Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-01535

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 22 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take through the new national mental health strategy to address concerns that people with mental health issues can die up to 20 years earlier than the rest of the population because of physical health problems.

The National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 states that Scottish Ministers have a duty to secure improvements in the physical and mental health of the people of Scotland. The NHS has a duty to promote the improvement of health – a duty that extends equally to the areas of physical and mental health.

We know that people with mental health challenges often die younger, which is why a key theme of the forthcoming Mental Health Strategy will be ensuring that mental health conditions and physical health conditions are treated with parity, re-enforcing existing legislation. It will also ensure that we strengthen our efforts to tackle preventable physical health problems within an overall approach to population health.

Question reference: S5W-01305

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 22 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many people under 21 have been prescribed antidepressant drugs in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) age and (b) NHS board.

The number of people under 21 prescribed antidepressant drugs from calendar year 2009 to 2015 is shown in the following table.

Information on the number of patients prescribed antidepressant drugs before calendar year 2009 is not available because Community Health Index numbers were not captured in sufficient volumes before this date to allow for patient based analysis.

These figures exclude people prescribed drugs in hospital. It is not possible to identify the reason the drug was prescribed, so the figures also include people who have been prescribed antidepressant drugs for conditions other than depression, such as nocturnal enuresis (bed wetting).

Ages 0 to 14 have been presented as an aggregate total due to the possibility of a disclosure risk from small numbers.

NHS Orkney, NHS Shetland and NHS Western Isles have been presented as the aggregated NHS Islands due to the possibility of a disclosure risk from small numbers.

Due to some patients being prescribed drugs in multiple NHS boards, the NHSScotland total will not always equate to the aggregated NHS board total.

