Chamber and committees

The Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing meets the Lord Advocate from time to time to discuss matters of mutual interest.

The Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nursing Officer and National Clinical Director most recently wrote to hospices on the 22 December 2020 to offer updated advice on visiting over the winter period.

This letter emphasised that Scottish Hospices are expected to follow the visiting guidance that is most closely aligned to the physical attributes of their service. It is important to reflect that the majority of patients cared for in this type of setting will fall under the visiting guidance exemption for end of life care. In such instances, we support hospices in taking a compassionate and bespoke approach to visiting to allow those nearing the end of life to be with their loved ones.

The Scottish Government remains in regular communication with Scottish Hospices, through the auspices of the Scottish Hospices Leadership Group, to provide further advice and support as required.

This information is not centrally held. I suggest you contact the relevant Boards for this information.

Since 2008 we have invested almost £895 million to tackle problem alcohol and drug use, including spending up to £95.3 million on alcohol and drugs in 2020-21.

Decisions on configuration of local services, including residential rehabilitation, as well as the level of resource, funding allocated and referral to them are made locally by Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships.

The First Minister has made a commitment to make a statement to Parliament in January where she will be laying down a step change in our approach to do things differently, this will include our approach to residential rehabilitation.

This data is not held centrally but should be held by relevant health boards.

We will respond to each recommendation of the Residential Rehabilitation Working Group in the New Year. This will include setting out plans to substantially increase the provision of residential treatment in the short term and looking deeper into need, demand and capacity for residential treatment for those with substance use issues.

The Women's Health Plan continues to be developed and it is planned at present to publish it during 2021.

The Scottish Government recognises the continued need to address health inequalities in relation to cancer outcomes. We have recently completed an equality impact assessment, which alongside our Cancer Recovery Plan published on 09 December 2020, will be published shortly. This assessment has highlighted various actions in which we can take forward:

• The Scottish Government’s Digital Transformation Team and local clinical team will explore reasons why key groups have difficulty accessing services, and we will continue to raise awareness of the potential signs and symptoms of most prevalent cancers.
• Over the next 2 ½ years we will invest up to £2.45 million to tackle inequalities in the national population screening programmes. This funding will be used to identify and address the impact of COVID-19 on inequalities.
• We will deliver a ‘Once for Scotland’ approach. The approach will continue to look at available equalities data in order to minimise existing inequalities and ensure that every patient has equitable access to care across Scotland.
• Some of the biggest cancer inequalities exist around lung cancer, which is also Scotland’s most common cancer, and this is a focus in our National Cancer recovery Plan. We are working with the Scottish Primary Care Cancer Group and NHS Health Boards to tackle lung cancer presentations.
• Public messaging is being developed to support those with persistent symptoms suspicious of lung cancer to contact their GP. Recognising the potential to prevent many lung cancers, we will also support initiatives to deter young people from smoking.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-30234 on 20 July 2020.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, following findings of the UK Obstetric Surveillance System, which found that 56% pregnant women admitted to hospital with SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy were from black or other ethnic minority groups the Scottish Government’s Senior Medical Officer in Obstetrics and Chief Midwife wrote to all Clinical Directors (Obstetric) and Heads of Midwifery advising them of the findings of the study and of the changes to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and Royal College of Midwives (RCM) guidance and asking them to consider any immediate actions and to increase vigilance locally. This was followed up by the revised ‘ Delivering Maternity and Neonatal Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic Guidance for Boards’ which highlights the importance of increased vigilance when caring for women with COVID-19 risk factors for deterioration and hospital admission including Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) launched a Race Equality Taskforce in July 2020 to better understand and tackle racial disparities in women’s healthcare and racism within the obstetric and gynaecology workforce and our Senior Medical Officer in Obstetrics represents the Scottish Government on this group. On 2 October, to mark the first meeting of the Taskforce, the RCOG and Five X More launched ‘five steps for healthcare professionals’, a campaign to help reduce maternal health disparities in the UK.

Discussions have taken place recently with the leads of the maternity and obstetric community in Scotland to again highlight the evidence and to explore and share evidence of good practice. This work will also inform agreement regarding key actions for national implementation.

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 is committed to creating a fairer Scotland for all. In 2019-20 we allocated over £2.6m to organisations working to advance race equality.

This funding has supported our minority ethnic communities to access vital services such as employment support, health and wellbeing services, digital resources as well as to tackle social isolation. Our aims of becoming a digitally connected nation for all, ensuring that everyone living with a long term health condition are able to access the best possible care and support and our ambition for an economy that works for all of Scotland’s people, takes into account the particular challenges faced by minority ethnic communities. This includes Black and African people, as well as those from other minority ethnic groups.

A particular challenge we are committed to tackling in Scotland is FGM. In 2019 - 20 we provided minority ethnic organisations over £600,000 to help us eradicate this practice, provide vital services to anyone affected and to promote the services and support available for vulnerable women at risk of this heinous crime. Organisations funded include the Kenyan Women Association in Scotland, Amina Muslim Women's Resource Centre and Saheliya.

We have also provided specific funding of £20k to the African Council, to take forward work to address the lack of representation and participation of Africans in public life in Scotland, and to promote active citizenship and social cohesion.