Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to ban glue traps for catching rodents although we do plan to review aspects of policy in relation to animal traps in the near future, consulting with the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime Scotland Legislation, Regulation and Guidance sub-group and other relevant stakeholders.

The information requested is not centrally held in the format requested.

Information on the total number of people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes per health board who have ever had a lower limb amputation is published annually within the Scottish Diabetes Survey.

The survey also contains data on the number of people with diabetes ever having had a major lower limb amputation broken down by year.

The most recent report containing data from 2012 can be accessed at:

http://www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk/Publications.aspx?catId=3

All NHS boards’ mental health services carry out individual suicide reviews that examine the circumstances of suicides of patients under their care with the aim of making mental health services safer. Healthcare Improvement Scotland provides a unique resource through the Suicide Reporting and Learning System which analyses these reviews to promote learning and improvement strategies throughout Scotland. The primary aims of this process are to learn any lessons that help to improve services, to reduce risk and to improve the actual process of suicide reviews.

In-patient suicide data for Scotland

The following in-patient suicide data has been provided by Healthcare Improvement Scotland for the past five years from January 2009 to April 2014 based on reviews from NHS boards’ mental health services.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland has confidence in the completeness of reporting over the past two years but not the first three years of the current arrangements so comparisons of annual data should be made with caution.

In-patient suicides by health board

Healthcare Improvement Scotland does not publish in-patient suicides by health board for the following reasons:

The numbers are very small and there is a high risk of the unintended disclosure of the identity of individuals, particularly in the smaller health boards. This would constitute a breach of confidentiality and the risk of great distress for the relatives of the people who have died.

Suicide is a multi-faceted and multi-factorial phenomenon. Suicidal risk can be increased by mental illness, social circumstances, addictions, life events and many other factors. The nature of mental health services and the communities they serve vary greatly across Scotland. Publishing completed suicides by health board could lead to unjustified comparisons of health board performance in relation to what is a highly complex and sensitive subject.

The primary purpose of reviewing the circumstances of the suicides of people in contact with mental health services is to identify areas of improvement and to share learning that can help reduce the risk of suicide. This requires a culture of openness and sharing which is not well served by using suicide statistics as a mental health services performance indicator.

Review process:

Across mental health services in Scotland, suicide review policies have been gradually integrated into NHS board adverse event policies which are part of the wider adverse event management. All NHS boards categorise every adverse event to determine the level of review required. The categorisation is partly based on the level of harm caused by the incident. Suicide is usually considered a high-level category which will prompt a full review.

All NHS boards’ mental health services carry out individual suicide reviews that examine the circumstances of suicides of patients under their care with the aim of making mental health services safer. Healthcare Improvement Scotland provides a unique resource through the Suicide Reporting and Learning System which analyses these reviews to promote learning and improvement strategies throughout Scotland. The primary aims of this process are to learn any lessons that help to improve services, to reduce risk and to improve the actual process of suicide reviews.

The current Healthcare Improvement Scotland arrangements, for health boards to report their reviews of completed suicides of people in contact with mental health services in Scotland, dates from the end of 2008. Prior to this the only reporting requirement was to the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland but their reporting criteria did not capture all completed suicides.

In-patient suicides by health board

Statistics for suicides in NHS mental health wards are not available. Healthcare Improvement Scotland does not publish in-patient suicides by health board for the following reasons:

The numbers are very small and there is a high risk of the unintended disclosure of the identity of individuals, particularly in the smaller health boards. This would constitute a breach of confidentiality and the risk of great distress for the relatives of the people who have died.

Suicide is a multi-faceted and multi-factorial phenomenon. Suicidal risk can be increased by mental illness, social circumstances, addictions, life events and many other factors. The nature of mental health services and the communities they serve vary greatly across Scotland. Publishing completed suicides by health board could lead to unjustified comparisons of health board performance in relation to what is a highly complex and sensitive subject.

The primary purpose of reviewing the circumstances of the suicides of people in contact with mental health services is to identify areas of improvement and to share learning that can help reduce the risk of suicide. This requires a culture of openness and sharing which is not well served by using suicide statistics as a mental health services performance indicator.

Each year the Scottish Government, with the support of the Scottish Immunisation Programme Communications Advisory Group, delivers a national marketing and awareness raising campaign to people eligible for free seasonal flu vaccination. This includes TV and radio adverts, leaflets and guidance for healthcare professionals.

This year, in addition to the seasonal flu campaign, the Scottish Government will raise awareness of the childhood flu vaccination programme to inform and educate parents, children, healthcare professionals and others about the programme, the live attenuated intranasal vaccine (Fluenz) and the benefits of extending the programme to children.

Vaccination is voluntary, and it is always our aim to ensure that people are able to make informed choices about whether or not to accept the offer of vaccination for themselves or those for whom they make decisions. The materials provided as part of the programme will help to support this process.

The Cochrane Collaboration has recently published updated data on the effectiveness of antivirals, including Tamiflu, against seasonal influenza. Antivirals are used for the treatment and post-exposure prevention of influenza, and should not be confused with seasonal influenza vaccines.

Accordingly, the Cochrane Collaboration publication has no bearing whatsoever on the seasonal flu vaccination programme in Scotland and there are no plans to review it.

In line with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s recommendations, a new childhood influenza vaccination programme was introduced in October 2013, which is being rolled out over the next few years on a phased basis. When fully implemented this will double the size of the existing seasonal influenza vaccination programme across Scotland from one million to almost two million doses administered annually, offering protection to those aged 2-17 years.

A number of factors were taken into consideration when deciding how best to implement the expanded programme in Scotland. Key among these was the epidemiology of influenza in Scotland. Advice from Health Protection Scotland was that maximal public health benefit was anticipated through introducing the programme in the youngest age groups initially because they are most at risk and are least likely to have immunity to influenza. As such, the programme has been implemented among two and three year olds in the first instance.

At the same time, delivery of the expanded programme has been piloted in various primary schools throughout Scotland. This has enabled us to test a number of aspects of the programme among this cohort. In particular, no immunisation programmes are delivered currently in primary schools, and these pilots have helped shape proposed delivery mechanisms for the implementation of the programme in primary schools.

This information is not held centrally, however, it is published by the Mental Welfare Commission through their annual monitoring reports. The reports are available online at:

http://www.mwcscot.org.uk/publications/statistical-monitoring-reports/

Not all of the information requested in this question is held centrally.

Data on the number of new cases diagnosed in each of the last four years broken down by NHS board is published annually within the Scottish Diabetes Survey. The most recent report containing data from 2012 can be accessed at the following link:

http://www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk/Publications.aspx?catId=3

Information on the number of (a) children and (b) adults with type (a) 1 and type (b) 2 diabetes broken down by NHS board is not held centrally. However information on the total number of people (all ages combined) broken down by NHS board is available at the above link.