Chamber and committees

Figures for the number of attendances at Minor Ailments Services (MAS) are not held centrally.

Information Services Division (ISD) publishes figures for the number of registrations for MAS across Scotland and data relating to the number of items dispensed only.

The Minor Ailment Service, for the treatment of self-limiting common conditions, allows eligible patients and members of the public to register with their local community pharmacy and receive advice on the self-management of their condition, referral to another healthcare professional or the pharmacist will dispense an appropriate treatment for the condition. Data is not recorded on the number of patients or members of the public to receive advice or referral to another healthcare professional. Those registered can visit the pharmacy a number of times within the 12 month registration period.

The following table sets out the number of current registrations for MAS across the community pharmacy network of around 1,256 pharmacies. Figures are currently available from July 2007 up to 31 March 2017* (*latest published data).

In 2014 the Heart Disease Improvement Plan was published, the purpose of which was to ensure that priorities remain current and that in Scotland we continue to strive towards improved prevention, treatment and care of heart disease. At its meeting on 28 April the National Advisory Committee for Heart Disease (NACHD) it was recognised that as it was five years since the Heart Disease Improvement Plan's publication, it was timely to discuss the potential for its next steps. Officials will consider if a review is required, and NACHD will discuss this at its next meeting in the autumn.

There are a number of specialist cardiac services and provisions for children with heart conditions in Scotland. These include:

• a paediatric cardiology centre, which includes a nationally commissioned neonatal and Paediatric Cardiac Service, at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow
• a paediatric cardiology centre at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.

There are also paediatricians with an interest or expertise in cardiology at the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, Ninewells Hospital, and in most district general hospitals that are not in remote or rural areas. Outreach is also provided by cardiologists from Glasgow and Edinburgh to other NHS Boards.

Scottish Specialist Transport and Retrieval (SCOTSTAR) support transfer of sick neonates or children to Glasgow. Other paediatricians and neonatologists are able to perform ultrasound scans of children's hearts and send/discuss these with a cardiologist in Glasgow or Edinburgh, which is especially useful for emergency presentations.

Paediatric cardiac services are arranged as a national service so that skills and expertise can be concentrated to maximise outcomes for the smaller patient numbers. This is in line with the Scottish Government's National Clinical Strategy that some services be planned on a population basis to ensure the greatest clinical expertise and the best outcomes. Services are regularly reviewed.

Standards for both adult and paediatric specialist congenital cardiac services were issued in 2018.

Clinical nurse specialist roles provide support to people living with a range of conditions across the life spectrum and operate across hospital and community settings. The First Minister announced on 7 January 2015 that up to an additional £2.5 million recurring funding would be made available across Scotland to enhance clinical nurse specialist provision and care, with £700,000 allocated to enable the number of specialist motor neurone disease nurses to be doubled, and funded from public funds.

NHS Boards across Scotland have benefited from the additional investment. The Scottish Government's Report on the Specialist Nursing and Care Fund, published in September 2017, shows how this investment has been used by NHS Boards to increase the number of clinical nurse specialists by 31.35 whole time equivalents. Some NHS Boards have used a proportion of this funding to invest in training.

This information is only available from 2016 onwards. Information on ministerial meetings is routinely published on the Scottish Government website, and can be found at:

https://www.gov.scot/search/?q=Ministerial%20engagements&page=1

This information is not held centrally. Figures on violence and aggression towards NHS Scotland staff are collated by Health Boards, in line with the relevant policies and procedures.

The following table, from Justice Analytical Services provides data on convictions between 2008-09 and 2017-18 under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005.

Guidance on the prescribing, and the reviewing of prescriptions, of methadone, and other opioid substitute therapies is available to all NHS Boards through the 'Drug Misuse and Dependence: UK guidelines on clinical management' (2017 Clinical Guidelines). These guidelines were commissioned by the Chief Medical Officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and updated in 2017.

The 2017 Clinical Guidelines were designed to guide clinicians and commissioners in the provision of the right balance of interventions, which have the greatest likelihood to produce individual benefit and public good.

Since 2015, the Scottish Government has provided additional financial support to NHS Boards of over £2.4 million to enhance clinical nurse specialist provision and care. The report on the specialist nursing and care fund, published in September 2017, outlines the additional clinical nurse specialist capacity in NHS Boards resulting from the funding that they received. The report can be accessed here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/report-specialist-nursing-care-fund/ .

Reports from NHS Boards in May 2017 showed that specialist nursing capacity had been enhanced through this additional investment alone by 31.35 whole time equivalents.

Information on which drugs are currently available through NHS England but not in Scotland, and vice versa is not readily available.

The Scottish Drug Tariff list those items which are reimbursable to community pharmacies if presented with a prescription form. The English Drug Tariff lists the reimbursement prices for prescribed medicines in England and Wales.

Local prescribing formularies are put in place by each NHS Board in Scotland and will be based on range of issues including general population, prevalence, cost effectiveness, clinical decisions and appropriateness for the patient concerned. Each NHS Trust and Clinical Commissioning Group in England will have similar processes in place.

With regard to (b), the current list of “all-UK” specialist services is published by National Services Division, a division of NHS National Services Scotland : NSD list of Nationally funded services .

The majority of Lyme disease cases can be diagnosed and treated in primary care without the need for specialist input, however where specialist input is needed such cases would be cared for by Infectious Disease Consultants.

Increasing awareness amongst the public of ticks and Lyme disease is an on-going priority for the Lyme Borreliosis group which is part of the Scottish Health Protection Network. The group has produced a number of educational resources for the public which can be accessed at: https://www.nhsinform.scot/bugs-and-germs .

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-24020 on 22 July 2019. 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-24020 on 22 July 2019. 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 .