Chamber and committees

Information from a number of sources regarding the provision of workplace support across our health and social care services, is currently being considered on behalf of the Ministerial Short Life Working Group on Culture and Wellbeing, which I chair. The Group has a broad remit to examine and review existing provision, and will in due course publish a framework to support sustainable, longer-term cultural transformation.

One of the objectives of that framework will be to promote the implementation of practical strategies that ensure that all staff, regardless of their role or location have access to appropriate support services. An update to Parliament will be provided in the Spring, once the Short-Life Working Group has concluded its work.

The Lord Advocate has agreed in principle - subject to approval of the detailed arrangements - to a Police Scotland proposal to introduce speed awareness courses, where appropriate, as an alternative to prosecution.

A working group comprising Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Safety Camera Programme are working together to devise the infrastructure and guidance required for the introduction of speed awareness courses along with identification of potential course providers. The scope of the required work means that it is not possible to provide a specific timescale for any final decision on speed awareness courses and their implementation.

As part of the process of planning the Nursing and Midwifery workforce, each year Ministers recommend the numbers of commissioned places for all fields of pre-registration nursing and midwifery education and training based on the work of the Student Intake Group.

The Student Intake Group, which includes stakeholder representation from Trades Unions, NHS Boards, Third Sector and Independent Healthcare providers, Higher Education Institutions and NHS Education for Scotland, develops an analysis of demand arising from projected numbers of leavers, joiners and newly qualified nurses. The analysis draws on ISD and Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) Workforce Data alongside Professional Judgement Templates submitted by the sectors represented on the Stakeholder Group. This analysis is undertaken for each field of nursing, including Mental Health, and for midwifery by individual years across a 10 year timeframe covering short, medium and long term.

Ministers have recommended a 5% increase to the nursing and midwifery student intake in academic year 2020-21, which delivers 4,206 total places of which 632 are Mental Health nursing places.

We anticipate that the new guidance on physical intervention and seclusion in schools will be published in January 2021. The Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland and the Equality and Human Rights Commissioner reached agreement with the Scottish Government on the membership of the working group, which will meet for the first time in January 2020. There will be a full public consultation on the new guidance prior to publication.

The new guidance will be clear that physical intervention and seclusion should only ever be a last resort, and never used for disciplinary purposes. The guidance will sit within a ‘suite’ of documents in the ‘Included, Engaged and Involved’ series, that places at its core positive relationships and behaviour, early intervention, minimilisation of the use of physical intervention and seclusion, and de-escalation techniques. We are committed to taking an explicitly human-rights based approach to the new national guidance, in which everyone can have confidence.

The information requested on how many agency midwives there are broken down by board is not centrally held by ISD or NES.

Guidance on Free Personal Care was renewed to include the extension of free personal care and this was sent in December 2018 to COSLA, Chief Officers and Chief Finance Officers of Health and Social Care Partnerships, Chief Executives, Chief Finance Officers and Chief Social Work Officers of Local Authorities, Social Work Scotland’s Self-directed Support Practice Forum and the Social Work Scotland Adult Social Care Committee.

https://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/publications/cc2018_03.pdf

Funding was provided to cover expected loss of income from existing service users, demand from new service users, which may build up over time, payments for self funders in care homes and administration costs associated with the implementation of the policy, which could include training.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the amount of training health and social care staff in each local authority area have had in relation to the extension of free personal care to people under 65.

The following table provides the financial allocation by Local Authority in 2019/20 for the extension of Free Personal Care to under 65s.

Guidance on Free Personal Care was renewed to include the extension of free personal care and this was sent in December 2018 to COSLA, Chief Officers and Chief Finance Officers of Health and Social Care Partnerships, Chief Executives, Chief Finance Officers and Chief Social Work Officers of Local Authorities, Social Work Scotland’s Self-directed Support Practice Forum and the Social Work Scotland Adult Social Care Committee.

https://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/publications/cc2018_03.pdf

Together with the First Minister, I officially launched the extension of free personal care at an event at Capability Scotland which received extensive media coverage.

The Scottish Government produced a short Q and A document for the public setting out the key features on the policy which is available on our website.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/free-personal-nursing-care-qa/

I also took part in an interview with the Scottish Commission for Learning Disability to produce video clips setting out how disabled people can access free personal care. These are also available on the Scottish Government website.

https://blogs.gov.scot/health-social-care-integration/2019/03/29/free-personal-care-for-under-65s/

Transport Scotland expects to have received all quotations related to the installation of ice sensor equipment this month. Evaluation of quotations will take place in early January and equipment will be installed as soon as possible thereafter. In the meantime, the bridge Operating Company (Amey) has robust procedures in place and will be monitoring the Queensferry Crossing to ensure the continued safety of road users.