Chamber and committees

To date I have not yet met with the Chair of the Drug Death Taskforce.

We know that there are strong links between mental health and drug use, and I have frequent discussions with the Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing who established the Taskforce and who has attended all of the meetings of the group.

My policy officials are also working closely with those who support the Taskforce and those taking forward work on the delivery of the alcohol and drug strategy which included a number of areas of work linked to mental health.

A draft framework document will be ready for initial stakeholder review including education, social work, more specialist health care providers and third sector, by spring 2020, and will include, among other things, how to support women to start their pregnancy at a healthy weight.

Further consultation will follow, with the aim of launching the framework by late summer 2020.

Section 10 funding will continue to be provided in 2020-21 to support third sector organisations who are developing social care services and helping to create a healthier Scotland.

To alleviate the impact of the UK budget delay on third sector organisations, the Scottish Government confirmed to stakeholders in January 2020 the extension of the 2019-20 funding for the first 3 months of 2020-21. Full year funding has now been approved and officials are advising stakeholders of the details and process for 2020-21.

NHS National Services Scotland took responsibility for hosting the refreshed National Prison Care Network in July 2019. A programme team has been recruited to establish, manage and facilitate the work of the Network. The Network is currently recruiting a clinical/professional lead to be the ambassador for the Network, with a key strategic role working with the Network team in promoting and driving forward the development of an effective, integrated, multidisciplinary service for prison care throughout Scotland.

Work to date has included engagement with stakeholders across Scotland with a wide scale cross sector stakeholder mapping, undertaken to ensure inclusivity and impact. The Network has worked with stakeholders and the Scottish Government to develop a new governance structure which will maximise resources and see a whole systems approach to health in custody (which includes the National Police Care Network and the National Prison Care Network). The Network has also delivered a stakeholder collaborative event to allow stakeholders to work collectively to identify the priorities for the Network, for prison care and integration into the community. This new structure will provide a platform to address a number of issues that require a national approach such as; Data and Information, (including clinical IT), Integration of Health and Social Care, Mental Health and Substance Use, Medicines, Community Integration Planning, Specialist Care, Primary Care and Education and Workforce.

Work has begun to develop the Network’s strategy, which will give focus to the priorities for the Network and develop an action plan to address these.

In relation to COVID-19, the Network is currently working with local NHS partners and the Scottish Prison Service to facilitate national coordination, develop consistent approaches and coordinate communications between partners.

Funding for the Network for 2020-21 is still to be finalised.

Information about how many nurses work in prison healthcare is not collected or centrally held by Scottish Government, Information Services Division or NHS Education for Scotland. Prisoner healthcare is a priority area for this government and the Transforming Roles programme will look to review and scope the roles of registered nurses within prisons to help meet the health and social care needs of the prison population. It will also look to improve retention and recruitment of nurses through the development of clear education and career pathways. This will be done in partnership with key stakeholders, including trade unions and professional bodies. Also, the National Prison Care Network recently held it's first stakeholder collaboration event on 4 March 2020, where Mr Fitzpatrick delivered a Ministerial welcome. This was also attended by representatives from trade unions and professional bodies.

All patients in Scotland are entitled to free dental check-ups – and NHS dental care is free to children and young people up to 17 years of age, and adults in receipt of certain benefits, such as pensioners in receipt of pension credit guarantee credit.

Some patients may be entitled to help with health costs under the NHS Low Income Scheme (LIS). The LIS is designed to provide help with NHS charges for those who are not automatically entitled to free treatment, but have difficulty in paying. Help under the scheme is income related and based on an assessment of each claimant’s ability to pay in the light of his or her financial circumstances at the time a claim was made or a charge was paid.

The SPCB recognises that Endometriosis can be debilitating for those affected, if not properly managed in the workplace. As part of our commitment to the wellbeing of SPCB staff we have recently updated our policy and guidance on Periods and the Menopause to provide anyone affected by Endometriosis with the support they need to manage their symptoms at work.

In addition to updating our policy and guidance for SPCB staff, the SPCB recently signed up to the Endometriosis Friendly Employer scheme and we look forward to working toward receiving Endometriosis Friendly Employer status from Endometriosis UK.

The Scottish Government currently provides a full range of health, wellbeing, and supportive measures to staff, including those who suffer from Endometriosis. We fully support the Endometriosis Friendly Employer Scheme and we are working to ensure that we meet all the standards of the scheme.

The Scottish Government takes the health of everyone in Scotland extremely seriously. As we have repeatedly stated, washing hands is extremely important and if that is not possible, hand gels should be used. The main source of relevant medical advice for all remains the NHS Inform website .

We are working with all local authorities in Scotland, Health and Social Care Partnerships and frontline partners to ensure they are reviewing, updating where necessary and sharing their local resilience plans. Officials are communicating with them on a daily basis, as the situation develops, to ensure we are doing everything to protect staff, homeless people, including those who are particularly vulnerable, such as rough sleepers, those residing in temporary accommodation and those involved in street begging.

Properly communicating these plans ensures frontline staff are equipped with up to date advice that they can share with the vulnerable people they support and are empowered to take the necessary action when required. We continue to develop our plans as the situation changes and provide relevant advice for all vulnerable people, including those sleeping rough.

The main source of medical advice remains the NHS Inform website . This allows local frontline teams to take account of the latest advice and ensure that homeless people, and in particular those with multiple, complex needs are catered for and looked after. In addition, officials have provided additional advice and support to enable local authorities and their local partners to help develop robust continuity plans to take account of increased risk to vulnerable people.

Outreach staff at Simon Community in Glasgow, Streetwork in Edinburgh and Turning Point Scotland in Aberdeen have produced simple printed guides for service users and the street population based on the latest NHS Inform guidance and check in with them regularly to monitor signs and symptoms. All staff are aware of the signs and symptoms, the importance of handwashing and how to raise concerns and will advise service users of this information daily.