Age

NHS Board	Year	0-14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Total
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	2009	34	28	60	110	215	262	364	1,073
NHS Borders	2009	23	13	28	43	56	102	87	352
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	2009	6	12	22	39	54	66	83	282
NHS Fife	2009	36	18	61	114	225	289	337	1,080
NHS Forth Valley	2009	36	18	35	88	172	220	267	836
NHS Grampian	2009	108	60	95	169	258	330	429	1,449
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	2009	104	68	162	341	581	886	999	3,141
NHS Highland	2009	43	31	70	115	166	184	205	814
NHS Island Health Boards	2009	6	12	15	25	32	39	49	178
NHS Lanarkshire	2009	37	39	80	162	298	395	478	1,489
NHS Lothian	2009	86	46	107	227	379	598	717	2,160
NHS Tayside	2009	49	31	83	158	225	324	336	1,206
NHSScotland	2009	560	373	814	1,567	2,615	3,624	4,263	13,816
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	2010	49	27	63	146	244	322	362	1,213
NHS Borders	2010	27	11	36	59	71	95	105	404
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	2010	15	16	26	36	70	77	88	328
NHS Fife	2010	38	29	59	135	241	345	420	1,267
NHS Forth Valley	2010	39	23	40	85	147	269	268	871
NHS Grampian	2010	114	70	112	211	336	455	507	1,805
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	2010	124	79	154	339	689	913	1,139	3,437
NHS Highland	2010	48	34	67	124	188	249	252	962
NHS Island Health Boards	2010	13	14	23	30	38	46	40	204
NHS Lanarkshire	2010	40	30	112	195	326	461	534	1,698
NHS Lothian	2010	71	64	112	248	473	663	820	2,451
NHS Tayside	2010	42	36	81	179	302	433	480	1,553
NHSScotland	2010	616	430	877	1,757	3,060	4,247	4,949	15,936
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	2011	43	31	57	117	258	343	376	1,225
NHS Borders	2011	26	16	34	62	67	92	113	410
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	2011	17	13	28	47	79	106	120	410
NHS Fife	2011	36	33	74	130	235	328	419	1,255
NHS Forth Valley	2011	28	24	48	89	160	242	313	904
NHS Grampian	2011	106	76	130	202	363	494	565	1,936
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	2011	138	99	199	320	633	1,005	1,130	3,524
NHS Highland	2011	54	55	75	125	193	246	271	1,019
NHS Island Health Boards	2011	13	9	23	37	35	56	53	226
NHS Lanarkshire	2011	57	47	98	236	331	488	569	1,826
NHS Lothian	2011	92	57	160	283	516	687	833	2,628
NHS Tayside	2011	50	43	82	174	285	436	497	1,567
NHSScotland	2011	655	500	1,001	1,793	3,096	4,434	5,169	16,648
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	2012	39	29	48	120	232	329	458	1,255
NHS Borders	2012	35	19	39	56	78	107	126	460
NHS Dumfries And Galloway	2012	14	11	29	46	74	106	133	413
NHS Fife	2012	35	27	57	149	274	387	478	1,407
NHS Forth Valley	2012	35	23	49	91	187	273	329	987
NHS Grampian	2012	124	95	144	222	368	574	630	2,157
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	2012	177	100	200	372	625	1,058	1,389	3,921
NHS Highland	2012	69	59	101	109	171	240	272	1,021
NHS Island Health Boards	2012	11	8	29	43	57	58	78	284
NHS Lanarkshire	2012	62	54	119	237	399	468	637	1,976
NHS Lothian	2012	82	78	143	296	516	793	978	2,886
NHS Tayside	2012	64	56	93	164	293	442	570	1,682
NHScotland	2012	744	558	1,043	1,868	3,205	4,736	5,952	18,106
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	2013	39	53	77	121	251	339	432	1,312
NHS Borders	2013	33	23	39	59	79	101	124	458
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	2013	20	14	24	43	81	121	140	443
Nhs Fife	2013	52	31	80	133	289	450	508	1,543
NHS Forth Valley	2013	46	29	57	97	190	287	360	1,066
NHS Grampian	2013	131	106	161	266	405	550	682	2,301
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	2013	197	141	215	341	687	966	1,338	3,885
NHS Highland	2013	83	61	117	148	199	238	284	1,130
NHS Island Health Boards	2013	15	12	22	41	59	72	65	286
NHS Lanarkshire	2013	60	63	129	234	407	521	614	2,028
NHS Lothian	2013	120	80	191	306	563	871	997	3,128
NHS Tayside	2013	109	75	146	204	288	446	577	1,845
NHSScotland	2013	899	681	1,252	1,961	3,411	4,831	5,980	19,015
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	2014	52	46	105	153	279	378	479	1,492
NHS Borders	2014	35	24	45	62	80	127	132	505
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	2014	18	20	36	53	89	105	144	465
NHS Fife	2014	48	51	97	159	329	473	527	1,684
NHS Forth Valley	2014	54	45	78	150	230	326	401	1,284
NHS Grampian	2014	133	108	168	294	433	560	723	2,419
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	2014	210	150	254	414	698	1,055	1,340	4,121
NHS Highland	2014	76	79	97	183	228	237	314	1,214
NHS Island Health Boards	2014	19	13	19	33	56	75	81	296
NHS Lanarkshire	2014	89	92	150	308	474	616	759	2,488
NHS Lothian	2014	151	113	179	353	670	879	1,149	3,494
NHS Tayside	2014	116	104	165	267	369	438	596	2,055
NHSScotland	2014	992	832	1,379	2,376	3,808	5,109	6,473	20,969
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	2015	67	52	94	190	317	426	501	1,647
NHS Borders	2015	38	33	40	79	93	140	159	582
NHS Dumfries And Galloway	2015	22	18	45	77	108	144	157	571
NHS Fife	2015	57	61	105	222	317	530	598	1,890
NHS Forth Valley	2015	86	56	103	172	283	395	458	1,553
NHS Grampian	2015	168	118	201	336	523	661	777	2,784
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	2015	214	184	263	488	845	1,216	1,512	4,722
NHS Highland	2015	45	60	114	160	236	309	303	1,227
NHS Island Health Boards	2015	22	15	39	46	55	67	95	339
NHS Lanarkshire	2015	109	86	195	291	559	706	829	2,775
NHS Lothian	2015	185	135	210	417	765	1,100	1,246	4,058
NHS Tayside	2015	119	107	182	325	474	583	607	2,397
NHSScotland	2015	1,123	918	1,578	2,737	4,454	6,092	7,072	23,974

Source: Prescribing Information System, Information Services Division Scotland

S5W-01305, 14 July 2016

Question reference: S5W-01173

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that it complies with all (a) legislation relating to patient safety and (b) health and safety at work legislation.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to ensuring that the NHS in Scotland delivers high quality, safe, effective and person-centred care to all patients every-time they access health services.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland is responsible for the scrutiny and inspection of healthcare, which drives improvements in patient care, in line with a plan agreed by Scottish Ministers.

NHS boards are responsible for complying with all relevant statutory obligations, including the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The Scottish Government requires all NHS boards to have assurance mechanisms in place as part of their corporate governance mechanisms.

The Health and Safety Executive is responsible for the enforcement of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 in NHSScotland and, together with local authorities, the social care sector in Scotland as well as throughout the UK.

Question reference: S5W-01176

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that all mental health wards should be constructed to full anti-ligature specification.

A safe and therapeutic environment for service users, staff and visitors is integral to the provision of mental health care. This position is reflected in the guidance which applies to mental health units in NHS Scotland which states:

3.42 Spaces where service users may not be continually supervised by staff (for example in bedrooms and toilets) should be designed, constructed and furnished to make self-harm or ligature as difficult as possible. All fixtures and fittings should be anti-ligature.

3.43 Spaces that are expected to be continually supervised by staff (for example communal areas or circulation spaces) should be comfortable and therapeutic. They encourage service users to participate in life on the ward and actively engage with staff, but minimise the risk of self-harm or injury to others.

