Chamber and committees

Police staff play a critical role in the success of Scottish policing, and supporting the delivery of crucial frontline services, and will continue to do so in the future. The number of police support staff that are full time equivalent (FTE) on 30 September 2012 are given in the following table. Operational decisions about levels of police support staff are a matter for chief constables, the SPSA and SCDEA.

Number of police support staff (FTE) on 30 September 2012

Notes:

1. Figures are expressed in terms of full-time equivalent (FTE) police support staff, rounded to the nearest whole number.

2 Scotland totals may not equal the sum of the parts due to rounding.

The project timetable is on track. The construction site has been established and downtakings such as parts of the glass roof over the concourse and wall panels have been completed. Excavations are now underway as a first step towards building foundations.

Information on the number of residents of Scotland who received medical treatment as an inpatient or day case (elective and emergency admissions) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is provided by NHS Board of residence and by main condition for the financial years 2005-06 to 2011-12.

The data across the UK is not directly comparable due to differences in data definitions. The tables are available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 54427). Information on residents of Scotland who have been treated outwith the UK is not available centrally.

The SPCB considers and makes decisions on a range of issues to do with the running of the Parliament, however, the establishment of committees is not a matter for the SPCB. Rule 5.1.2 of the Standing Orders of the Parliament states that this is a matter for the Parliamentary Bureau.

Discussions are ongoing between Scottish Government officials and relevant stakeholders, including GPs, to discuss the management of patients with substance misuse.

Drug Misuse and Dependence: UK Guidelines on Clinical Management (2007), endorsed and recommended by all four UK administrations, provide guidance to clinicians and practitioners on the treatment of drug misuse in the UK.

The Scottish Government acknowledges and promotes the important role of GPs in the delivery of the national drugs strategy, the Road to Recovery. Both the independent National Forum on Drug Related Deaths (established in 2005) and the Drugs Strategy Delivery Commission (established in 2009) have a wide-range of expert and professional representation from across Scotland, including from GPs.

In addition, the Scottish Government has also committed to revise the 2006 National Quality Standards for Substance Misuse Services:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/09/25092710/0

to ensure that they are aligned more closely with the aims of the Road to Recovery and to make sure that people have access to the highest quality services to enable and support their recovery. At operational level, National Quality Standards for service delivery set expectations for operation and management that are clear to all concerned – service providers (including GPs), service users and their families - and can help to drive a culture of continuous evaluation and improvement for services across the country.

The Scottish Government also provides funding to the Scottish Recovery Consortium, whose latest recovery campaign in the West of Scotland involved a workshop for treatment providers and the production of a learning tool entitled ‘An Invitation to Talk about Recovery’. This has been used to develop the recovery practice of the drug workforce and those commissioning services. The goal of the Consortium is to help local treatment agencies, including GPs, to take the next step in their recovery practice.

The national take home naloxone programme, funded by the Scottish Government, has included work to support and train GPs in offering this life saving intervention. NHS Health Scotland (in collaboration with the Scottish Drugs Forum) is currently leading a GP engagement project to support the delivery of the national naloxone programme. As part of this, a needs assessment is currently underway which will be used to inform the development of a GP resource and support package to expand access to take-home naloxone among those at-risk of opioid overdose in Scotland.

The Scottish Government considers that current arrangements ensure compliance with the terms of the Aarhus Convention in respect of the dissemination of environmental information, public participation and access to justice in environmental decision making. There are statutory frameworks in place to ensure that local authorities comply with the terms of the Aarhus Convention.

The information requested is not held centrally for individual pharmacists. However, methadone dispensing and sterile needle exchange by community pharmacy can be derived from remuneration and reimbursement paid to community pharmacy contractors for providing these services.

The following table sets out the number of community pharmacies that received remuneration and reimbursement for the above services during the financial year 2011-12.

Number of Community Pharmacies

Source: Prescribing Information System, ISD Scotland (extracted 12 Oct 2012).

Note: Sterile needle exchange is provided for a range of pharmacological interventions, including drug misuse.

Pharmacists can report to the prescriber and the patient’s key worker at the local substance misuse clinic or drug problem service where there is reason to believe that the patient is continuing to use illicit drugs. This would be a clinical decision of the pharmacist where it is in the best interest of the patient’s recovery or where their overall health and wellbeing is at risk.

Pharmacists can take action to report their concerns about a patient whether or not treatment is covered by a court order.

The Drug Misuse and Dependence: UK Guidelines on Clinical Management (2007) is the leading guidance in the UK on the treatment of drug misuse. The guidelines are endorsed and recommended by all four UK Health Departments for use by clinicians and practitioners providing substance misuse services and include guidance on opiate replacement therapy and needle exchange.

In addition, the Scottish Government Guidelines for Services Providing Injecting Equipment were published in May 2010 encompassing all aspects of injecting equipment provision. Support is also available to clinicians and practitioners through local Blood Borne Virus Prevention Leads appointed jointly by each NHS board and Alcohol and Drug Partnership under the Framework.

NHS Education for Scotland pharmacy team has produced a distance learning education resource pack, Pharmaceutical Care in Substance Misuse, aimed at supporting pharmacists providing pharmaceutical care to substance misusers. It covers methadone and needle exchange services. The pack gives an insight into the background to substance misuse and in particular drug misuse, with the associated problems such as blood-borne viruses that this causes for patients.

In addition, a number of pharmacists have completed the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Certificate in the Management of Drug Users in Primary Care. This is open to GPs, nurses and pharmacists.

NHS boards are responsible for establishing local service specifications for methadone dispensing and needle exchange.