Chamber and committees

During the COVID-19 pandemic we have worked closely with Health Boards to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on demand and capacity. Services are now working hard to return to previous activity levels and to deal with any backlogs that have developed, as well as to address long-standing issues around access to services. That is why we have set out in our Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan, published on 8 October, our plans to provide a tailored programme of enhanced improvement support for individual NHS Boards to improve their waiting times performance. We are also working on a national programme of support to Boards based on key themes emerging from their Covid remobilisation plans. Our Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan is supported by a £120 million Recovery and Renewal fund, announced in February 2021. The Fund will transform services, with a renewed focus on prevention and early intervention.

This year, £89m has already been allocated from the Fund. This includes an additional £9m to address Psychological Therapies waiting times. We remain committed to meeting the standard that 90% of patients begin treatment within 18 weeks of referral.

We are also taking steps to grow the mental health workforce to meet increasing demand, including increasing the Clinical Psychology Doctorate Training Programme intake by 10 trainees per year for the next three years; supporting 10 Masters level training places per year for the next three years; and funding a new Enhanced Psychology Practitioner training programme to create a new workforce of psychological practitioners capable of delivering high-quality, evidence-based interventions for mild to moderate difficulties in a way that can be deployed in Primary Care, Community, Early Years, and Schools. We have also developed a new Psychology Wellbeing Practitioner role within NHS24 to provide a compassionate response and support to callers who are experiencing mental health difficulties and distress.

Our Transition and Recovery Plan recognised that there can be challenges relating to rural isolation, which may be increasingly felt by those in remote communities as a result of the pandemic. We have committed to working in partnership with the National Rural Mental Health Forum to develop an approach to ensure that these communities have equal and timely access to mental health support and services, including consideration of whether dedicated pathways are needed. We’re keen to support efforts by NHS Boards to promote the use of digital services, in particular to maximise the benefits for rural communities; whilst recognising that this isn’t the solution for everyone.

Our Transition and Recovery Plan is supported by a £120m Recovery and Renewal fund. This year, a total of £9m has been allocated from this fund to address Psychological Therapies waiting times. Phase one funding of £5 million was allocated to Health Boards to address long waits within psychological therapies. Phase two funding of £4 million was recently approved to allow Boards to recruit more staff now, see the longest waits, meet the anticipated winter surge of those being referred for psychological interventions, and support the creation of a more effective digital infrastructure so those in remote and rural communities can be seen whenever and wherever they require care. Phase two funding included a minimum allocation for Island Boards to ensure that they can use the money in the transformational way it is intended.

As announced in the NHS Recovery Plan, by the end of 2021 the Scottish Government will publish a National Workforce Strategy that supports the remobilisation, recovery and renewal of Health and Social Care Services. The strategy is being developed in collaboration with NHS Health Boards, COSLA and a wide range of partners, through cross-sectoral reference groups that include NHS Education for Scotland. The strategy establishes a framework and sets out principles which will guide the design and implementation of service-specific workforce plans.

The Scottish Government has committed to develop a long-term Mental Health Workforce Plan in the first half of this Parliament. The Plan will take a system-wide approach to workforce planning for mental health workers, including psychologists, across sectors.

The Scottish Government is working with NHS Education for Scotland to grow the Psychological Therapies workforce, as demand for Psychological Therapies continues to increase.

Last year, the Scottish Government commissioned Dr Nadine Cossette, a liaison psychiatrist, to examine the mental health needs of people hospitalised due to COVID-19. Dr Cossette’s report was published on Friday 2 October and is available online .

Work is well underway to implement the recommendations from Dr Cossette’s report. Funding of £4.5 million has been approved to enable Health Boards to set up local networks of mental health clinicians across Scotland, supported by a national strategic advisory group offering clinical expertise and guidance. These local networks will proactively contact all patients who have been hospitalised as a result of COVID-19. At this stage it is anticipated that roughly 3,000 people will benefit directly from treatment.

We are also working to implement our ‘Framework on recovery and rehabilitation from COVID-19’, which puts in place clear principles, priorities and objectives to support planning to meet increasing demand and provide high quality person-centred rehabilitation in different settings. We will develop and implement a rehabilitation pathway that will ensure everyone who requires rehabilitation will be able to access it.

Throughout the pandemic, the Scottish Government has emphasised to Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships and Local Authorities the on-going need to promote both the physical and the psychological wellbeing of everyone working in health and social care.

This year the Scottish Government has made available £12 million to support the wellbeing of the health and social care workforce. This includes £8 million from the NHS Recovery Plan to provide ongoing wellbeing support alongside an additional £4 million for practical, emotional and evidence-based psychological support to help staff as they respond to winter pressures.

The Scottish Government’s national resources complement the range of support measures that are available across health and social care organisations: the 24/7 National Wellbeing Helpline, the National Wellbeing Hub, Coaching for Wellbeing, the Workforce Specialist Service and additional funding for psychological interventions and therapies specifically for the workforce.

We are working with partners to develop further support measures and additional resources for Boards, social care providers and others who employ frontline staff as they respond to winter pressures.

Scotland’s Mental Health First Aid programme is delivered as a face-to-face training event. In order to comply with the Scottish Government’s COVID-19 guidance and to protect public health, the delivery of these training courses was paused by Public Health Scotland (PHS), which holds the licence for this training to operate in Scotland. A range of online resources was made available by PHS and NHS Education for Scotland throughout the pandemic. In recognition of the changing context, PHS is working to ensure that the delivery of the Mental Health First Aid programme can resume safely. These courses will restart in November 2021.

Charges for National Qualifications have remained unchanged since 2012-13 despite changes in costs. While charges contribute towards the cost of awarding National Qualifications they do not cover the full costs. In addition, 2020 and 2021 late entry fees have been waived and there have been no charges for appeals. There are therefore no plans to reimburse National Qualifications payments.

For 2021, SQA estimates that the costs of providing certification for national qualifications was £41.7m, while income from local authorities, colleges and independent schools is expected to be £30.5m. The remaining cost is covered by SQA’s grant in aid budget from the Scottish Government.