Chamber and committees

I refer the member to Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) Bib number: 60751.

Scottish Government officials are working with Health Protection Scotland and NHS Boards to agree treatment targets which will see Scotland reach elimination well in advance of the World Health Organisation target of 2030.

A great deal of work has been done by NHS Procurement and Boards to get medicine to the people who need it most. HPS data shows that, between 2013 and 2016, we delivered a 39 per cent reduction in the incidence of decompensated cirrhosis in people with chronic hep C. This is a clear indication that the Scottish Government’s current commitment to eliminating serious disease associated with hepatitis C is working.

This information is not held centrally, although we estimate that there are around 700 intermediate care beds in operation across Scotland. However, this is only one of a range of Intermediate Care services currently provided across Scotland, with current services ranging from home care reablement, to hospital at home and virtual community wards.

Since the publication of the Framework for Intermediate Care in 2012 we have supported the ongoing development of Intermediate Care services across Scotland. The Framework is available at https://www2.gov.scot/Publications/2012/07/1181 .

The Scottish Care Homes Census published by ISD Scotland provides information on the number of registered care home places for adults in each local authority area in Scotland at 31 March;

https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Health-and-Social-Community-Care/Care-Homes/Previous-Publications/index.asp .

Information has been published for 2000 to 2017. Within the publication, information is available on the number of registered places for ‘Local Authority and NHS’ and ‘private sector’ care beds.

For years 2000-2014, see data table 4 published on 28 October 2014.

For years 2015-2017, see data table 4 published on 11 September 2018.

The annual difference in the number of registered care home places by local authority can be calculated using these tables.

This information is not held centrally. Responsibility for the planning and commissioning of local care home beds and services is a matter for individual Integration Authorities, alongside their partners in Local Government and the NHS.

Scottish Government policy is to ensure that people receive the right care in the right place, at the right time, and wherever possible, see this care delivered at home or in a homely setting. We are encouraging Integration Authorities and NHS Boards to develop more community based services aimed at early prevention and management of more complex needs at home, with the development of services such as hospital at home. This should ultimately lead to the need for fewer beds, not more.

Boards first provided this information to the Scottish Government in their 2018-19 annual Staff Governance Monitoring return.

NHS Scotland Boards have advised us that 232 formal bullying and harassment cases were raised during 2018-2019 (1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019).

Following John Sturrock`s report into allegations of a bullying culture in NHS Highland we have asked all health boards in Scotland to consider the findings and look again at the effectiveness of their own internal processes for handling concerns, leadership and governance.

We are aware of recent evidence and data that points to increased cocaine use in Scotland, which we believe is being driven by falling prices and increased purity. We will continue to work with Alcohol and Drug Partnerships, stakeholders and Police Scotland to closely monitor the situation to ascertain whether it is a longer term trend, and we expect ADPs to use local data and intelligence to commission appropriate services that respond to the immediate and changing needs of their population.

Addressing drug related harm is a public health priority of this government. I recently announced that I would convene an expert group to determine what further changes, in practice or in law, could help save lives and reduce harm. Our alcohol and drug strategy, published in November 2018, is also clear that the quality and provision of services must be improved in order to make services more person centred in order to better meet the wide range of complex needs of those who are most at risk as a result of their drug use. This is being supported by additional investment of £20m for drug and alcohol treatment services.

Information on the number of patients delayed in hospitals in Scotland is available through the monthly Delayed Discharge Census. The most recent report, for April 2019, was published on 4 June 2019 and is available at https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Health-and-Social-Community-Care/Delayed-Discharges/Previous-Publications/ .

The census report records the number of patients who are delayed due to procedures associated with the Adults with Incapacity (AWI) legislation. Generally, these are patients who have not appointed a Power of Attorney, and lack the capacity to make decisions about their long-term care. Data on the number of AWI delays can be found in Tab 1 of the Delayed Discharge Census report ( http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Health-and-Social-Community-Care/Publications/2019-06-04/Census_Tables_To_Apr_2019.xlsx?10:45:44 ), and is available from July 2016 onwards (data recording changes make data prior to this point incomparable).

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-23319 on 6 June 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 .

The following table provides information on patients waiting for urgent and non-urgent procedures at Edinburgh Western General Urology Hub.

NHS Lothian is working to ensure the number of patients waiting for Urology appointments is reduced and already have a number of actions in place to increase and optimise capacity, including the appointment of additional staffing which will generate new appointments each week and they continue to offer evening and weekend appointments throughout the year.

I have been clear that the level of performance across Scotland is below the level I would expect. That is why I published our £850 million Waiting Times Improvement Plan which aims to significantly improve the experience of patients waiting to be seen or treated. NHS Lothian received additional funding last year, nearly £7.5 million, to support improvements in waiting times. Over and above, we invested over £2 million towards the end of 2018-19.

Recently I announced the second phase of funding, an additional investment of £70 million, that will be allocated to NHS Boards to target the longest waiting patients in 2019-20. We will continue to work with all health boards to ensure the additional funding available delivers the improvements needed.

Additionally, Urology is one of the specialities being looked at through the Scottish Access Collaborative. A report was published in November 2018 and informs recommendations which are being actioned by the Modern Outpatient Programme.

Number of Patients waiting for Urology operations or procedures by Referrer Urgency Category at Edinburgh Western General Hospital