Chamber and committees

Safe and Well guidance on child protection in school (2005) alreadyincludes a section on responding effectively and sensitively to pupils who self-harmand there are no plans to issue further guidance to education professionals.

In addition, the sharing of informationbetween professionals and multi-agency planning to support children is promotedwithin Happy, Safe and Achieving their Potential – ten standards of support inScottish schools (2005). All guidance relating to children’s services withinall professional groups reflects this message, and there are no plans to issue furtherguidance.

The Scottish Schools AdolescentLifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) provides national estimates of the proportion of young people aged 13 and15, who report the use of cannabis in the previous year. The following table detailsthe findings:

	13 Year Olds Total (%)	15 Year Olds Total (%)
2000	9	28
2002	10	31
2004	10	28

 

NHS National Services Scotland gathersa range of statistical information on self harm within Primary Care and Hospitalsettings.

The Practice Team Informationdataset provides details on GP, Practice Nurse and other Primary care contacts andaccident and emergency and hospital admission information is also collected.

Work is in hand to improve andextend the information gathered in accident and emergency which will also capturedata on self harm presentations.

The Scottish Executive’shandbook on child protection in education, Safe and Well (2005), providesinformation on a range of issues concerning children’s care and welfare to guidethe practice of teaching professionals. Safe and Well contains a sectionto help school staff recognise and respond effectively to pupils who self-harm.

Prescription data collected centrallydo not relate to the number of patients receiving treatment but to the numbers andcost of prescribed items dispensed in the community by community pharmacists anddispensing doctors.

These data cannot be used asa proxy for the number of patients receiving treatment with any particular drug.

The recruitment of history teachersto schools is a matter for local authorities (LAs), depending on the curriculumneeds of individual schools.

The Scottish Executive carriesout an annual teacher workforce planning exercise to ensure at a national leveladequate numbers of newly qualified teachers are trained for when they are requiredin publicly funded schools. This takes into account factors such as the age profileof the profession; changing pupil numbers; numbers of new entrants to the professionand those leaving due to resignation, retirement etc.

As part of the exercise subjectspecialisms are prioritised to make certain intakes to initial teacher educationreflect the teachers needed. Factors which are considered in the prioritisationexercise include vacancy levels reported by LAs and the demand from LAs for probationerteachers in each sector/subject.

The exact number of childrenunder 16 diagnosed with depression in Scotland in each year since 1999 is not available centrally. However,national estimates of the numbers of children consulting for depression can be givenbased on the number of patients seen for the condition in general practices participatingin PTI (Practice Team Information). PTI data is obtained from a sample of ScottishGeneral Practices. This sample has a pattern of age, sex, deprivation and urban/ruraldistribution that closely matches that of the Scottish general practice population.The number of participating practices is too small to allow estimates for individualNHS board areas.

The estimated number of childrenunder 16 seen in general practices in Scotland for depression, based on PTI data(GP only) and standardised by sex and deprivation, is shown in the following table:

Estimated Scottish prevalenceof depression in children under 16, by year:

Calendar year	Estimated Number of Scottish Children (under 16)
1999	2,550
2000	2,350
2001	2,350
2002	2,750
2003	2,700

Source: ISD Scotland.

Note: estimates are rounded tothe nearest 50.

This information is not centrallyheld.

NHS National Services Scotland publishesa range of statistical information on self harm. This is available on www.show.scot.nhs.uk/nss/. The datasetinforms agencies and others in the design of services and responses to care need,and work is in hand to improve and extend the information gathered in accidentand emergency.

The Scottish Executive is preparinga good practice briefing for schools which will describe a range of approaches schoolsmay take to promote positive mental and emotional well-being in schools. The briefingwill describe case studies of successful counselling and peer support schemes inschools and will be disseminated by the summer of 2006.

The two year national implementationproject for the National Review of Guidance (Happy, Safe and Achieving theirPotential – a Standard of Support in Scottish Schools, 2004) will also helpeducation authorities and schools consider best practice in supporting pupils. Thisproject finishes in 2008.