Chamber and committees

I will be publishing ‘A More Active Scotland: Scotland’s Physical Activity Delivery Plan’ today, which sets out the wide range of actions we and our partners will deliver to support people in Scotland to be more active, more often.

The plan aligns closely to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Action Plan on Physical Activity, More Active People for a Healthier World which was published on 4 June 2018. The World Health Organization has welcomed the publication of our plan and recognizes that Scotland is one of the first countries in the world to respond to the challenges identified in their plan.

This Delivery Plan is one of five linked public health strategies and plans which are being published in 2018 and taken together they create the environment for good health whilst encouraging individuals and communities to make better choices. I see the actions set out in this plan as a strong basis for focussing our efforts on those areas which will make a real difference.

The action plan will be available at http://gov.scot/ISBN/9781787810143

I have today written to the Chief Executive of NHS Tayside to confirm my decision in relation to these major service change proposals.

Having carefully considered all the available information, I have decided to approve the Health Board’s proposals that all unscheduled admissions and emergencies in Tayside will be directed to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee to ensure that all patients have access to a dedicated Acute Surgical Receiving Unit and a staffed 24/7 theatre for unscheduled surgery. An expanded elective surgical service will be based in the Perth Royal Infirmary (PRI), providing cancer and non-cancer surgical intervention. This will include complex major surgery to fully utilise critical care facilities at PRI and I have been assured by the Board that their proposals will in no way impact the continuing provision of A&E services at the hospital. The Stracathro Treatment Centre will also be optimised to treat patients who meet the criteria for day and short stay surgery, as set out by the British Association of Day Surgery.

The Board has made a compelling and viable case for these proposals which have attracted clinical support. The proposals are consistent with national policy, modern clinical standards and best practice, including the National Clinical Strategy. The implementation of these proposals will provide the people of Tayside with a safer, higher quality surgical service, whilst also minimising the risk of cancelled procedures. As such, I am convinced that these proposals are in the best interests of the people of Tayside.

I note from the report of the Scottish Health Council (SHC) that the Board has meaningfully engaged with local stakeholders on their proposals. However, the SHC has recommended that the Board establishes a stakeholder group, which should include patients, carers, public representatives and the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS), to consider any remaining concerns around patient and public transport for both scheduled and unscheduled surgery.

That is why I have been clear to NHS Tayside that my approval of these proposals is conditional on: (i) the Board reviewing and addressing any issues with the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) around their capacity to meet the proposed models; (ii) identifying how planning partners and third sector organisations could best support patients to access services; (iii) carrying out a review of the Board’s patient booking system for surgical procedure appointments to address concerns about early morning appointments for people living in rural areas; and (iv) providing regular communication on the outcomes of this work and to keep the people of Tayside informed of progress and timescales for implementation of the proposals.

I also recognise the concerns expressed during the public consultation process that the approval of these proposals could impact negatively on the Accident and Emergency Department at the Perth Royal Infirmary. As outlined above, I have sought and received assurances that A&E services will continue at the hospital.

I will be publishing the A Healthier Future: Scotland's Diet & Healthy Weight Delivery Plan on Monday 2 July.

This follows wide consultation on our proposals. Over 360 responses were submitted by academics, health professionals, members of the general public and organisations including health and third sector bodies, local authorities and members of the food and drinks industry. In addition, engagement exercises were carried out by the Scottish Youth Parliament, Young Scot, Food Standards Scotland and the Scottish Public Health Network.

As announced by the First Minister in May, an ambition in our delivery plan will be to halve childhood obesity by 2030. We have also set an ambition to significantly reduce health inequalities. The actions set out within the delivery plan provide clarity on how we, together with partners across the public, private and third sector, will help everybody in Scotland make healthier choices about food. This includes actions to ensure:

• Children get the best start in life - they eat well and have a healthy weight
• The food environment supports healthier choices
• People have access to effective weight management services
• Leaders across all sectors promote healthy weight and diet
• Diet-related health inequalities are reduced

The next step is for the Scottish Government and our delivery partners to move swiftly to implementation, consulting further on the detail of some of our new measures.

The delivery plan will be available at the following link, from Monday 2 July www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781787810556.

For every minute after an out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest that a person does not receive treatment, the likelihood of survival reduces by 10%.

For that reason, Scotland’s Out Of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy focusses on increasing the number of people who are confident in using CPR, and on increasing the number of Public Access Defibrillators.

We strongly encourage any member of the public, community groups or business to register their Public Access Defibrillator with the Scottish Ambulance Service.

The Scottish Ambulance Service actively promotes the Public Access Defibrillator registration website and their Registration to Resuscitation campaign.

To date, 1889 Public Access Defibrillators have been registered with the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Carer’s Allowance Supplement will increase Carer’s Allowance to the level of Jobseeker’s Allowance, through two six month lump sum payments of £221 to eligible carers in 2018-19. It will be paid later this summer and uprated to take into account inflation from 2019-20.

The supplement is an increase of 13% in support to carers in 2018-19 and an investment of over £30 million a year, which will benefit over 70,000 carers. We have agreed with the UK Government that this additional support will not reduce entitlements elsewhere in the benefits system.

I will be publishing the Scottish Government’s new tobacco control action plan Raising Scotland’s Tobacco Free Generation today.

The document sets out a five year plan for action focusing on our tobacco-free generation - children who are turning five this year. Our long-term goal is for the young people of this generation to be truly tobacco-free when they turn 21 in 2034.

The action plan demonstrates our commitment to the new Public Health Priorities which include an ambition for a Scotland free from the harms caused by alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

There are 44 specific actions in the plan, all of which have been developed with relevant partners. The plan includes actions we propose to take right away – legislating to restrict smoking around hospital buildings, banning tobacco in prisons, establishing the new national stop-smoking service brand and running the final phase of our stop-smoking media campaign: Getting Through 72 .

The action plan will be available at http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2018/06/9483

We have sought to engage for nearly two years now with the UK Government to ensure that Scotland’s interests are protected and promoted during discussions and negotiations.

Now, less than a year to go until the UK proposes to leave the EU, we find out through newspaper reports that the sort of modelling we have been asking for appears to have been done and is so potentially challenging that it is alleged to have been locked away.

Nothing about this is acceptable and I wrote to the Brexit Secretary on 4 June to make that clear. If a hard Brexit might lead to food and fuel shortages in Scotland then the people of Scotland have a right to know. It is also imperative that the UK Government co-operates with the devolved administrations on its contingency planning as a matter of urgency.