Chamber and committees

The Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Surveillance Study Group has undertaken various activities to raise awareness of FAS within the health profession and it has enhanced the ability of clinicians to recognise and diagnose the condition more effectively by;

• • • • Visiting all maternity and paediatric units in Scotland to talk to all of the paediatricians on the site about the condition.

• Holding two national awareness conferences in partnership with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. These conferences were mainly attended by midwives and paediatricians with almost 150 attending in total.

• Contacting all paediatricians via a monthly email to check if they have had any possible cases and to keep the condition high on their agenda.

The study progresses with two-three cases being reported monthly and a research nurse has been employed for one day a week to carry out site visits to ensure complete data collection.

It is planned that next year there will be another awareness conference for paediatrics professionals and midwives, however in addition to this, there will also be a FAS conference specifically aimed at raising awareness of the condition among social workers.

Presently this information is not in the public domain, however, child and maternal health division is in the process of redesigning its information pages on the Scottish Government website (www.scotland.gov.uk) and will have information available soon on the FAS study progress.

Smoking is prohibited by law only in wholly or substantially enclosed public places. Areas in the open air, such as hospital grounds and car parks, are not covered by this legislation. The Scottish Government issued guidance on smoking policies for the NHS, local authorities, and care providers in December 2005 to support the implementation of the smoking ban.

This encouraged NHS boards and other service providers, to demonstrate leadership in implementing smoking policies and promoting smoke-free lifestyles. It also highlighted the benefits of going further than the strict parameters of the law and working towards completely smoke-free policies to maximise health gain. This was subsequently reinforced in the chief executive letter Health Promoting Health Service: HPHS CEL (01) 2012.

While the decision to move to smoke-free hospital grounds is currently a matter for individual boards to determine the Scottish Government is currently developing a new tobacco control strategy, which we intend to publish early next year, and we will consider smoking within NHS grounds as part of that work.

I have asked Colin McConnell, chief executive of the Scottish prison service, to respond. His response is as follows: “G4S assumed responsibility for the provision of prisoner escorts from 10 January 2012.

The information requested is as follows:

The prisoner escort and court custody contract is published on the Scottish parliaments web site http://www.sps.gov.uk/Publications.”

Smoking has been banned in public places in Scotland since 2006 by virtue of the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005. However, the law includes an exemption for residential mental health institutions and permits smoking in designated indoor rooms in such settings.

During 2009 the Scottish Government consulted with stakeholders, service users and the public on the best way to achieve smoke-free mental health services in Scotland. The smoke-free mental health services in Scotland implementation guidance was issued by NHS Health Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government in March 2011.

The guidance clearly articulates the benefits behind the drive for a change to smoke-free and the expectation that NHS boards will implement smoke-free policies in mental health services at a pace which suits the services’ particular needs and circumstances. For example, with the support of the guidance, the state hospital, Carstairs has managed a successful transition to its current smoke-free status.

The Scottish Government is committed to developing a new tobacco control strategy for publication early next year. As part of that work we will consider whether there is a need to review progress in this area.

This information is not held centrally.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing.