Chamber and committees

As we always do, we will work with the NHS Pay Review Body according to an agreed timetable governing the submission of evidence, to ensure it has the data it requires in order to carry out its functions on behalf of the Scottish Government.

<>The UK National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is currently reviewing the evidence on the use of single-dose perioperative intrabeam radiotherapy in the treatment of breast cancer. We understand that the appraisal committee will meet on 26 August 2015 to consider the evidence further with a view to publication later this year.

NHS Healthcare Improvement Scotland (NHS HIS) have responsibility for alerting NHSScotland of the publication of NICE guidance and for advising on its applicability in Scotland.

Until this NICE guidance is published and HIS has advised on its applicability here, we expect clinicians to follow existing guidelines on the treatment of breast cancer.

The focus in Scotland is on ensuring that staff have a meaningful conversation about their performance, their development and career aspirations. The implementation of Agenda for Change, including the Knowledge and Skills Framework, has been taken forward in full partnership in Scotland and we will continue to adopt a partnership approach in discussing staff development matters.

Data on the number of college students with learning difficulties is not held centrally.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-25531 on 26 May 2015. 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 is currently considering further work on sexual and reproductive health and community pharmacy, and will produce details on next steps in due course.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the quality of lives for people with learning disabilities. Our ambition is to ensure that people with learning disabilities are visible in Scottish data systems. Since we published The keys to life much has been done to establish a process whereby people with learning disabilities using health services can be identified.

During 2014-15, NHS local delivery plan guidance was developed and issued as part of the 20:20 Vision Routemap. All NHS territorial and special boards were requested to name a Public Health Lead, reporting through the Director of Public Health, who would be responsible for addressing the stark inequalities faced by their local population of people with learning disabilities. The Scottish Public Health Network has been commissioned by the Directors of Public Health to develop a programme of work which supports the local delivery plan requirements.

In addition to this a number of significant other pieces of data work in relation to people with learning disabilities are being taken forward including:

Developing an agreed list of clinical codes for use in primary care by Scottish Clinical Information Management in Practice.

Investment in the Scottish learning disabilities Observatory.

Learning Disability Statistics Scotland moving to the ScotXed collection framework to support data requirements of local strategic commissioning plans and partnership working with Scottish learning disabilities Observatory, Scottish Consortium for Learning Disabilities, NHS National Services Scotland and Scottish Government Analytical Services Division in a data linking project.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the quality of lives for people with learning disabilities in Scotland. At the heart of our ambition is the principle that everyone in Scotland has the right to access high quality learning to meet their needs and aspirations.

In implementing recommendation 40 of The keys to life, The Scottish Consortium for Learning Disabilities carried out a review of the current further education provision for students with learning disabilities. This report is to be published imminently.

Partnership Matters describes the roles and responsibilities of agencies supporting students with additional support needs at, or as they prepare to, go from school into college or university, or from college or university into employment. Partnership Matters will be updated and re-launched in 2015:

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2009/05/08155445/0

The £3 million funding announced in 2008 for palliative care funding was invested in a directed enhanced service to support improvements in generalist palliative care with the balance being invested locally by NHS boards in a range of actions supporting the national action plan, Living and Dying Well (2008).

Subsequent progress reports Living and Dying Well: Building on Progress (2011) and Living and Dying Well: Reflecting on Progress (2012) record the progress and improvement detail.

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

“The date for the completion of the roll out of the learning/disabilities (LDD) screening tool is as yet unknown. The Scottish Prison Service has recently initiated the second stage of their pilot screening project at HMYOI Polmont, with HMP and YOI Cornton Vale and HMP Glenochil scheduled to follow over the next two weeks.

All prisoners entering HMYOI Polmont and all sentenced prisoners at the other two establishments will be routinely invited to participate in the screening. The second stage pilot is being progressed in partnership with Forth Valley NHS and will run until May 2016. The pilot roll out at these three establishments will be completed by the end of June 2015. Subject to evaluation, LDD screening may become a core feature of induction processes with possible expansion across the Scottish prison estate.”

The following table shows the number of delayed discharge patients in Scotland recorded on the Information Services Division (ISD) delayed discharge census as a code 9 within a learning disability specialty at each quarterly census from July 2011 to April 2015.

We believe the increase in the level of these delays is due, in part, to health boards’ improved data collection on learning disability patients, following recommendation 50 from The keys to life: Improving quality of life for people with learning disabilities (http://keystolife.info/) report.

Quarterly Census	Code 9 Delayed Discharges in Learning Disability Specialty
April 2015	25
January 2015	24
October 2014	19
July 2014	22
April 2014	20
January 2014	20
October 2013	8
July 2013	8
April 2013	10
January 2013	8
October 2012	6
July 2012	3
April 2012	5
January 2012	8
October 2011	7
July 2011	2

Source: ISD Scotland

Ref: IR2015_01085