Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-05466

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements are in place for providing long-term support to people resident in Scotland who have previously received deep brain stimulation surgery in (a) Dundee, (b) Edinburgh and (c) centres in England.

Question reference: S5W-05414

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government at what capacity mother and baby inpatient units at (a) St John's and (b) Leverndale Hospital have been operating in each year since 2011, from which NHS board areas people were admitted during that period, and how many.

Data on the capacity of mother and baby inpatient units at St John’s and Leverndale Hospital, and the NHS boards from which people were admitted, is not held by the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government expect that health boards and health and social care partnerships (HSCPs) will deliver mental health care and treatment in a person-centred manner to meet each individual’s needs.

In its Perinatal Themed Visit report in 2016, the Mental Welfare Commission made 13 recommendations to improve the recognition and treatment of perinatal mental health issues. One of these, to establish a national Managed Clinical Network, was for the Scottish Government, which we have agreed to. We will therefore fund the introduction of a Managed Clinical Network (MCN) to improve the recognition and treatment of mental health problems in the perinatal period.

Question reference: S5W-05409

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether the mother and baby inpatient units at (a) St John's and (b) Leverndale Hospital have had to turn people away in each year since 2011 and, if so, for what reasons.

Question reference: S5W-05410

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many mothers in each NHS board area have received mental health support outside of their board area in each year since 2011.

Data on the number of mothers that have received mental health support outside of their board area is not held by the Scottish Government. However, the Scottish Government expect that health boards and health and social care partnerships (HSCPs) will deliver mental health care and treatment in a person-centred manner to meet each individual’s needs.

In its Perinatal Themed Visit report in 2016, the Mental Welfare Commission made 13 recommendations to improve the recognition and treatment of perinatal mental health issues. One of these, to establish a national Managed Clinical Network, was for the Scottish Government, which we have agreed to. We will therefore fund the introduction of a Managed Clinical Network (MCN) to improve the recognition and treatment of mental health problems in the perinatal period.

Question reference: S5W-05471

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 21 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what mental health support is available to people with diabetes.

Question reference: S5W-05413

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 21 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of maternal mortality has been recorded as suicide since 2011, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S5W-05303

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 21 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the merits of extending registered medical practitioners to include psychologists.

I met with representatives of the British Psychological Society (BPS) on 8 September this year to discuss among other matters the merits of extending registered medical practitioners for the purposes of section 47 of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000. A further meeting between Scottish Government officials and BPS representatives took place on 10th October and officials are awaiting further information from the BPS about the training clinical psychologists receive in respect of assessing capacity of patients before deciding the most appropriate way to proceed with this matter. In any event the merits of extending registered medical practitioners to include clinical psychologists will be considered within the consultation on Adults with Incapacity legislation in 2017.

Question reference: S5W-05235

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 15 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reports that there are no education opportunities in Scotland to become a practitioner in applied behavioural analysis to assist children who have been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder.

Universities are autonomous bodies and as such they have responsibility for their own staffing, admission, subject provision, curriculum, degree awarding and research. Course provision is therefore a matter for each individual institution.

The Scottish Government expects each agency (health, education and social care) to consider their staff training and competence. It is important that services maintain staff competences in line with the SIGN Guidance and evidence. The published Autism Training Framework allows services to target their training to the needs of the individuals they are supporting.

The framework is available from the following link: http://elearning.scot.nhs.uk:8080/intralibrary/open_virtual_file_path/i1923n4027869t/NESD0350ASDTrainingFramework-WEB.pdf

Question reference: S5O-00499

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what is being done to provide access to fibre broadband in areas where there is an insufficiency of hardware to meet demand.

Question reference: S5W-05046

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 14 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-04549 by Aileen Campbell on 22 November 2016, what analysis it has carried out to determine the reason for the fall in the number of hepatitis C diagnoses in 2015; what estimate it has made of the current number of undiagnosed cases, and what steps it is taking to ensure that each NHS board has the capacity to exceed its treatment target for the condition.

Health Protection Scotland have investigated the reduction in the number of diagnosis in 2015 but has not identified a particular trend to explain this. HPS has specifically examined whether or not there has been a reduction in the volume of testing undertaken, but based on an analysis of the four largest NHS boards, this appears not to be the case. Rather this has demonstrated a 40% increase in hepatitis C tests carried out during 2015 compared to the annual average for the 2010-2014 period. Over 65,000 people were tested in 2015 compared with an average of 46,546 tests per year over the prior five years).

It is estimated that the number of people chronically infected with hepatitis C in Scotland is 35,900 of which 21,500 (60%) have been diagnosed. This equates to a 50% increase in the proportion of infected people being diagnosed since the launch of the Hepatitis C Action plan in 2008. The proportion of the infected population being diagnosed is continuing to increase each year.

The annual treatment target is a national minimum target. Each NHS Board is responsible for managing its own population and the disease within its locality. NHS Boards are currently on track to exceed the national target for 2015-16 of 1,500.

Chamber and committees