Chamber and committees

We are currently investigating the availability and cost of nitrite-free preserved/cured products, such as bacon. We would be happy to discuss the outcome of our findings with the Member in due course.

I am scheduled to meet with the RCGP in August to discuss the report’s findings in more detail.

No public health campaign is planned. I have already clarified the Scottish Government's position on nitrates and nitrites, based on the evidence, in answer to recent PQs from Ms Lennon (see S5W-22368 on 18 April 2019 and S5W-23537 on 12 May 2019).

The Scottish dietary goal for red and processed meat sets limits for the consumption of all red and processed meat for the purpose of reducing the risk to the population of colorectal cancer. See https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Health/Healthy-Living/Food-Health/DietaryGoalsScot for more information on the Scottish dietary goals.

Public information and advice on the recommended consumption of red and red processed meat can be found at: https://www.foodstandards.gov.scot/consumers/healthy-eating/health-wellbeing/managing-health-issues

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 has undertaken a scoping exercise with Boards to determine Board’s current position and establish how many students could be available to begin the school nursing programme in the academic year 2019-20.

Distribution of school nurses will be determined based on Health Board need established following analysis of the scoping exercise with Boards and in consultation with Scotland’s Executive Nurse Directors.

It is for Health Boards and Education Leads to determine the geographic locations of staff given the demands in their local areas.

All boards have a legal obligation to comply with food safety legislation. The Food Safety Act 1990 requires that any food preparation environment must prioritise hygiene and cleanliness, as well as safe storage environments for food, e.g. correct refrigeration temperatures, or stock rotation times.

The boards must develop robust Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans based on the guidance contained within the National Food Safety Manual tailored to meet their service needs to ensure that all possible Food Safety risks to patients and staff across NHSScotland are reduced. These HACCP plans are regularly audited and verified by each Board’s Local Authority during their food hygiene inspections.

Suppliers must demonstrate compliance with food safety legislation and provide documentation of quality assurance as part of the NHSScotland National Contract tendering process. Following award of a contract, suppliers are subject to periodic independent audits to ensure continued compliance for the duration of the contract.

Health Protection Scotland has received no Hospital Infection Incident Assessment Tool (HIIAT) submissions or reports of Healthcare Associated Infection connected to food products from any NHS Scotland board from 2014 to date. On ObSurv, the surveillance system used for general outbreaks of Infectious Intestinal disease, there have been no hospital-related foodborne outbreaks recorded in the past five years (2014-2018), nor to date in 2019.

Since the publication of the Eligbility Criteria and Waiting Times paper in 2010, the Scottish Government has worked closely with Local Authorities to improve the quality of the data collection and understand variations within their returns. Data continued to be submitted to the Scottish Government on a quarterly basis until 2014. As analysis showed there was little variation in waiting times between quarters, a decision was made to move to an annual collection to help reduce the burden of supplying data on Local Authorities. From 2018, the collection was expanded to include people aged under 65.

The Scottish Government continues to collect and publish data on eligibility criteria and waiting times on an annual basis; https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health/Data/QuarterlySurvey.

The Scottish Government is continuing to work closely with Local Authorities to improve the quality and consistency of data to show the eligibility and waiting times to assess and provide social care. A national programme to support local reform of adult social care support is being developed from the expertise and experiences of people who use and work in social care support. Although the co-production is still underway to form the programme’s scope and activity, one of the emerging priorities we have identified is to review the data we collect on social care support and how it is used.

The Scottish Government conducts an annual survey of Local Authorities covering data from the first quarter of every year, the period of January to March. Prior to 2014 data was collected for every quarter, however, a decision was made to move to an annual collection to help reduce the burden on Local Authorities. Analysis of the data suggested there was not enough variation between quarters for this to have a significant impact.

This survey gathers data on the time taken from when a person first contacts the local authority enquiring about a social care assessment, to the completion of the social care assessment. Further data is collected on the time taken from the social care assessment being completed, to the service being implemented and we also record the eligibility category, during this collection.

This data was previously gathered for people aged 65 and over however, from 2018 the survey was expanded to include people aged 18-64. Data from 2012 to 2018 are published on the Scottish Government website.

https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health/Data/QuarterlySurvey .

The Scottish Government welcomes publication of the RCPG report “From the Frontline”, notes the issues raised, will consider them in detail and will discuss with Dr Carey Lunan when we next meet.