Chamber and committees

The following table shows the percentage change of defined daily dose (DDD) per capita of antidepressants using the HEAT target measure. This measure tracks change on the basis of a rolling twelve month period and has always been, and continues to be, the method set and agreed for tracking progress against the target.

Year Ending	Scotland % change
30-06-2006	0.21%
30-09-2006	0.89%
31-12-2006	1.58%
31-03-2007	1.64%
30-06-2007	0.96%
30-09-2007	1.77%
31-12-2007	1.54%
31-03-2008	1.12%
30-06-2008	0.29%
30-09-2008	1.17%
31-12-2008	1.43%
31-03-2009	1.19%
30-06-2009	1.33%

 

A small proportion of the funding to support the Scottish budget is non-recurring, for example, end-year flexibility moneys and income from asset sales.

NHS boards are required to implement suicide prevention training to meet the target for training of frontline staff. Support in relation to this training is available to boards from the Scottish Government''s Mental Health Delivery Team and from NHS Health Scotland. As part of this, the Scottish Government (SG) is preparing, with NHS Health Scotland, guidance outlining the responsibilities of SG, NHS Health Scotland and NHS boards with respect to delivering this target. This guidance, to issue shortly, will detail the support which can be made available to boards to help them reach the target.

Data on boards'' progress is monitored regularly by the Scottish Government. The most recent data was published on 29 September 2009 at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health/SuicidePreventionStats.

On the basis of developments indicated by boards during recent Scottish Government Mental Health Implementation Review meetings, we expect to meet this target.

This is a matter for Tayside Health Board and I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-28959, on 1 December 2009, which demonstrates the steps being taken by Tayside to secure positive outcomes for the staff affected by the decision by Netcare not to renew this contract.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The Scottish Government published guidance on social care procurement in August 2008 which provided advice on the requirement to advertise framework agreements for social care services, where necessary to comply with the EC Treaty''s transparency principles. The guidance confirmed that call-off contracts awarded under a framework agreement do not need to be re-advertised if the framework agreement has itself been the subject of adequate publicity.

The guidance is available on the Scottish Government''s website:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/116601/0065310.pdf.

The forthcoming guidance on social care procurement will provide information on the establishment of framework agreements and the award of call-off contracts under a framework agreement.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-29649, on 15 December 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-29649 on 15 December 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The Mental Health Collaborative is working closely with the NHS boards to ensure implementation of this target. This includes the development of good systems and processes needed to increase the number of people with a diagnosis as well as measures around the quality of the support offered.

Support with this agenda is also offered in the twice yearly performance management reviews with NHS boards and partners by the Scottish Government''s Mental Health Delivery and Services Unit.

The NHS in Scotland is currently exceeding the readmissions target according to the latest available figures, with an overall decrease of 26%.

This target will be tracked through to December 2010.

This HEAT target is measured by the number of people with a diagnosis of a dementia on the GP Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) dementia register and NHS boards are working towards a target of 39,582 which equates to approximately 61% of the expected number of people in Scotland with Dementia as predicted by the European Community Concerted Action on the Epidemiology and Prevention of Dementia Group (Eurodem). Latest available data for March 2009 shows that the overall Scotland position requires a 13% increase.

The Mental Health Collaborative has been supporting NHS boards to develop and put in place new systems and approaches to increase the number of people diagnosed. We expect the numbers to increase at a faster pace as these are fully implemented.