Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-29790 on 18 June 2020. 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 .

We have invested £105,000 to support Young Scot to create Aye Feel, an enhanced digital mental wellbeing resource for young people. The new content is hosted on Young Scot’s own digital platform – as well as on social media. Aye Feel provides a place where young people can find information and advice within Young Scot’s well-established set of services which young people already use.

We have made support and advice around mental health for parents/carers and children available on Parent Club. This includes free access to Solihull Online, which is a resource which helps parents and carers to better understand their child’s emotional development and supports the development of healthy relationships. The resource is signposted on Parent Club, ParentZone and Clear Your Head.

In March, £2 million of new funding was allocated to Local Authorities to support the planning and development of new community mental health and wellbeing services for 5-25 year olds, their families and carers. Services are expected to be in place this financial year and will be part of the long term solution for those experiencing poor mental health and wellbeing, including as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic. To enable delivery of the services funding of up to £15 million per annum will also be available.

There will be many people in Scotland caring for, or supporting, people with mental health problems. Some will require PPE, depending on their caring role.

Given the immense pressure that global supply chains for PPE have been put under during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Scottish Government has set up supplies of PPE from the national stock to support organisations and individual carers providing social care support.

Social care PPE Hubs were set up in local communities in March, and are now providing PPE for unpaid carers and Personal Assistants that need it, as well as supporting the wider social care sector with its PPE needs, where normal supply routes fail. Stocks at the Hubs include the key PPE items and hand sanitiser.

There is advice on the Scottish Government website for unpaid carers, Personal Assistants and social care provider organisations about how to access their local Hub.

The statistics on suspected cases of COVID-19 in hospital were developed and published at pace. NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde did not provide data for inclusion in first publication of statistics. The published statistics reference the fact that NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde figures are not included.

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde have been monitoring suspected patient numbers during the pandemic.

With the introduction of screening and testing of those aged 70 years and above on admission, the statistics on suspected cases of COVID-19 in hospital have been subject to definitional discontinuities. As such, while the statistics continue to be published, they need careful interpretation and their utility is reduced.

UK wide PPE Guidance sets out the recommended use of goggles and visors in different clinical and care settings.

Given the recognised sustained transmission of COVID-19, the guidance includes detailed advice around risk assessing use of PPE, including eye protection, in a range of different clinical and care scenarios.

Adequate stocks of goggles are held and distributed to both health boards, primary care providers and hubs based on need.

In our “Framework for Decision-Making”, we made a commitment to put equality and human rights at the heart of our response to COVID-19.

To support this, analytical partners across the Scottish Government, National Records of Scotland, Public Health Scotland and the NHS are working to better understand the impact of Covid-19 across a range of socio-demographic factors, including the link with poverty and deprivation, and how we can best support all vulnerable groups at this time.

In terms of action and additional investment so far, through the £350 million package of Communities Funding announced on 18 March we have allocated £102 million to Scotland’s local authorities so they can support those in need through this crisis.

This includes: £50 million in hardship funding which can be used as they see fit with no reporting requirements; £30 million from our Food Fund, supporting them to deliver a local coordinated response for those in need and helping children and young people access Free School Meal entitlements; and an initial £22 million boost to their Scottish Welfare Fund budget, allowing local authorities to reach more people in need with immediate support through Crisis Grants.

Across Scotland, a further £23 million boost to the Scottish Welfare Fund will be targeted where it is needed most – bringing total investment to £80.5 million in 2020-21 - and we have established a £50 million reserve to provide additional funding for the Council Tax Reduction scheme and Scottish social security benefits.

The Scottish Government recognises the important role that Sports Therapists play in maintaining the health and wellbeing of the people of Scotland and while progress out of the crisis has not be as quick as any of us would have wished for, we must move forward at a pace that continues to protect public health.

As we move forward in Phase 1, it is important that we follow the spirit of the route map and support the key public health message to ‘stay as home as much as possible during phase 1’.

We appreciate that Sports Therapists will be anxious to know when each phase will start. However, it is not possible to be precise with the timings of when we will move into each phase. Indeed it may be that not all parts of each phase will be introduced at the same time.

Transition from one phase to the next will very much depend on the changes we see in the spread of the disease, only moving to a less restrictive phase if it remains under control and if we can keep the ‘R’ number below 1. By adopting the phased approach to restarting services and not encouraging significant numbers of people to travel for treatments or procedures that are not essential or urgent we will help to reduce the risk of potentially raising the value of R.

Sports Therapists and privately practicing Physiotherapists will be expected to follow the guidance as set out by Health Protection Scotland and the Scottish Government in regards to returning to practice.

The Scottish Government is undertaking a variety of actions to ensure the public are aware of how COVID-19 can affect people differently. These include

• Daily First Minister Briefings
• Media and social media relations activity on a daily basis to communicate key messages
• Paid for marketing campaigns across TV, radio, newspapers and online
• Leaflet delivered to every household in Scotland during April
• Working with external organisations such as Health Boards, third sector and private sector to communicate key messages
• Writing to everyone who is potentially at greater risk from COVID-19 to shield themselves from the virus and outline the support available to them to do this
• Section on www.gov.scot that is dedicated to latest information on COVID-19

Much of the above activity will have covered the key symptoms the COVID-19. For example, when the loss of or change in sense of smell or taste was added to the list of symptoms the Scottish Government activated an advertising campaign across TV, radio and digital advertising on 19 May 2020 which highlighted all three symptoms. These adverts were active until 28 May 2020.

The Test & Protect advertising that was launched on 28 May 2020 also include details of the symptoms the public need to be aware of.

Alongside the three common symptoms we also include information to contact 111 if symptoms worsen or if symptoms are still present after seven days.

We have had no discussions or contact with Nike or the Hilton Edinburgh Carlton on this issue.

Health Protection Scotland (HPS) were alerted on 2 March that an individual overseas who had been at the conference had tested positive. On Tuesday 3 March, HPS informed us that one of the cases that tested positive related to attendance at the Nike conference and they convened an incident management team (IMT) to seek more information.

That case and the details of the potential outbreak was confirmed to ministers that evening. Details of that case were then included in a news release we issued on 4 March and included on our normal case reporting schedule.

The IMT should produce a report for the NHS board Clinical Governance Committee in due course. This IMT report once produced will be made publically available in a redacted form following the approval process of the members of the IMT and clearance by the internal processes of the host organisation of the chair of the IMT.