Chamber and committees

Of the 62 weekday trains in each direction on the Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk High route, the December 2018 timetable delivers the following;

• One 42 minute journey in each direction
• 27 services taking 50 minutes or less in the Edinburgh to Glasgow direction
• 23 services taking 50 minutes or less in the Glasgow to Edinburgh direction

The remainder of the services noted in the question are on alternative routes between the two cities.

May and December 2019 will see the final phases of ‘Revolution in Rail’ delivering further increased capacity and journey time improvements across the network, including on the Glasgow-Edinburgh via Falkirk High route.

The Scottish Government supports the ScotRail Alliance aspiration for all services on the Glasgow-Edinburgh route achieving the 42 minute journey time and its commitment to exploring options to reduce this further.

I am aware that the out of hours service at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital was temporarily closed between 1800 and 2400 on 1 December. This was due to staff shortages.

Whilst I expect NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to take every measure possible to ensure a safe and sustainable out of hours services is provided, I also understand that, on occasion they require to close centres on a temporary basis on the ground of patient and staff safety. Patients should always access the out of hours service by calling NHS 24 in the first instance and, if assessed as requiring to see a GP, will be directed to the most appropriate centre. There is always an out of hours service available to patients.

This information is not held centrally. The member should contact the Board direct for this information.

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde operate the out of hours service from 9 centres across the region as well as a home visiting service. There are occasions where one or more centre may have to close on a temporary basis, normally for a few hours, due to staffing difficulties. These decisions are taken on the ground of patient and staff safety. Patients should always access the out of hours service by calling NHS 24 in the first instance and, if assessed as requiring to see a GP, will be directed to the most appropriate centre. There is always an out of hours service available to patients.

The issues at Cowlairs were not related to the sterilisation of the equipment and therefore no risk to patients that had already been treated. The Scottish Government was content that the Board acted quickly following the closure of the Decontamination Unit and in the best interests of the patients.

The Chief Executive, Jane Grant, wrote to each patient who has been affected by this disruption and has put in place a dedicated phone line for patients who have any concerns.

Scottish Government officials were also in regular contact with the Health Board to support them in taking the necessary steps to ensure the Decontamination Facility met the required standards prior to reopening on 27 November.

The Scottish Government's Health and Social Care in Prisons Programme has commissioned NHS Information Services Division to develop a dashboard for healthcare in prisons, which will be in place by Spring 2019 which will cover existing data held by ISD in relation to prisons. We have a phased approach to broaden and improve the data presented and it is anticipated that this will include workforce data. There are plans to develop a full suite of health and social care quality indicators for use in prisons which will be reported through the new dashboard.

The requested information is not centrally held by ISD.

Information on NHSScotland nursing and midwifery vacancies in prisons are collected and published within Public Health Nursing vacancies. As such, it is not possible to identify nursing vacancies specifically within prisons.

Further information on the statistics, including information on how the data are collected and notes to aid interpretation, is given in the 'FAQs' section of the Workforce Statistics website at http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce/

The temporary closure of the Cowlairs decontamination unit resulted in 1075 procedures being cancelled by NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde. Those patients waiting for urgent care procedures have been rescheduled and the remainder will be rescheduled as quickly as possible. The Chief Executive, Jane Grant, wrote to each patient who has been affected by this disruption and has put in place a dedicated phone line for patients who have any concerns.

Scottish Government officials were in regular contact with the Health Board to support them in taking the necessary steps to ensure the Decontamination Facility meets the required standards. The unit reopened on 27 November and is now fully operational.

The Wessely Review recommends many of the aspects which are already provided for in Scotland’s existing mental health legislation. The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 is based on rights and principles and provides safeguards which include that any function should be carried out for the maximum benefit of the patient, with the minimum necessary restriction on the freedom of the patient and having regard to the views of the patient. We have made changes to ensure that people with a mental disorder can access effective treatment quickly and improved legislation through the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 2015 to strengthen support for decision making and promote rights.

Most people who use mental health services receive treatment without being subject to an order or certificate under the 2003 Act. If a person needs to be detained, the Act offers patients significant safeguards where compulsory treatment is necessary. Safeguards include a right to appeal, access to independent advocacy and an efficient and independent Mental Health Tribunal which grants and reviews orders for compulsory treatment. Also, the Mental Welfare Commission monitors the use of Scottish mental health law, including compulsory treatment. The Commission has the power to intervene in particular cases if there is evidence of improper care, treatment or practices.

We are making significant investment in the range of mental health support available, which will see issues tackled earlier and, where possible, in the community, while ensuring speedier access to specialist care for those who need it.

We welcome the publication of this annual report from the Mental Welfare Commission. The report’s findings are always of great help to our work to improve services for children and young people.

We agree with the report’s recommendations to improve the efficiency of bed use, and the provision of intensive psychiatric care. Action 19 of the Mental Health Strategy commits to developing a protocol for admissions to non-specialist wards which is currently being finalised. The Children and Young People’s Mental Health Taskforce will also consider pathways into specialist services for young people as part of our work under Action 20 of the Mental Health Strategy.

Additionally, a new national secure child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient facility will be built by NHS Ayrshire and Arran, with an intended opening date of late 2020.

The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland has a statutory responsibility to monitor the use of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003. As part of meeting that responsibility, it publishes an annual overview of the use of the 2003 Act. These annual reports include statistics on the number of episodes of compulsory treatment for mental disorder in Scotland. The most recently published report is for the period 2016-2017 and can be found at the following link:https://www.mwcscot.org.uk/media/409318/mha_monitoring_report2016-17_may2018.pdf

In the report, table 2.1 provides figures on the total number of episodes of compulsory treatment across Scotland for the past ten years. Note that the number of individual people given compulsory treatment is not held by the Commission, so the data relates to the number of orders or certificates granted and therefore does not take account of individuals who may be given compulsory treatment on multiple, separate occasions during the reporting period or those who may have several consecutive orders/certificates apply to them as part of one instance of treatment. During the 2016-2017 period, 73% of episodes lasted for 28 days or less.

Previous reports can be found on the Commission's website and statistical information for 2017-2018 will be provided in the Commission’s next annual monitoring report which is due for publication before the end of December 2018.