Act's coverage of people with mental health problems and will consider carefully any recommendations for legislative change that the commission makes.The UK Government has announced its intention to end in 2004 the exemption of small firms from the Disability Discrimination Act employment provisions and, when legislative time allows, the exemption of many occupations and types of employment. This will ensure that employees or job applicants in those areas who are disabled with mental health problems are protected from discrimination.As an Executive we are committed to removing stigma and improving access to care and support. The Executive's Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change, announced a £4 million investment in a campaign to promote positive mental health. Consideration continues on the scope of that campaign.The Executive is also funding a project run by the Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health to examine ways in which people with mental health problems can be helped to return to and remain in employment.

Our objective for every discharge or transfer from hospital care is for the continuing care arrangements to fit the assessed needs of the individual. This is particularly true for those with a mental illness where needs can be complex and require co-operation and planning among a number of agencies. The aim always is to provide care, support and in some cases accommodation that matches needs and is both sustainable and responsive to changing needs.The Care Programme Approach (CPA) has been designed specifically for people with more severe and enduring mental illnesses. The objective is to ensure that properly designed and managed packages of health and social care are arranged for such people in appropriate accommodation in the community. No-one is included in the CPA without the agreement of a consultant psychiatrist and informed consent is sought wherever possible.

Following a commitment in Our National Health, the Chief Medical Officer has asked Professor David Lawson to lead work with the Health Technology Board for Scotland and with local area drug and therapeutic committees on removing inequities in prescribing practice across Scotland. As a result of this, a seminar was held on 16 May at which the concept of a Scotland-wide consortium of Area Drug and Therapeutic Committees - a Scottish Medicines Consortium - was launched. This would provide a single source of Scottish advice to clinicians as close to the time of marketing of a new drug as possible. The Health Technology Board for Scotland has agreed to provide administrative and methodological support to the consortium. Discussions are ongoing with local area drug and therapeutic committees and health boards across Scotland and it is hoped that the consortium could begin operating in the autumn.