Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is aware of the strong evidence that early life experiences impact on people’s future health and wellbeing and life outcomes. The Scottish Public Health Network published a report in May 2016, ‘Polishing the Diamonds: Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences in Scotland’, collating evidence from surveys of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) undertaken in other countries. In line with the evidence outlined in this report, the Scottish Government considers that ACEs impact on the life chances of people in terms of the associated risks of: poorer mental and physical health, poorer educational and employment outcomes, and being a perpetrator or victim of crime. The Scottish Government has a wide a range of policies in place focused on providing children with the best start in life. The Scottish Government is also participating in the Scottish ACE Hub; recently established by NHS Health Scotland to bring together organisations from different sectors to share learning about ACEs and actions which help prevent and respond to adversity in childhood.

The procurement of the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services began in October 2014, and the contract was awarded in August last year. The preparatory work for the tender of the Gourock – Dunoon service started in December 2015. These were carried out in full compliance with domestic and European procurement, and maritime regulations and State aid requirements, in accordance with the advice available to us at the time from the European Commission. The Commission’s response of 22 September 2016, formally expressed their view to us that the Teckal exemption could be applied to the Maritime Cabotage Regulation but still leaves the issue of State aid compliance to be addressed.

NHS Boards are responsible for planning and delivering healthcare services, to meet the assessed needs of their resident populations, taking into account strategic frameworks and guidance, within the allocations provided.

NHSScotland has invested in online resources such as the NHSinform website, which provides clear and accessible information on the causes, symptoms and diagnosis of dystonia. This can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/muscle-bone-and-joint-conditions/dystonia

In 2014-15, grant funding provided to the Dystonia Society was aimed at running workshops to disseminate the Society’s self management course, which supports people living with dystonia to self manage the condition and play a more active role in discussions with health and social care professionals about their care.

The Dystonia Society is a member of the Neurological Alliance of Scotland (NAoS), which aims to raise awareness of all neurological conditions. The NAoS also retain membership of - and are key partners in - our National Advisory Committee for Neurological Conditions which is working to drive improvement in outcomes for people with a range of neurological conditions.

The Scottish Government provides funding for clinical research projects through the Chief Scientist Office’s (CSO) response mode funding committees. Records indicate that no application for funding of research in dystonia has been received since 2007.

The CSO would welcome applications for research projects aimed at improving diagnosis and treatment in dystonia.

Our Health and Social Care Delivery Plan published in December 2016 sets out our aim for Scotland to provide high quality services with a focus on prevention, early intervention and supported self management. The plan sits alongside our National Clinical Strategy, which evidenced the need to change the way services are delivered in order to continue meet the healthcare needs of our population, setting out the framework for developing health services in Scotland for the next 10-20 years, including people living with Chronic Liver Disease (CLD).

These policies complement our existing work which contribute towards addressing the three commonest risk factors for CLD -excessive alcohol consumption; obesity; and blood borne viruses, in particular Hepatitis B and C.

The Scottish Government’s alcohol strategy, Changing Scotland's Relationship with Alcohol: A Framework for Action, is well regarded internationally and contains over 40 measures to tackle alcohol misuse. We are in the process of refreshing our Framework and will consider what further action to take to reduce alcohol-related harm.

Our Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Framework includes ambitious targets on prevention, testing, case-finding, diagnosis and treatment.

We are committed to addressing Scotland’s excess weight and have undertaken to consult on the development of our new Diet and Obesity Strategy in 2017 and are investing £12 million over the five years to 2017 on a range of programmes to support and encourage healthy eating, including the Healthy Living Award, Healthy Living Programme and Community Food and Health Scotland.

A Plan for Scotland: the Government's Programme for Scotland 2016-17 confirmed £3m investment over 5 years to train an additional 500 advanced nurse practitioners. It is intended that this commitment will be delivered by 2021.

A Plan for Scotland: the Government's Programme for Scotland 2016-17 confirmed £3m investment over 5 years to train an additional 500 advanced nurse practitioners.

To inform delivery of the national programme of ANP educational provision, as a first step NHS Boards and Integrated Joint Boards are required to complete both a service needs and training needs analysis of the Advanced Nurse Practitioner workforce before staff can be matched to and commence training programmes.

The 385 figure relates to those individuals who were in receipt of NHS Continuing Healthcare in care homes as at 31 March 2014. These individuals, and others eligible before 1 June 2015, will continue to be fully funded by the NHS as long as they remain eligible under the CEL 6 (2008) criteria. This information is available in the NHS Continuing Care Census held on 31 March 2014 on the ISD website (table eight) http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Health-and-Social-Community-Care/NHS-Continuing-Care/Publications/.

The provisions in regulation 13 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 codify and slightly extend the “Teckal Exemption” developed by the European courts. The scope of the exemption is extended by the addition of sub-paragraphs (b) and (c) of Regulation 13(1). The regulations also provide greater clarity in relation to the functions test through the application of a threshold in regulation 13(2)(b).