Chamber and committees

The consultation closed on 18 January 2019 and we have received 75 responses.

These responses are currently in the process of being analysed and we will publish the results in due course.

The analysis provided contains information on the number of individuals discharged from NHS hospitals after being admitted with eating disorder diagnoses, broken down by health board of treatment and financial year from 2016-17 to 2017-18. As the figures do not include people treated in private facilities, they may present an undercount of the total number treated for eating disorders.

The Scottish Government continues to take national action to support local partnerships in improving the number of referrals into and the quality of post-diagnostic support services, as part of the 2017-2020 National Dementia Strategy. This includes action to support service innovation and modernisation, action to train the post-diagnostic workforce, and to improve the consistency of the application of the national service offer. We recently commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland to lead work on a new locality-based project to test the delivery of home-based post-diagnostic services to a high volume of clients with a high level of additional care needs. This will involve innovations in terms of service design, professional roles and technology. A test site will be selected in coming months.

In addition, we have extended by 12 months the projects in East Edinburgh, Nithsdale and Shetland to test the re-location of post-diagnostic services in primary care. We also continue to deliver post-diagnostic training as part of the national Promoting Excellence dementia skills and knowledge framework.

Many people are diagnosed in very old age with other chronic or terminal conditions and for some their dementia support – including in residential or acute settings– will be an addition to existing care packages and not reflected in the post-diagnostic figures. Others will not wish to take up the service straight away while they process their diagnosis. We are doing more work to understand the array of reasons individuals might not complete the service.

Integration Joint Boards are responsible for planning, commissioning and delivering dementia post-diagnostic services. The Scottish Budget delivers additional resource funding of almost £730 million (5.5%) for health and care services. Our budget includes £160 million of additional health and care investment in local authorities – which will support social care and mental health measures, including those delivered by Integrated Joint Boards.

The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to improving the lives of autistic people in Scotland through The Scottish Strategy for Autism and values the involvement of autistic people in the strategies planning and decision.

Local provision of mental health support for autistic people is the responsibility of the local NHS Boards The Scottish Government is clear that all NHS Boards must ensure that their services are planned efficiently so that patients - including autistic people - have swift and safe access to the full range of services they need. Nationally, support is also available through NHS 24, the Samaritans, Breathing Space and NHS Living Life.

The Scottish Government made a clear commitment to improving mental health provision including specifically those in rural areas through the Mental Health Strategy published in 2017 and Better Mental Health in Scotland: PfG delivery plan published in 2018.

The National Rural Mental Health Forum was established in 2017 through Scottish Government funding and helps people in rural areas including farmers to maintain good mental health and wellbeing. Members of the forum include National Farmers Union Scotland, Scottish Tenant Farmers' Association and the Scottish Farmer.

Currently, the Forum are linking with the work being done by the National Suicide Prevention Leadership Group who have been established to drive delivery of the Suicide Prevention Action Plan.

As part of the broader programme of work to enhance digital services, NHS 24 will roll out video-conferencing clinics trials between October 2019 and March 2020 to improve access to psychological assessment and therapies in rural areas through the use of technology such as video-conferencing.

Furthermore, in December 2018 the Scottish Government published its first national strategy to help tackle social isolation and loneliness and build stronger social connections. As part of this, and in recognition of the distinct needs of those in rural communities, including farmers, we will engage with bodies like Scottish Rural Action and Scotland’s National Rural Mental Health Forum.

We are committed to improving the prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment and aftercare for all people living in Scotland who are affected by any form of cancer. This is reflected in our £100 million, 5 year national cancer strategy, ‘Beating Cancer: Ambition and Action’ .

It is welcome that overall cancer incidence has decreased over the past 10 years, but we want to help reduce that further.

We will continue to take bold and progressive preventative strategies, such as a minimum unit pricing for alcohol, to encourage people to adopt healthy lifestyles thereby reducing their risk of developing cancer.

People can survive for longer after treatment the earlier a cancer is diagnosed - around 85.2% of breast cancers are detected at early stages (stage 1 or 2). That is why we will continue to work - through our National Screening, and Detect Cancer Early (DCE) programmes - toward identifying breast cancers at the earliest stage, and to continue to drive down the existing inequalities gap.

We continue dialogue with breast cancer charities to focus on improving breast cancer services for everyone in Scotland who needs them.

Numbers of clinical radiology consultants in NHSScotland have increased in this government by 45.4%: from 223.5 WTE in September 2006 to 325.0 WTE as at September 2018.

We have also enhanced the supply of doctors to fill radiology training posts, with 26 new training places between 2014 and 2017 – an increase of 20%. We are continuing to invest in radiology specialty training and from 2018-23 we are increasing trainee posts by 50.

While it is possible to retire at 55, there is no fixed retirement age. We seek to make use of consultants and their experience wherever we can. Many doctors who retire continue to work on an ad hoc basis for NHS Scotland through the NHS Staff Bank.

Latest published data from ISD show that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde narrowly missed the 31 day (95%) standard in Q3 2018 (July - Sept) with 94.8% of patients receiving treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat with an average wait of seven days (above NHS Highland, Tayside, Lothian and Grampian).

While the average wait for patients on the 62 day pathway was 46 days NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde’s performance against this 62 day standard at 76.5% is not acceptable and as such the Scottish Government published the £850 million Waiting Times Improvement Plan on 23 October 2018. The Plan sets out a series of actions to ensure the future delivery of waiting time standards for patients across Scotland by Spring 2021. Investment will support reforms to increase capacity, increase clinical effectiveness and efficiency as well as implementing new models of care. The immediate focus is on improvements for patients whose treatment is urgent, who have a suspicion of cancer, and those who have been waiting longest for an appointment.

Following the development of the Effective Cancer Management Framework in 2018 an experienced Cancer Service Manager is providing tailored support to NHS Boards across Scotland including NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde.

The Chief Medical Officer for Scotland chairs a Taskforce set up to provide national leadership for the improvement of healthcare and forensic medical examination services for people who have experienced rape and sexual assault.

Following a rigorous options appraisal exercise in 2018, the Taskforce is supporting each of the 14 Territorial Health Boards to develop person centred, trauma informed services as close as possible to the point of need, supported by regional centres of expertise.

The Taskforce National Co-Ordinator is working closely with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the West of Scotland Boards, on proposals for a new multi-agency facility within Glasgow City Centre which will support delivery of this model. These plans are in progress.

The Scottish Government has committed £8.5m over three years to support Health Boards across Scotland to deliver consistent and sustainable services and to help embed the published Healthcare Improvement Scotland Standards.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-21250 on‎ 25 January 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 .

It will be for the independent Chair to determine the detailed scope and the timeframe for the review.