Chamber and committees

NHS Health Scotland published evidence-informed guidance National guide on suicide prevention in rural areas in 2013 to assist local rural and remote areas in mapping existing support, discussing, planning for and deciding on priorities for actions to prevent suicide. This guidance can be found at: http://www.chooselife.net/Publications/publication.aspx?id=74.

The Scottish Government's Suicide Prevention Strategy 2013-2016 is a population-wide strategy which sets out commitments designed to continue the downward trend in the suicide rate at national level, whilst recognising that those from the more deprived communities in Scotland can be at greater risk of dying by suicide. To ensure that suicide prevention interventions target those at most of risk of suicide, information is used from the Scottish Suicide Information Database to inform both national and local activities to target groups and communities – for example, the placement of awareness-raising materials in settings where people live, work and socialise. Local NHS boards, local authorities and other partner agencies are expected to provide services which are appropriate to local needs and circumstances, including consideration of local levels of deprivation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-28549 on 1 December 2015. 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-28549 on 1 December 2015. 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government is extremely concerned that the number of people accessing food banks is increasing and finds it unacceptable that in the twenty-first century there are people who cannot afford to feed their families. A range of sources since 2010 state that changes the UK Government has made to the social security system, benefit delays and the introduction of sanctions, as well as low pay and insecure work are the main factors behind the growing need for emergency food.

In response, the Scottish Government is providing £1 million over 2014-15 and
2015-16 to help combat food poverty in Scotland. The Emergency Food Aid Action Plan provides support to those working in the emergency food aid sector, helping to address food poverty by:

Funding 26 emergency food aid projects in 17 local authority areas at a total cost of £523,000 over two years. Each of the projects seeks to respond to the immediate demands for emergency food aid and help to address the underlying causes of food poverty. Actions range from increasing food provision to promoting healthy eating, benefits and other advice, and in some cases linking food providers across a local area.

Funding of £500,000 over 2014-15 and 2015-16 to support FareShare to tackle food waste and food poverty across Scotland. FareShare takes good quality surplus food from the food industry and makes it available to charities and community groups providing vital support for the most vulnerable in Scotland who are suffering from food poverty. In the first six months of 2015 FareShare has distributed almost 500 tonnes of surplus food to over 300 local community groups across the country. Over 1 million meals have been prepared for an average of over 15,000 recipients each week. FareShare estimates that on average the provision of surplus food saves each of its ‘Charity Food Members’ £13,000 per year. Using that estimation FareShare has saved the third sector in Scotland around £2 million over the last six months alone.

In addition we are investing in alternatives to food banks to offer a more sustainable, longer term solution. Development of community food hubs forms part of the work of Community Food and Health (Scotland) which receives £2.6 million of funding from Scottish Government for 2012-16 to support work within low-income communities to improve access to and take-up of a healthy diet by working with individuals, groups and agencies at local, regional and national levels, providing networking, skills development and training, practice and policy development.

Whilst emergency food aid has been essential we recognise the need to move as a country towards a dignified food strategy promoting food justice, not charity. In order to help us do that I have asked Martin Johnstone, Secretary of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council, to chair a short-life working group to identify the issues which push people into food poverty and make recommendations to ministers on how they can be addressed. The group is holding a number of meetings between October 2015 and January 2016 and will provide a series of recommendations to ministers. These recommendations will then feed into the Scottish Government’s Social Justice Action Plan, which will be published in 2016.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-28452 on 25 November 2015. 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

There are many reasons why patients are treated out with their local board area, such as patients requiring to be seen or treated in a national or regional centre. Also many patients may choose to be treated in a hospital in a neighbouring area because it is nearer to home or choose to go to the Golden Jubilee National Hospital at Clydebank to get faster treatment for hip and knees and cataract operations as well as for their national and regional heart services. The number of procedures undertaken at the Golden Jubilee has increased by 18% from 35,600 in 2010 to 42,047 in 2015.

Circumstances will arise where a practice experiences capacity issues and is unable to routinely accept new patients onto its list. We expect health boards to work with practices as constructively and as flexibly as is appropriate to help manage the situation.

Arrangements need to be flexible to allow health boards and their contracted practices to be responsive in appropriately managing capacity issues and changing circumstances whenever it is necessary to do so.

Circumstances for each patient list may vary and it would not be correct for Scottish Ministers to speculate on the nature of these circumstances.

On these occasions, health boards are expected to work with the practice as constructively and as flexibly as possible, finding ways to either support the practice to once again take on patients or to agree a formal, usually time limited, closure, informing other local practices in the area. This safeguards patient access to GP services and allows the board to monitor the situation more fully in order to take any further appropriate action.

This information is not held centrally. Circumstances will arise where a practice experiences capacity issues and is unable to routinely accept new patients onto its list. We expect health boards to work with practices as constructively and as flexibly as is appropriate to help manage the situation.