7.24 All fixtures and fittings should be anti-ligature.

Question reference: S5W-01175

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reports that board members of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have expressed concern that the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Glasgow was not constructed to full anti-ligature specification.

The use of fittings and fixtures that reduce ligature risks is not clinically appropriate in many general hospital rooms, e.g. x-ray, consulting exam and patient toilets and showers, as they would compromise the hospital’s ability to deliver appropriate care to patients who have the freedom to leave at any time. So it would not be appropriate for the whole of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Glasgow to be constructed to a full anti-ligature specification.

Scottish Government policy and NHS guidance requires local risk management of patients and their environment. The board should use their appropriate multi-disciplinary skills and expertise to assess the likelihood and impact of all safety risks, including clinical, infection and self-harm, whilst ensuring an accessible, therapeutic environment that promotes care and recovery for all.

Fittings and fixtures that reduce ligature risks, are used only as required following a risk assessment which shows a patient vulnerable to self-harm may be left unattended or unobserved for a period of time. For patients assessed as ‘high risk’ of self-harm, local management plans should be agreed, such as keeping a patient under observation.

Question reference: S5W-01010

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 20 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government (a) when it will act on recommendations made in its Child Death Review Report of 2014 and the subsequent steering group report of March 2016 to introduce a national collaborative multi-agency system for reviewing the circumstances surrounding the death of a child and (b) what work it will do toward reducing avoidable mortality in children and young people.

The Scottish Government is acting on the recommendations made in the Child Death Review Reports of 2014 and 2016 and is at the early stage of establishing a national child death review system in Scotland.

Child death reviews in Scotland will consider modifiable and preventable factors, and will incorporate local and national data collection, to learn lessons with the aim of reducing avoidable mortality in children and young people.

Question reference: S5W-01201

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 20 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish details of the stakeholder event that the then Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health, Jamie Hepburn, agreed to during stage 3 of the Mental Health Bill on 24 June 2015 (Official Report, col. 121).

This government is committed to undertake a review to determine whether people with learning difficulties and autism should be removed from the definition of ‘mental disorder’ under the provisions of the Mental Health (Care & Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.

During the progress of the Mental Health Bill (now the Mental Health (Scotland) 2015 Act), Mr Hepburn made clear that he was open to a stakeholder event to help move the process forward. He also stated that the review will be participative and that stakeholders would be involved in shaping its remit.

The Mental Welfare Commission in partnership with the Scottish Commission for Learning Difficulties are currently undertaking a scoping exercise on behalf of the Scottish Government to gauge opinion from service users as well as representative bodies which will help shape the remit of the official review. This will in turn ensure that the design of the official review acknowledges the complexities, includes the full range of stakeholders and leads to practical proposals with as much consensus as can reasonably be achieved.

Part of the official review process will be to hear the views of the people of Scotland and once the scope and engagement strategy has been agreed it will be made public.

Question reference: S5W-01309

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 20 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many young carers are at college or university.

Question reference: S5W-00926

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 18 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many care home places there are, broken down by (a) NHS board area and (b) whether they are in the (i) private or (ii) public sector.

The number of registered care home places there are, broken down by (a) NHS board area and (b) whether they are in the (i) private or (ii) public sector is set out in the following table:

REGISTERED CARE HOME PLACES

Source: Scottish Care Home Census, snapshot at 31 March 2015 (table 4)

	Local authority / NHS Sector	Private Sector	Voluntary Sector
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	94	3,111	277
NHS Borders	159	524	121
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	3	973	267
NHS Fife	368	2,571	115
NHS Forth Valley	293	1,583	269
NHS Grampian	344	3,371	815
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	1,048	6,623	1,734
NHS Highland	316	2,021	357
NHS Lanarkshire	399	3,950	430
NHS Lothian	934	3,526	905
NHS Orkney	114	0	4
NHS Shetland	142	0	16
NHS Tayside	328	3,273	431
NHS Western Isles	138	40	39
Scotland	4,680	31,566	5,780

Question reference: S5W-00935

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 18 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the threat from the Zika virus and what information is being provided by the NHS to people visiting affected countries.

The mosquito vectors for the Zika virus are not able to survive in the Scottish climate, and therefore the risk to Scotland is very low because it would not be possible for the virus to spread easily here.

Health Protection Scotland regularly reviews their advice, taking into account available evidence, to ensure information given to people visiting, and returning from affected countries is up-to-date. This is done at cross-governmental level to ensure advice for the UK is consistent. Detailed information can be found on Health Protection Scotland’s website and the public-facing Fit for Travel website. As an example of the information provided, all travellers to affected areas are advised to seek travel advice from a health care provider at least six to eight weeks in advance of travel, which includes advice on risk of sexual transmission of Zika virus, and particularly, advice for those who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy.

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