Chamber and committees

There are existing organisations, systems and processes in place in Scotland to identify and manage any concerns patients have with respect to their treatment.

Patients who have experienced an adverse reaction to a therapy or treatment are advised to, first of all, seek medical assistance from their family doctor and/or the relevant clinic where they are being treated. It would then be for the healthcare professional managing their care to determine if an adverse event has occurred and, if so, to report it on the local adverse event reporting and learning system.

Patients who, having spoken to the relevant healthcare professional, remain concerned may then raise a complaint with the appropriate NHS Board. If they are unhappy with the final decision of the NHS Board, they could then pass their complaint to the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman for review.

If the treatment is a medicine or a medical device, there are existing systems in place for adverse events to be notified by healthcare professionals – the Yellow Card Scheme (Scheme) for medicines and Incident Reporting and Investigation Centre (IRIC) for medical devices. Alternatively, public and patients in Scotland can, if they wish, report both medicines and medical device incidents directly through the Scheme, which is used UK-wide.

If the treatment causing concern was bought at a retail outlet, such as a pharmacy, the patient or member of the public should return to the outlet where the product was purchased. Members of the public can also raise concerns with their local trading standards office, in addition to using the Scheme.

If a patient has an issue with a specific therapy or therapist - particularly for services provided in the private sector - they can contact the regulator for that particular profession, such as the General Chiropractic Council; Health and Care Professions Council, who regulate physiotherapists; or Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS), who regulate independent healthcare, including independent hospitals, private psychiatric hospitals, independent hospices, and independent clinics, for instance.

As NICE has already begun a comprehensive review and assessment of the most up to date clinical evidence available, we have committed to follow this review closely and will make a decision on updating the Scottish Good Practice Statement on ME once NICE has published its new guideline. This was due to be in 2020, however in light of the COVID-19 pandemic NICE has advised it is reviewing this and we expect to hear a revised timeline in due course.

The Cabinet Secretary and Dr Calderwood appeared before the Public Petitions Committee again last December and also subsequently both replied in writing earlier this year. This reflects our current position on GET and confirms we will review the advice on GET in Scotland when the findings of the NICE research has concluded and the updated NICE guideline on ME/ CFS is published. http://www.parliament.scot/S5_PublicPetitionsCommittee/Submissions%202020/PE1690_VV.pdf .

As we ease ourselves out of restriction, the Scottish Government’s first priority is to make sure services can resume safely. I expect some youth work activity will be able to resume quickly with appropriate measures in place. However, it will not be possible to offer some services until there is a further easing on current restrictions. The timeline for this will follow advice given by Public Health Scotland.

I continue to liaise with a range of stakeholders and partners to assess this situation. Indeed, some national youth organisations have already published views on how community based youth work may resume services whilst keeping workers and young people safe. A short term working group has been created to develop guidance for the CLD sector and we aim to publish this in the coming weeks.

Ministers did not see resilience partnership plans following exercise Silver Swan. Regional Resilience Partnerships plans are not routinely shared with Scottish Government Ministers.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-29482 on 9 June 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. Local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of counsellors.

As stated in the Programme for Government 2018-19, we anticipated that the investment of over £60m in additional school counselling services across Scotland would create around 350 counsellors in school education. Local authority plans to implement the commitment were received earlier this year and are showing that overall plans are in place to meet the commitment in full.

The mental health and wellbeing support being put in place by local authorities, including providing access to counsellors, is a crucial aspect for supporting children and young people’s mental health, both in the current period of closures and as we seek to recover from COVID-19. The Scottish Government is continuing to work with our local authority partners to identify mental health supports that have been put in place for children and young people in response to COVID-19.

In addition, a recent survey, undertaken by the Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists (ASPEP), showed that a number of authorities are currently providing additional supports through school counsellors.

The Scottish Government is taking steps to develop a robust understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on young people’s mental health and to respond to these.

The Mental Health Research Advisory Group has been established to monitor and interpret research developments. This will help us to put in place evidence-based responses across the population including for young people.

The Chief Scientist Office is funding rapid Scottish led research on COVID-19, including studies looking at Children Young People’s mental health, with a specific focus on vulnerable children. We will also continue to monitor surveys and research such as the Young Scot Lockdown Lowdown.

We have invested £105,000 to support Young Scot to create Aye Feel, an enhanced digital mental wellbeing resource for young people. The new content is hosted on Young Scot’s own digital platform – as well as on social media. Aye Feel provides a place where young people can find information and advice within Young Scot’s well-established set of services which young people already use.

The Scottish Government has made available an additional £3 million marketing spend in Scottish newspapers across the rest of the year. This will be targeted where it is most needed, including local newspapers, to support them during the COVID-19 crisis.

We recognise the importance of local newspapers and other local media outlets, and will consider how best to support their long-term future as part of the recovery process.

The Scottish Government is not considering the establishment of a "national general practice service".

Since the inception of the NHS, general practice has developed as an independent contractor model. After consideration and wide discussion the Scottish Government and BMA agreed in 2018 that general practice would continue as an independent contractor model.

A relaxation of restrictions on home moves is anticipated in phase 2 of the recovery plan, as set out in Scotland’s route map through and out of the crisis , published on 21 May. Restrictions will only be relaxed if the virus remains suppressed and the evidence allows us to do so. During phase 1, surveyors should continue to follow the Scottish Government guidance published on 31 March: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19
-guidance-moving-home/ .

We are working with a wide range of stakeholders through our Home Moves in Scotland Working Group, including the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, to develop revised guidance for phase 2.