Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has committed £6.2 million to genomics for the financial year 2022-23. This is in addition to the funding allocated to the 4 genetic laboratories in Scotland by NHS Boards through NHS National Services Division (NSD) commissioning arrangements.

The Scottish Government fully recognises the role of genomics in improving patient outcomes. We have provided funding to NSD to establish a Transformation Team led by a Lead Clinical Scientist alongside resource that specialises in transformative programme management and Data Analytics. The Team will be operational from June 2022.

This team will be responsible for delivering the rapid adoption of a number of genetic tests for cancer across the genetic laboratories as well as developing an action plan for the implementation of the recommendations from the Genetic Laboratory Major Service Review.

The transformation team will work within NSD and support the Scottish Government to develop our long term plans for genomics medicine in Scotland.

The Scottish Government allocated £5 million in the financial year 2020-21 to support the wellbeing of people working in health, social care and social work. This money was allocated to the following services;

• Coaching for Wellbeing
• Digital Resources
• Formal Psychological Interventions
• Workforce Specialist Service

Concerns about the impact of fireworks on animals has been a strong theme to emerge from both the 2019 and 2021 public consultations on fireworks, and I am grateful to the Dogs Trust, and other animal charities, for their continued engagement throughout our journey with fireworks.

All of the measures within the Bill, including the licensing system, have been developed following a significant programme of consultation, engagement and evidence gathering. This includes the work of the independent advisory Firework Review Group, who considered all of the evidence available and took an options appraisal approach to make a series of recommendations for change to the Scottish Government. The licensing system implements the Group’s recommendation that mandatory conditions should be introduced at the point of sale of fireworks to ensure that the purchase and use of fireworks is a well thought out and planned transaction.

The licensing system has been carefully developed to ensure that robust checks and balances are in place before a member of the public can purchase and use fireworks. This includes a mandatory requirement to successfully complete a training course, which will inform applicants of how to use fireworks in a safe and lawful manner, as well as understanding the impact that fireworks can have on others, including animals.

It is considered that the licensing system strikes the balance between introducing proportionate measures without placing overly restrictive barriers on the legitimate use of fireworks by members of the public, and there are no current plans to require licence holders to record on the relevant local authority website any display that they intend to hold.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) publish the number of ‘Funded Places’ and ‘Students Eligible for Funding’ in the Official Statistics release “Students Eligible for Funding” here:

https://www.sfc.ac.uk/publications-statistics/statistical-publications/2021/SFCST042021.aspx

with historic publications available here:

https://www.sfc.ac.uk/publications-statistics/statistical-publications/statistics-schedule/statistical-publication-schedule.aspx

No split by domicile for ‘funded places’ is available.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has robust procedures in place to ensure complaints are fully investigated and any complaint is considered confidential while being progressed. I am not aware of the details of any complaints made against the SFRS Chief Officer, but I was given initial notice of the situation on 18 February 2022.

I refer you to the answer of the aforementioned question S6W-07924, specifically:

"...We are, however, actively engaged with our partners, including local government, to understand what impact the increase in fuel prices is having across Scotland, and how social care providers can support their staff to ensure they can continue to deliver the invaluable support they provide."

In relation to this answer, I can reconfirm that my officials engaged with relevant officials at COSLA as early as 7 April, to consider the impact of rising costs, including fuel costs, on our social care workforce and are working together to better understand the situation.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

To confirm, the Welcome desk at Glasgow airport is staffed and my officials continue to work in partnership with the local authority to provide support and services for all arrivals. I am aware of one incident where an individual arrived to an unattended desk, however there was signage in place directing them to contact a helpline number. The individual in question is being well supported and is safely housed, and has expressed gratitude to the Health and Social Care Partnership for all their support and assistance.

The Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme Lead, who conducts the annual review process, meets with NHS boards on behalf of Scottish Government. This engagement allows us to understand the provision of stroke services, including training and staff capacity across NHS boards, and where challenges or opportunities for sharing good practice exist.

Scottish Government representatives also sit on the National Advisory Committee for Stroke (NACS), where specialists from NHS boards across Scotland provide expert advice and recommendations relating to Scottish Government policy for the provision of stroke care. NACS has recently developed the Progressive Stroke Pathway ( Strokes: progressive stroke pathway - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ), which was published on 22 March 2022. This document sets out an ambitious vision of what a progressive stroke service in Scotland should look like.

The rehabilitation sub-group of NACS, which is made up of specialists across a range of disciplines from various NHS boards in Scotland, played an important role in helping to shape the Progressive Stroke Pathway recommendations relating to stroke rehabilitation services. On the back of this input, the Progressive Stroke Pathway makes a number of recommendations relating to the provision of stroke care, and the contributions of appropriate training and staff capacity in helping deliver this.

We will continue to engage regularly with these specialists from across Scottish NHS boards as we move into the implementation phase, considering the recommendations made in the Progressive Stroke Pathway.

The SIGN guidelines recommend all diagnoses should ideally be made through a multi-disciplinary process and not done by a single clinician.

There is no requirement for the diagnosis to be made by any particular profession. This should be dependent on who has the skills and experience and may include Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Paediatricians and Speech and Language Therapists.

Not all health professionals will be trained to diagnose as this is a specialist skill, but it is the expectation of the Scottish Government that they should be aware of and have access to referral pathways.

By the end of Core Psychiatry training, trainees must be able to:

• receive a full psychiatric history from and perform a Mental State Examination (MSE) on patients within a range of mental and neurodevelopmental disorders across the lifespan in routine, urgent and emergency situations, incorporating appropriate terminology.
• assess patients from a range of different cultural, spiritual, and religious backgrounds, including asylum seekers and refugees, and demonstrate an understanding of how protected characteristics may impact on clinical presentation.

In order to successfully complete Core Psychiatry training, all trainees must undertake a neurodevelopmental sub-specialty placement, either Intellectual Disability (ID) or Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), so they are aware of and will be familiar with the process of diagnostic assessment.

General practitioners are essential to recognition and assessment. Autism is covered in the GP Curriculum alongside a range of other neurodevelopmental differences. Clinical psychology doctoral trainees receive training in relation to assessment and intervention for people with neurodevelopmental disorders, including Autism. Undergraduate training ensures that any Speech and Language Therapist at any level can provide or contribute assessment information that could assist an assessment team in making a diagnostic decision.

The Scottish Government commissioned NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to produce the NES Autism training plan, to ensure that staff involved in diagnostic assessments across the lifespan have the right skills and knowledge, prioritising staff from across Scotland who are involved in diagnostic assessment.

Due to the variable management required, much of the treatment required by Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients is specialist and tailored to the needs of the individual patient. The Scottish Government therefore expects NHS Boards to treat CF patients according to individual need, this includes ensuring clinical psychologist and social work input when required.

Whilst the Scottish Government set out the wider policy within which NHS Scotland is expected to deliver services, we expect all NHS Boards to provide high quality care that is safe, effective and person-centred. This is a matter for NHS Boards locally. The information requested is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government is committed to working to improve outcomes for people with rare conditions, including Cystic Fibrosis. We are developing an Scottish Action Plan for Rare Disease based on the four priorities of the UK Rare Disease Framework: faster diagnoses, increased awareness, better care co-ordination, and access to specialist treatments and care.