Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to creating a modern, inclusive Scotland which protects, respects and realises internationally recognised human rights, and is working with the whole of Scottish society to deliver a shared vision for a Scotland where everyone can live a life of human dignity. The Scotland Act 1998 requires that all Scottish Parliament legislation and all acts of members of the Scottish Government must be compatible with core ECHR rights (“the Convention rights”). In addition, the Human Rights Act 1998 ensures that every public authority in Scotland is obliged to act compatibly with the Convention rights and enables human rights cases to be taken in domestic courts.

We believe that the 2003 Act is fully compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The 2003 Act has never been found, in part or in whole, by the European Court of Human Rights to be not compliant with ECHR.

The Mental Health strategy 2017-2027 recognises as a theme the importance of human rights and as part of this, has committed to actions around reviewing various aspects of mental health and incapacity legislation use in Scotland. We have recently implemented an amending act in mental health law and there are two reviews underway at the moment which are key, the AWI reform work and the review of how the 2003 Act meets the needs of those with learning disability and autism.

The Return to Practice programmes are approved and monitored by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and must meet all of their requirements; this includes support and mentorship in practice by a qualified mentor and final assessment by a ‘sign-off’ mentor.

All mentors must complete a mentor preparation programme and have regular mentor updates according to NMC criteria. The sign off mentor has additional preparation for the role and must have experience as a sign off mentor.

Return to Practice programmes for former nurses and midwives whose registration has lapsed across Scotland are administered by NHS Education Scotland (NES).

Scottish Government funding for Return to Practice schemes was reintroduced in April 2015. Since then, almost 380 former nurses and midwives have commenced Return to Practice programmes, exceeding the initial target of attracting back 75 former nurses and midwives each year.

NES is currently planning an evaluation of both the nursing and midwifery programmes which will include reviewing participants’ experience and the impact of the programmes.

As part of a package of measures to increase the number of nurses and midwives working in Scotland we will extend and expand the highly successful Return to Practice programme as well as delivering an estimated 2,600 additional nursing and midwifery training places, enhanced access programmes for support workers, and improving recruitment, retention and completion rates, particularly in remote and rural areas.

The draft Quality Performance Indicators are currently in development and the process is yet to be finalised in detail.

In regards to waiting times, I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14263 on 20 February 2018. 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 remit of The National Advisory Committee for Chronic Pain includes guiding the improvement of chronic pain management at all levels of health and social care and informing effective policy development. Workforce numbers are at record levels under this Government and the recently published parts 1 and 2 of our National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan set out how we will work with partners to secure sustainable NHS staffing. Increasing staff numbers is only part of the solution, and the Plan sets out how we intend to recruit, develop and retain the multidisciplinary and flexible workforce we need to continue to deliver high quality healthcare for the people of Scotland. This will ensure we have the right people in the right place at the right time to continue to deliver high quality care that meets the needs of Scotland’s population

In terms of waiting times, an additional £50 million is being made available to NHS Boards to improve waiting times for all stages of a patient’s journey through the NHS – the outpatient consultation, any tests required and treatment. £4.9 million is being provided to NHS Grampian as part of this initiative.

Officials have also been in contact with NHS Grampian to discuss their pain service and waiting time figures. Following a recent recruitment they will be offering additional clinics over the next few weeks to help reduce waiting times.

From 2015-16 Scottish Government has been investing an additional £2.5 million of recurring funding in the Specialist Nursing and Care Fund to improve access to specialist nursing support. Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, however the statutory responsibility for delivering or commissioning services at a local level lies with local authorities, NHS Boards and integrated health and social care partnerships. Operational decisions, including recruitment of specialist nurses, are therefore matters for these bodies.

Action for ME were awarded over £300,000 in 2016 from the Scottish Government’s Transforming Self-Management Fund.

No bids for 2018-19 funding have been received from Action for M.E. or any other M.E.-related organisations. Like all applications for funding from third sector organisations bids would be assessed to establish whether they assist in the delivery of Scottish Government National Outcomes and Indicators.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to the continuing provision of Changing Places toilets, through our A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People delivery plan ambition ‘places that are accessible to everyone’. We will continue to support PAMIS to ensure the Changing Places campaign delivers more Changing Places Toilets (CPTs) across Scotland.

As part of the campaign, the Changing Places Consortium, of which PAMIS is
co-chair, has produced resources for organisations considering installing a CPT. These resources are available on the Changing Places Consortium website (http://www.changing-places.org) and includes a Practical Guide on the design and management of a CPT, as well as sections on the legislative background, including applicable Building Regulations, equality legislation and recommendations for risk management. There is also a section covering planning and design with example room layouts.

Building standards do not currently require the installation of CPTs. However, the non-domestic building standards Technical Handbook provides guidance (introduced in October 2013) on the type of building where the installation of a CPT should be considered, as well as providing basic design information relating to layout, fixtures and equipment. The guidance can be found within clause 3.12.1 of the Technical Handbooks at www.gov.scot/Resource/0047/00478119.pdf.

We have now commenced a review on current building standards and associated Technical Handbook guidance. As a part of this review on several building standards topics, we intend to look at introducing measures to advance the number of CPT facilities in Scotland, such as provision in large new buildings, for example shopping malls. However, there are limitations to what can be achieved through building standards and it will not be possible to “target” the geographical areas that are most in need of CPTs.