Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone living in Scotland with Cystic Fibrosis is able to access the best possible care and support for their mental health.

As Cystic Fibrosis is a complex condition that affects individuals in different ways, people of all ages will have access to Specialist Cystic Fibrosis Centres and be cared for by a team of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals with specialised knowledge. Cystic Fibrosis Centres in Scotland include a Clinical Psychologist as part of the multidisciplinary team who can provide mental health support to the patient and their family.

Further emotional support can be accessed via the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and a resource detailing support for people on the impact of Kaftrio is available online via their website.

The information requested is not collected centrally. There are a number of factors which clinicians will use to determine individual suitability for closed loop systems and other diabetes technologies.

We expect clinicians and NHS Boards to follow all relevant national clinical guidelines when assessing the most appropriate treatment for someone living with diabetes, including the use of closed loop systems.

The Scottish Diabetes Survey provides an annual summary of key issues and trends in diabetes care and treatment in Scotland, including the numbers of people accessing diabetes technologies. The 2020 Survey was published in January of this year and can be found by following link: https://www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk/publications/#survey-docs.

Additional funding of £14.6 million was allocated to NHS Boards in January 2022 to support increased access to diabetes technologies, including closed loop systems.

The Scottish Government also provides baseline funding to NHS Boards and it is for individual Boards to determine how best to utilise this funding to meet the needs and priorities of their local populations. This includes offering closed loop system technologies to all those for whom they are deemed clinically appropriate.

Our Diabetes Improvement Plan contains specific commitments to support increased access to diabetes technologies, with significant focus on equity of access to care and services. We expect clinicians and NHS Boards to follow all relevant clinical guidelines and provide anyone with type 1 diabetes with a closed loop system, if they are clinically suitable.

Whenever someone is issued with any diabetes technology device, including closed loop systems, specific training and education on how to use it will be provided by a diabetes specialist nurse. Training is given to the individual and/or their carer, who will also need to confirm that they are competent in its use.

Patients are also encouraged to contact their diabetes clinical team if they have any concerns around the device’s function and its use.

Patient education is also a key priority of our Diabetes Improvement Plan Refresh, published in February 2021.

We are committed to improving outcomes for people living with diabetes across Scotland. Our Diabetes Improvement Plan contains specific commitments to support increased access to diabetes technologies, with significant focus on equity of access to care and services.

Our national policy is to further increase access to diabetes technologies for everyone who would benefit from these life changing therapies, and we expect NHS Boards to provide insulin pumps and flash glucose monitors to all clinically suitable children and adults.

We are aware that children and adults from the most deprived areas are less likely to use diabetes technologies and we are committed to understanding the reasons for this. We are working in partnership with Diabetes Scotland and the Alliance to ensure that the needs of people living with diabetes are fully understood. In December 2021 we launched a lived experience network through the Alliance, to ensure that the experiences of those living with diabetes are taken into account when shaping policy. We are working to ensure that to the membership of this panel is as diverse as possible.

We will take targeted action to ensure equity of access across Scotland and share progress of this using data from SCI-diabetes.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06441 on 28 February 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

On 4 November 2021, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans chaired a roundtable on spiking to discuss how we can achieve the right balance of targeted and universal intervention to ensure the safety of the public. Twenty-six partners attended including representatives from Police Scotland, SPA Forensic Services, Health services, Night Time Economy, Further and Higher Education, Local Authority, and Third Sector organisations.

A further roundtable was convened on 8 December 2021 at which time Police Scotland reported a downward trend in recorded spiking incidents. Key outcomes focussed on consistent messaging, training and prevention, with the Violence Reduction Unit supporting partners to continue roll out of the bystander training for night time industry staff to raise awareness and help keep people safe.

In January 2022, Police Scotland subsequently noted that there has been no corroborated evidence to support claims of needle spiking in Scotland, and forensic analysis has found no traces of drugs used for spiking in any alleged victims. ‎

We continue to work with partners to strengthen our response to spiking, and ensure that women feel safe and are supported to report. This includes continuing to implement our Equally Safe Strategy.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Scottish Diabetes Survey provides an annual summary of key issues and trends in diabetes care and treatment in Scotland. The 2020 Survey was published in January of this year and can be found by following link: https://www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk/publications/#survey-docs.

The Scottish Diabetes Survey shows information on ethnicity from NHS Boards in Scotland is available for 81.7% of the registered population with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

The safety of children, young people and education staff remains our overriding priority. All school pupils have already been impacted dramatically over the course of the pandemic so we remain committed to minimising any further disruption to learning.

New data and evidence is regularly emerging, informing our understanding of virus transmission in different settings, including schools and nurseries. This is considered very carefully by the Advisory Sub-group on Education and Children’s Issues alongside rates of vaccination and the specific level of risks associated with education environments and in wider society. This means that Scottish Government guidance for schools is developed in close consultation with clinical and public health experts, as well as taking into account the views of a number of education and other stakeholders who sit on the Covid-19 Education Recovery Group (CERG).

The guidance has recently been updated to reflect the advice of the Advisory Sub-group, including the removal of the requirement for staff and pupils to wear face coverings in the classroom and the easing of specific mitigations relating to assemblies and transition visits for learners who are to be starting Primary or Secondary school in August 2022. This represents the most up to date position in relation to protection measures in schools, which will commence from 28 February.

We will continue to be guided by the evidence in assessing any continued risk from COVID-19 and take into consideration any new evidence linking the development of other conditions, such as type 1 diabetes in children, to infection with COVID-19.

Our Diabetes Improvement Plan contains a commitment to increase access to diabetes technologies such as closed loop systems for everyone who would benefit from these life changing therapies. The closed loop system is a new technology and the additional £14.6 million of funding that we have made available to NHS Boards in 2022 will help with its introduction, as well as increase access to existing technologies such as insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors.