Chamber and committees

The Local Resilience Partnerships (LRPs) bring together a range of strategic local partners and, working with local community groups, provide support to people who are shielding including organising food deliveries, for example for people who do not have mobile phones, as well as assistance with prescription medication deliveries.

Any contact to LRPs in respect of shielding should be made through the relevant Local Authority. The Scottish Government and Local Authorities communicate on shielding on a daily basis.

The international standard for an appropriate pandemic response is to double ICU capacity. NHS Scotland has more than trebled its adult ICU capacity, from a base of 173 beds to a surge capacity of 585. These beds will be brought into use as needs dictate, on a daily basis. Given the scale of the current emergency, we have asked Health Boards to go further by preparing to quadruple the base ICU capacity; bringing the total number of adult beds to over 700.

To deliver that increase, we have ordered ventilators from a range of manufacturers and these are beginning to arrive with more deliveries to arrive over the coming weeks. To bridge any gaps between now and the delivery of new ventilators, Health Boards have been working to repurpose operating theatre anaesthetic machines for use as ventilators. That is not a long-term solution, but it is allowing us to rapidly increase our capacity of intensive care beds.

No clinical waste has been stored at hospital sites under contingency. No additional hospital storage costs have been incurred.

The Scottish Government takes the health and safety of all our staff very seriously. The guidance published by the Department of Health and Social Care, Health Protection Scotland (HPS), Public Health Wales, Public Health Agency Northern Ireland, Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England on 2 April 2020 is the official and fully comprehensive guidance on the matter of the use of PPE in the context of COVID19.

The guidance includes clarification that - professionals can use their judgement to assess their risk based on what task they are undertaking and where it is taking place, this includes aerosol generating procedures.

The guidance can be found at: https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/a-to-z-of-topics/covid-19/#guidelines .

The Scottish Government is working closely with NHS Boards during the pandemic to monitor the impact of Covid-19 on demand and capacity and is responding where required.

On 25th March the Chief Scientist Office also launched the Rapid Research in Covid-19 (RARC-19) Funding Call. This is supported by nearly £5 million of funding from the Scottish Government. As part of this, the Scottish Government is funding projects which will help us understand the mental health impacts of the pandemic on the population, including on vulnerable groups.

We expect people are going to need a variety of supports through the crisis. That is why we are investing £3.8 million on extending telephone and digital mental health support and a further £1 million on rolling out Distress Brief Intervention support across Scotland. We are also working closely with the Boards on the delivery of existing services within the context of the current constraints.

Prior to the Covid-19 crisis, psychology staffing had been steadily increasing with enhanced investment. NHS Education for Scotland is currently delivering the Health and Social Care Covid-19 Accelerated Recruitment Portal, which will enable a speedy deployment and employment of workers across the Health and Social Care workforce as they are required.

Public Health Scotland collects IVF Waiting Times data for first cycle to screening appointment within the confines of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act. Information regarding IVF can be found in the IVF waiting times section of the Public Health Scotland website at https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/healthcare-resources/waiting-times/ivf-waiting-times-in-scotland/

NHS IVF Centres have contacted all patients who have been affected, offering support and confirming that treatment is temporarily paused.

The Scottish Government released the Clear Your Head campaign on 21 April. The campaign looks at simple steps people can take to protect their own mental health and to look after loved ones.

The Scottish Government will provide an additional £75,000 of funding to Parentline Scotland , which will provide vital support to parents, including advice on how to support their children experiencing anxiety regarding COVID-19.

The Scottish Government’s ParentClub website remains the key portal for clear and simple advice for parents and carers, including specific content to support parents on effectively communicating and managing any anxiety that their children may be experiencing due to COVID-19. The ParentClub includes a wide range of relevant information for families including supporting children’s (and parents’ and carers’) mental health and relationships as well as guidance and tips for learning and play at home.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-28198 on 27 April 2020.

I am leading work to ensure a range of mental health and wellbeing support is in place for NHS and social care staff, complementing the work being taken forward by NHS Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships at a local level.

Social media, including twitter, is being used by the Scottish Government, NHS Education for Scotland and other partners to promote wellbeing advice.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

The Scottish Government plans to expand the Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) service across the entire country in response to COVID-19. Prior to the COVID pandemic, DBI was already operating as a pilot in rural and urban areas, in the Scottish Borders, Aberdeen, Inverness and North and South Lanarkshire. The Scottish Government is working proactively with the DBI Central team (based at NHS Lanarkshire) and other partners to set in hand the practical arrangements for the expansion to go live over the coming few weeks. The additional commitment to support this is £1,038, 284 in the current financial year.

Mental health legislation in Scotland provides for rigorous safeguards in respect of individuals’ human rights which include that any function should be carried out for the maximum benefit of the patient, with the minimum necessary restriction on the freedom of the patient.

Scotland has a robust model of inspection and participation in international measures which contribute to an assurance that human rights are realised and that adequate services are provided. The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland (MWC), along with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland, and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland, as well as other organisations, are members of the UK National Preventive Mechanism, which ensures that the UK fulfils its obligations under UN treaties to monitor places where people are detained, prevent ill-treatment, and ensure detention is consistent with international standards.

In addition the MWC carries out local visits to places of detention and mental health services across Scotland. They look at facilities to check that the care and treatment provided meets the needs and respects the rights of the individuals using these services. They undertake thematic reviews jointly with partners such as the Care Inspectorate to ensure a joined up approach to checking that the care provided in different settings is appropriate.