Chamber and committees

The term of the Independent Race Equality Adviser ends on 31 October 2018. Consideration will be given by the Race Equality Action Plan Programme Board to the appointment of another Adviser.

The Race Equality Action Plan Programme Board was established to oversee the implementation of the Race Equality Action Plan. The first meeting of the Programme Board was held on 22 August 2018, attended by the Independent Race Equality Advisor. At the first meeting Paul Johnston, Director-General Education, Communities and Justice, and Chair of the Programme Board, instructed Directors to share learning from successful and unsuccessful initiatives and apply this learning to work in their own areas. It was also advised that initiatives should focus on understanding and measuring impact not just outcomes for determining success.

According to Rape Crisis Scotland, as of August 2018 waiting list times for each centre were as follows:

The Scottish Government position remains consistent: we will not consider requests to implement a tourist tax unless the tourism and hospitality industry is involved from the outset and its long-term interests are fully recognised.

Whilst the City of Edinburgh Council, and more recently COSLA, have both published papers calling for a tourist tax, in our contact with the Scottish Tourism Alliance [most recently with the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs this morning] they repeat that neither they, nor their member organisations, are aware of having been approached in any substantive way to consider the probable longer-term impact of a tourist tax on Scotland’s visitor economy.

In the meantime we continue to deliver a fair deal to councils across Scotland, with revenue and capital funding both increasing in real terms in this financial year.

We are committed to presenting information in an open and transparent way, using feedback from users to drive improvements to the corporate website.

As part of the continuous improvement process we are considering options to make it easier for users to search for and access multiple documents that contain related information, including ministerial engagement data.

Information on the provision of supported accommodation for patients with alcohol-related brain damage in each NHS board area is not held centrally.

Integration Authorities have delegated responsibility for the planning and commissioning of services in relation to mental health, drugs and alcohol services. In carrying out these responsibilities, they will work with their NHS partners to ensure that services are joined up in a holistic manner and deliver high quality safe and effective outcomes which are person-centred and ensure local Health Boards meet their statutory obligations.

Integration Authorities have delegated responsibility for the planning and commissioning of services in relation to mental health, drugs and alcohol services. In carrying out these responsibilities, they will work with their NHS partners to ensure that services are joined up in a holistic manner and deliver high quality safe and effective outcomes which are person-centred and ensure local Health Boards meet their statutory obligations.

We expect NHS Board activity to support the actions in our Mental Health Strategy to realise our vision of a Scotland where people can get the right help at the right time, expect recovery, and fully enjoy their rights, free from discrimination and stigma. Two of the actions within the Mental Health Strategy look at dual diagnosis for people with problem substance use and mental health diagnosis:

Action 27: - Test and learn from better assessment and referral arrangements in a range of settings for dual diagnosis for people with substance use and mental health diagnosis.

Action 28: - Offer opportunities to pilot improved arrangements for dual diagnosis for people with problem substance use and mental health diagnosis.

Work in relation to these actions has begun, with The Lead Psychologists Addiction in Substance Misuse Services in Scotland (LPASS) Report being published on 4 June 2018. The report provides national best practice guidance for the Delivery of Psychological Interventions in substance use services for both practitioners and Integrated Authority (IA) commissioners and serves as a specialised response for those affected both by mental health diagnosis/difficulties and substance use issues.

There are no plans to update this booklet, however more up to date information can be found in the Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs (SFAD) “Bereavement Support” booklet. The Scottish Government fund SFAD to provide a range of materials and services, including a free helpline and counselling sessions, for those who are impacted by other people’s drug and alcohol use.

Further information can be found at the SFAD website - https://www.sfad.org.uk/

Our forthcoming drug and alcohol strategy will also highlight the importance of supporting families and children who are affected by problem drug and alcohol use.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-17888 on 17 August 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

In 2015, the CMO’s group made two recommendations to the National Planning Forum (NPF):

1. That in order to increase education and awareness of endometriosis, and to ensure that there is consistent, standardised and co-ordinated care across Scotland, the introduction of a Nationally Managed Clinical Network (NMCN) for severe endometriosis should be considered.

2. That the West of Scotland Regional Planning Group should consider setting up a BSGE accredited regional specialist centre for severe endometriosis, in line with the already accredited centres in the North and East of Scotland.

The NPF approved both recommendations. The National Specialist Services Committee considered the proposal for the NMCN in June 2015, where there was clear acceptance and recognition that severe endometriosis service improvement needed to take place, however, the view was taken that three regional specialist centres could lead on delivering the improvement in endometriosis care and accordingly a national network approach would not be required.

This approach would rely on the west of Scotland developing its own specialist centre and NHS Greater Glasgow committed to considering setting up specialist centre for west of Scotland patients.

This work has not progressed as quickly as expected, however, the West of Scotland Regional Planning Group approved the business case in June 2018. Funding to support implementation will be discussed with the WoS Directors of Finance in September 2018. If funding is in place, we expect the centre to be open from April 2019. Nevertheless, key stages in the introduction of the specialist centre are underway including the following developments:

- An obstetrics and gynaecology consultant with a special interest in laparoscopic surgery and endometriosis has been appointed.

 - NHSGG&C have appointed a lead clinician for endometriosis.

 - Clinical and referral pathways have been agreed by the Health Boards in the West of Scotland.

 - Data analysis is taking place into current patient numbers and what projected numbers of referrals might look like to the regional service in the future, in order to understand the requirement for the BSGE accreditation.