Chamber and committees

Information on the number of people who have been prescribed methadone is not held centrally.

NHS Information Services Division (ISD) publish figures on the Scottish Public Health Observatory (https://www.scotpho.org.uk/behaviour/drugs/data/treatment-for-drug-misuse/ ) on drugs used for the treatment of opioid dependency in Scotland, which includes dispensing of methadone hydrochloride. Published figures show that over the ten year period 2007-08 to 2017-18, the number of dispensed items for Methadone has reduced by 14%, from 492,908 dispensed items to 423,656.

Data for 2007-08 to 2017-18 can be seen in the following table:

This information is not held centrally. Responsibility for sectoral distribution rests with Integration Authorities and Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs). Before integration went live in 2016 this responsibility rested with NHS Boards and ADPs.

In addition to the investment delivered to the third sector through Integration Authorities and ADPs, third sector organisations also have opportunities to bid for funding through the National Development Project Fund, and the Challenge Fund administered by the Corra Foundation. Details of the successful projects and funding levels are available on our webpage here: https://www.gov.scot/policies/alcohol-and-drugs/

Figures for the number of attendances at Minor Ailments Services (MAS) are not held centrally.

Information Services Division (ISD) publishes figures for the number of registrations for MAS across Scotland and data relating to the number of items dispensed only.

The Minor Ailment Service, for the treatment of self-limiting common conditions, allows eligible patients and members of the public to register with their local community pharmacy and receive advice on the self-management of their condition, referral to another healthcare professional or the pharmacist will dispense an appropriate treatment for the condition. Data is not recorded on the number of patients or members of the public to receive advice or referral to another healthcare professional. Those registered can visit the pharmacy a number of times within the 12 month registration period.

The following table sets out the number of current registrations for MAS across the community pharmacy network of around 1,256 pharmacies. Figures are currently available from July 2007 up to 31 March 2017* (*latest published data).

This information is not held centrally. Figures on violence and aggression towards NHS Scotland staff are collated by Health Boards, in line with the relevant policies and procedures.

The following table, from Justice Analytical Services provides data on convictions between 2008-09 and 2017-18 under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005.

Guidance on the prescribing, and the reviewing of prescriptions, of methadone, and other opioid substitute therapies is available to all NHS Boards through the 'Drug Misuse and Dependence: UK guidelines on clinical management' (2017 Clinical Guidelines). These guidelines were commissioned by the Chief Medical Officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and updated in 2017.

The 2017 Clinical Guidelines were designed to guide clinicians and commissioners in the provision of the right balance of interventions, which have the greatest likelihood to produce individual benefit and public good.

The majority of Lyme disease cases can be diagnosed and treated in primary care without the need for specialist input, however where specialist input is needed such cases would be cared for by Infectious Disease Consultants.

Increasing awareness amongst the public of ticks and Lyme disease is an on-going priority for the Lyme Borreliosis group which is part of the Scottish Health Protection Network. The group has produced a number of educational resources for the public which can be accessed at: https://www.nhsinform.scot/bugs-and-germs .

Since 2015, the Scottish Government has provided additional financial support to NHS Boards of over £2.4 million to enhance clinical nurse specialist provision and care. The report on the specialist nursing and care fund, published in September 2017, outlines the additional clinical nurse specialist capacity in NHS Boards resulting from the funding that they received. The report can be accessed here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/report-specialist-nursing-care-fund/ .

Reports from NHS Boards in May 2017 showed that specialist nursing capacity had been enhanced through this additional investment alone by 31.35 whole time equivalents.

Information on which drugs are currently available through NHS England but not in Scotland, and vice versa is not readily available.

The Scottish Drug Tariff list those items which are reimbursable to community pharmacies if presented with a prescription form. The English Drug Tariff lists the reimbursement prices for prescribed medicines in England and Wales.

Local prescribing formularies are put in place by each NHS Board in Scotland and will be based on range of issues including general population, prevalence, cost effectiveness, clinical decisions and appropriateness for the patient concerned. Each NHS Trust and Clinical Commissioning Group in England will have similar processes in place.

With regard to (b), the current list of “all-UK” specialist services is published by National Services Division, a division of NHS National Services Scotland : NSD list of Nationally funded services .

Performance data for psychological therapies is reported at an aggregate level, therefore information is not held centrally on the number of people who have accessed CBT by NHS Board since 2007.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-24020 on 22 July 2019. 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 .