Making hospitals more dementia friendly is part of The Scottish Government’s priority action in ensuring that hospitals meet the new dementia standards and the standards we expect for all older people, so that care is not only safe and effective but also treats patients with respect and preserves their dignity and privacy.

The Chief Nursing Officer is overseeing this action and Healthcare Improvement Scotland have begun a series of hospital inspections against these standards.

We are investing in training 100 Dementia Champions in hospitals this year and we are supporting Alzheimer Scotland in appointing a Dementia Nurse Consultant to each NHS board to provide specialist dementia advice at ward and hospital level.

The dementia standards include a standard on auditing hospital environments against a dementia checklist and on addressing any deficits.

The Scottish Drug Misuse Database (SDMD) is a key national information source, which is based on the systematic recording of the demographic and behavioural characteristics of clients seen at a broad range of specialist drug treatment services in Scotland. The information recorded on clients as they progress through drug treatment includes the interventions being delivered by the service and information on the individual’s drug use. The SDMD also records broader details on elements which are important to an individual’s recovery from drug use, including their wider social circumstances (for example, housing, employment and education). It is anticipated that the first release of follow-up information from the SDMD will be published by NHS Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland in December 2012. Local partners, such as Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) and treatment services, will be able to use this information to help them monitor, assess and manage their services on the basis of treatment and recovery outcomes.

National data on assessing the progress toward recovery outcomes of clients receiving treatment for alcohol use are currently not centrally held. In light of the Scottish Ministerial Advisory Committee on Alcohol Problems (SMACAP) Essential Services Working Group’s recommendation in their Quality Alcohol Treatment and Support (QATS) report (published March 2011), that a national outcomes-focused alcohol treatment database should be developed, we are currently scoping options for this.

The Scottish Government is also currently working with Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) and COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) to strengthen ADP reporting arrangements, as outlined in the answer to question S4W-03793 on 15 November 2011. 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The dentist with whom the patient is registered can consider whether or not to continue to keep the patient registered with them.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-03798 on 15 November 2011. 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government has been active in promoting a person-centred approach to recovery amongst Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs), since they were formed in September 2009. We established the HEAT A11 target to ensure that by March 2013, 90% of clients will wait no longer than three weeks from referral received to appropriate drug or alcohol treatment that supports their recovery. The most recent data, published on 27 September 2011, shows considerable progress with 86% of alcohol clients and 81% of drug clients who started treatment between April and June 2011 had waited three weeks or less. Full details of progress by NHS board and ADP are available at:

http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/wtpilot/reports.htm.

The role which peer support and mutual aid can play in recovery have been highlighted in both the review of the drugs evidence base by the Scottish Government, published in 2010, and the Scottish Ministerial Advisory Committee on Alcohol Problems (SMACAP) report on Quality Alcohol Treatment and Support (QATS), published in March 2011.

In terms of measuring progress, recovery outcomes - and indicators which enable progress on these to be measured - were one of the four key themes of the Outcomes Toolkit for Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships, which was published in September 2009.

Building on this, Scottish Government is currently working with local Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) and COSLA to strengthen ADP reporting arrangements. This work seeks to draw on existing good practice of ADP reporting to their Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs), and to provide a degree of consistency across the country by identifying a set of core outcomes and core indicators which all ADPs should report on. This will enable ADPs to measure and drive improvement – including by enabling them to benchmark against one another; to improve their reporting to their local CPP; as well as contributing to the national picture of delivery.

Seven core national drug and alcohol outcomes have been identified and formed part of the allocation letters for earmarked drug and alcohol funding for 2011-12. A full list of the core outcomes is available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/health/Alcohol/resources/ADPCoreOutcomes.

The emphasis on provision of personalised care support which facilitates an individual’s recovery is a key thread which runs throughout these core outcomes. One of the national core outcomes is Recovery, where “individuals are improving their health, wellbeing and life chances by recovering from problematic drug and alcohol use. A range of health, psychological, social and economical improvements in wellbeing should be experienced by individuals who are recovering from problematic drug and alcohol use, including reduced consumption, fewer
co-occurring health issues, improved family relationships and parenting skills, stable housing; participation in education and employment, and involvement in social and community activities.”

The Scottish Government is currently working with ADPs to develop a set of core indicators which will enable improvements in the core outcomes to be measured. The core outcomes and indicators will be supplemented by local outcomes and indicators which reflect local priorities. We intend to have the revised arrangements in place by spring 2012.

I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

“Procedures are in place to ensure that any concern regarding a prisoner's mental health can be referred to the prison Multi-Disciplinary Mental Health Team. Care plans are person centred to address individual need and various interventions are available, including self-help where considered appropriate.

Responsibility for the delivery of prisoner health care services transferred to NHS health boards on 1 November 2011. Scottish Prison Service will work in partnership and support NHS colleagues as they develop the range of health care services made available to the prisoners in our care.”

(a) The cost of the Child Healthy Weight Intervention Programme for the three financial years to end March 2011 was £2 million per annum.

(b) Progress in delivering the Child Healthy Weight Interventions Programme over financial years 2008-11 was measured in terms of number of completed interventions. The number of completed interventions for Scotland as a whole was as follows:

2008-09 – 318 completed interventions

2009-10 - 1,235 completed interventions

2010-11 - 6,853 completed interventions

Total - 8,406 completed interventions over three years.

During the target period 2011-14 additional data on participating children’s weights and heights on entry to and completion of programmes are also being collected in order to understand the impact of interventions on children’s BMI status. These data are not yet publically available.

GPs use their professional judgement to work with their patients to agree the best and most appropriate care and treatment to support an individual’s recovery. This may involve drug or alcohol treatment, or referral of the patient to specialist services. Recovery from drug and alcohol addiction requires a collaborative approach that is not exclusive to primary care but delivered in partnership with it. Specialist drug or alcohol treatment is not considered to be a core GP activity.

The 2006 Planning Act and associated secondary legislation provide enhanced opportunities for communities and other stakeholders to get involved in the planning system.

Data on the number of alcohol-related deaths since 1979 are publicly available on the National Records of Scotland (NRS) website:

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/vital-events/deaths/alcohol-related/index.html

Source: National Records of Scotland