Chamber and committees

Work to develop outcome measures for older people’s mental health will be completed this year.

The work has been embedded in the ‘Active and Healthy Ageing Action Plan for Multi-Morbidity for Scotland 2014-16’, and is informed by engagement with the range of stakeholders, including Age Scotland and The Alliance. Work is being taken forward with stakeholders using personal outcomes methodology to establish a set of indicators aligned with the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014.

Data from the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland Young person monitoring 2013-14 document published in October 2014 shows that there were 202 admissions to non-specialist inpatient facilities involving 179 young people.

The increase may be due to an increase in demand for specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), through better identification of children and young people with problems, better diagnosis and more people being prepared to come forward.

Data collected from the Information Services Division shows that numbers of children and young people seen by specialist CAMHS has increased from 807 in September 2012 to 1,318 in September 2014, which may have resulted in an increase in demand for access to inpatient beds.

There are occasions when it may be clinically judged to be more appropriate to admit young people to adult wards or the young person and their family have a preference for an admission to a local adult ward. Most of these admissions will be young people aged 16 or 17.

Since 2008, we have increased the CAMHS workforce by 45% and specialist adolescent inpatient beds will increase from the current 42 to 48 beds by spring 2015. This will ensure young people in need in Scotland can have quicker access to high quality treatment and support.

In this context, developmental disorders refers to autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

ADHD services for children are already provided by specialist child and adolescent health services in partnership with social work and education authorities. As part of commitment 33 of the Mental Health Strategy for Scotland: 2012-2015, a consultant psychiatrist completed a six month project funded by the Scottish Government. This project included raising awareness and providing training on adult ADHD through practical workshops delivered to mental health, primary care, criminal justice and education authorities. Good practice clinical guidelines are in development with the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Work is also underway with Addressing the Balance, a charity set up by adults with ADHD and their relatives/carers.

The Scottish Strategy for Autism (SSA) highlighted the need for capacity and awareness-building in mainstream services to ensure people with ASD are properly supported by trained staff. To address this, NHS Education for Scotland has produced Optimising Outcomes: the NHS Education for Scotland Autism Training Framework, and are developing a training plan to be rolled out in 2015 to improve the knowledge and skills of those who work with people with ASD.

In October 2014, NHS boards undertook a mental health bed audit to establish data on the use of mental health beds in Scotland. A report is planned for publication by the Scottish Government in spring 2015. Scottish Government and NHS boards will use the data from this report to inform improvements to specialist services in respect of mental health and developmental disorders.

As part of the SSA, the Scottish Government has also developed a Menu of Interventions (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/11/9710) which provides a guide to interventions and supports required by people with ASD. The menu will help professionals identify available advice and support and set out the referral and assessment process for services and interventions.

Marine Scotland Science monitors the return rate of sea trout at the river Sheildaig in Torridon and the Scottish Government fund the Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland to routinely carry out sweep netting across the west coast and islands to determine abundance of sea lice on sea trout. The Fish Health Inspectorate carry out surveillance for fish disease which includes investigating reported mortality in wild fish. While rare, where serious notifiable disease has occurred in aquaculture, Marine Scotland Science has conducted short term monitoring of wild fish for disease. Marine Scotland Science and other Scottish researchers, aided by monitoring data, continue to improve the knowledge and understanding of salmonid interactions issues.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) monitors compliance with licences for discharges of polluting substances and medicines from aquaculture. The licences issued by SEPA to permit the operation of fish farms include limiting conditions set in a way to ensure that the environment outwith the immediate vicinity of the fish farm is protected and this protection extends to any wild fish populations which may be present. The monitoring work undertaken by SEPA includes an assessment of data returns from the industry, monitoring surveys undertaken by fish farm operators and surveys undertaken by SEPA itself.

We commissioned the Mental Health Foundation and Voices of Experience to undertake the 10 year follow up review of the state of mental health services in Scotland. Work continues and the report is now expected to be published before summer 2015.

The national survey that has been underway since 2013 is due to report by the end of March 2015, with the outcomes published later in the year.

During the survey a number of potential incidents were reported to Police Scotland, which have been, or are being, investigated. An intelligence-led operation regarding pearl fishers also took place in the River Spey in July 2014, supported by local water bailiffs and Scottish Natural Heritage. No incidents were identified, but it was the first joint operation undertaken for freshwater pearl mussels and has laid the foundations for further such operations.

One of the outcomes of the national survey relating to the River Spey, was published ahead of schedule on 12 December 2014:

http://snh.presscentre.com/News-Releases/Action-to-create-better-conditions-for-freshwater-pearl-mussels-153.aspx). This survey found wildlife crime is one amongst several pressures that are contributing to the local decline in pearl mussel numbers.

The Crown Office has received no reports concerning relevant offences in respect of freshwater pearl mussels since 28 May 2013.

All applications are assessed using criteria agreed with Scottish Natural Heritage. In determining the River Spey abstraction application, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, using the agreed criteria, undertook a hydrological assessment of the potential impact on flows in the River Spey. This assessment concluded that the proposal would not cause a breach of ‘good’ river flow standards within the River Spey and would not be likely to have a significant adverse impact on the water environment or its species.

<>Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) recently published the results of its most recent condition assessment of the freshwater pearl mussel feature in the River Spey Special Area of Conservation. The Report of Site Condition Monitoring survey of freshwater pearl mussels in the River Spey during 2013 and 2014 is available via the following weblink: http://www.snh.gov.uk/docs/A1478200.pdf.

The report contains a number of recommendations which SNH will progress through the Spey Catchment Initiative.

The staff member referred to in the question is working for the ‘Pearls in Peril’ (PIP) project. Although Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) is leading the project, the person is employed by the Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland, who are a key partner in this project. SNH supports work to address wildlife crime affecting freshwater pearl mussels in many other ways. Examples include providing staff to support the work of the priority delivery group for freshwater pearl mussel and staff support for police investigating wildlife crimes affecting freshwater pearl mussels (e.g. SNH employs a Wildlife Crime Project Officer whose work includes freshwater pearl mussels, and operational and advisory staff members also support police investigations). SNH also provides grant funds to the National Wildlife Crime Unit to employ a Scottish Investigative Support Officer, who prioritises freshwater pearl mussel crime.

SNH and other organisations also devote considerable resources to protecting and restoring the status of freshwater pearl mussels by means other than tackling wildlife crime. Within the PIP project, the bulk of the £3.5 million budget is spent on measures such as reducing diffuse pollution, improving and creating riparian woodlands and restoring high quality river habitat to benefit freshwater pearl mussels. SNH and other organisations, including Forest Enterprise Scotland, are also surveying a range of watercourses across Scotland to better understand and target conservation measures. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency have also used their Water Environment Fund to fund river restoration projects such as the removal of dams, that will help restore this critically endangered species.

The ‘Mental Health and Learning Disability Bed Census: One Day Audit’ and the ‘Mental Health and Learning Disability patients: Out of Scotland and Out of NHS Placements Census’ was held on 29 Oct 2014.

NHS boards are in the process of validating and submitting their data to the Scottish Government for analysis and publication. A report is planned for publication by the Scottish Government in spring 2015.

The report will be accessible via the Scottish Government's publications webpage: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/Recent

Further information about the censuses is available here:

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