Chamber and committees

The welfare of NHS staff is critically important with every health board required to have policies in place and to comply with national policies on managing health at work. This includes all aspects of health and wellbeing such as addressing workplace stress. The policy, which is currently subject to review to ensure it remains fit for purpose, also provides guidance to support Health Boards in their local evaluation of the policy.

Through our new approach to staff experience we are taking action on health and wellbeing issues that matter to staff. Our work with the iMatter Staff Experience Continuous Improvement Model, which is currently being rolled out across NHSScotland provides a team-based tool for measuring employee engagement levels, and putting in place an action plan to deliver improvements. This includes improvement to staff wellbeing while in the workforce, with a number of questions designed to focus attention on any issues relating to individual and team wellbeing.

We are also working with the Health and Safety Executive to pilot continuous improvement approaches to stress within NHSScotland.

The General Teaching Council for Scotland is an independent body responsible for the registration of teachers in Scotland. It is for the General Teaching Council for Scotland to set the registration fee at a level that will allow the range of services it provides to continue.

I had a meeting with the Consul General at the Chinese Consulate on 14 September 2016, during which they discussed the strengthening relationship between Scotland and China. Scottish Government Ministers and officials meet regularly with the Consul General and other Consulate officials in order to further develop Sino-Scottish relations. There are currently no future meetings planned.

The First Minister held a courtesy meeting with Vice President Song Jinwu, Vice President of the China Friendship Association - a branch of the Chinese Ministry for Foreign Affairs - during a visit he made to Scotland on 21 September 2016. Since 20 November 2014, there have been 11 other courtesy meetings which Ministers have held with members of the Chinese administration, including 4 by the First Minister during her visit to China in July 2015. Details of these meetings are described in the answer to the question S4W-27306 on 4 September 2015. In addition, Scottish Government officials based in Scotland and in the Scottish Affairs Office in Beijing, China, have regular courtesy meetings with various Chinese Government organisations, including the Shenzhen Foreign Affairs Office, the Shandong Foreign Affairs Office and the Ministry of Culture.

The Scottish Government condemns human rights abuses wherever they take place. We are committed to engaging with the Chinese Government on human rights – an issue critical to China’s long term prosperity and social stability – as part of our overall engagement. Respect for human rights and the rule of law is one of the four guiding principles that we set out upfront in the Scottish Government’s China Strategy and these underpin all of Scotland’s dealings with China. Where appropriate the Scottish Government will always raise the issue of human rights in meetings.

Before the First Minister’s visit to China in July 2015, she met with officials from Amnesty International and the Scottish Human Rights Commission – an approach which the Scottish Government has taken for previous Ministerial visits to China. In Beijing she delivered a keynote address on equal rights for women, which had been developed to build on the themes she had discussed with Amnesty and the Commission. In the address she outlined why gender equality – as well as being a fundamental issue of human rights - is also one of the great economic opportunities of the 21^st century. The First Minister recognised that like all societies – including Scotland – there is more that China can do. Amnesty International’s Programme Director in Scotland, Naomi McAuliffe, called the speech a “significant statement of support for equality and human rights in Beijing.”

We are committed to improving survival rates from Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) and are working in partnership with a range of public and voluntary organisations to deliver the aims in Scotland's strategy for OHCA, published in March 2015. The Strategy aims to have 500,000 people in Scotland trained in the use of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and increase survival rates by 10% across the country by 2020. Learning CPR is important in increasing bystander CPR, which in turn is essential to improving survival rates.

'Save a Life for Scotland' (SALFS) is the public-facing campaign to increase the number of people CPR trained and comprises a partnership of public and voluntary organisations.

Many schools already deliver CPR training and it is for schools and local authorities to decide if and how they want to take this learning forward. A priority for SALFS is working with schools to support CPR education. SALFS aims to link up schools seeking help with those providing CPR training in their area. SALFS have also worked with Education Scotland to create a pack for schools outlining CPR resources available from partner organisations. This will be a central starting point for schools and youth groups seeking CPR training. These resources are available on the Education Scotland GLOW website and via the SALFS website (www.savealife.scot).

The Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) Strategy for Scotland (the Strategy) was produced through collaboration between, the Scottish Ambulance Service; Scottish Fire and Rescue Service; Police Scotland; British Heart Foundation; Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland; Resuscitation Research Group; University of Edinburgh and Scottish Government.

The Strategy sets out the commitment to improve outcomes after OHCA, with the ambition that by 2020 Scotland will be an international leader in the management of OHCA. This is underpinned by the two main aims of the Strategy, which are to increase survival rates by 10% across the country and to equip an additional 500,000 people with CPR skills by 2020. Success will depend on the commitment and action of many individuals and organisations. Achieving the ambition will involve optimising the elements in the system of care or the “chain of survival” i.e. readiness to intervene in OHCA; early recognition and call for help; CPR; early defibrillation; pre-hospital resuscitation; post resuscitation care; and aftercare. The actions and improvements in the chain of survival are being delivered by a wide range of public and voluntary organisations working in collaboration and together with communities. These utilise and build on the existing work by public services, communities and individuals.

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.

The Scottish Diabetes Group (SDG), our national advisory group and its subgroups have agreed national glycaemic levels and have been holding quality improvement meetings to promote and share good practice throughout our diabetes communities in order to achieve these.

Further to this, work is progressing to develop early intensification strategies and new national structured education packages for people newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

The Scottish Government has increased the number of insulin pumps to over 3,200 since 2010 supported by funding of £7.5m. This represents an almost fourfold increase against the baseline figure of 696 in December 2010.

The First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP recently announced that the Scottish Government would invest £10m during the lifetime of this Parliament, to further increase the provision of insulin pump therapy and Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM).

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-05462 on 22 December 2016. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-04565 on 21 November 2016. 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.

In February 2012, the Chief Executive Letter (CEL 04 (2012)) required Health Boards to increase insulin pump therapy in line with national clinical guidance.

The commitment to provide insulin pump therapy to 25% of under 18s and for people of all ages with type 1 diabetes to more than 2,000 was met by 1^st April 2015 supported by £7.5m of Scottish Government funding.

Since the CEL, the number of people with insulin pumps has increased to over 3,200.

Following the achievement of CEL 04 (2012) the Minister for Public Health, Maureen Watt, wrote individually to all NHS Boards in June 2015.

The letter highlighted the importance of consistent delivery of insulin pump therapy as part of diabetes management. It also asked NHS Boards to make sure that people who are clinically suitable are identified and initiated onto pump therapy at the earliest opportunity.

The additional investment of £10m recently announced will support NHS Boards in meeting those expectations.