- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 16 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Forgotten Children, Addressing the Health Issues of Looked After Children and Young People, what steps it will take to ensure that (a) comprehensive assessments are made of the physical, mental and developmental well-being of all young people and children at the earliest opportunity after entry into the care system, (b) background information and previous medical records on children are easily accessible, (c) written health records move with young people throughout their period in care together with a proactive healthcare plan and (d) a dedicated post is created for a health professional to access different health systems.
Answer
The report, ForgottenChildren, is an NHS Lothian report based on studies of looked after children inEdinburgh, East Lothian and Midlothian. Those authorities will find it a useful source ofinformation on what is happening on the ground in their areas.
In relation to action on theissues covered in this question, guidance issued by the Executive on TheChildren (Scotland) Act 1995 – volume 2, Children Looked After by LocalAuthorities states that care plans for looked after children should fullyreflect health care needs. Local authorities are required to arrange for amedical examination to provide a comprehensive health profile of the child andto give a basis for monitoring the child’s development for the period they are lookedafter.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 16 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Forgotten Children, Addressing the Health Issues of Looked After Children and Young People, what steps will be taken to introduce guidelines for good practice between care staff and GP surgeries to (a) create closer working links between residential care staff and staff at the local GP surgery, (b) ensure full registration of young people with the allied GP surgery by 12 weeks into placement, (c) guarantee closer working links between allied GP surgeries and the Practitioner Services Division for the central collation and fast tracking of GP notes and (d) create closer working links between allied GP surgeries and community child health departments, in particular with the nurse for looked after children.
Answer
Volume 2 of the guidance onThe Children (Scotland) Act 1995 states that children must be registeredwith a GP and dental practioner once they become looked after. As part of theircare planning local authorities will want to ensure that they are closelyinvolved with the GP surgery and that the health needs of the child are beingmet.
The PARTNERS programme, which has been rolled out tovirtually all GP practices in Scotland, allows faster and more accurate registration ofpatients with GP practices. Patient records are currently transferred betweenGP practices via the Common Services Agency and fast track arrangements are inplace where records are required urgently. Work is ongoing to develop andimplement programmes to link GP practices and the Practitioner ServicesDivision electronically, in order to support the electronic exchange ofrecords.
The Scottish Executive has no current plans to introduce specific good practice guidance to createcloser working links between allied GP surgeries and community healthdepartments. However, draft statutory guidance was published on 8th March forconsultation on the establishment of Community Health Partnerships (CHPs) underthe NHS Reform (Scotland) Bill. NHS boards will be expected to discuss andagree with local authority and other stakeholders the services which each CHPwill manage and/or co-ordinate. However, the draft statutory guidance statesthat CHPs should directly manage and provide, or have a lead role inco-ordinating, influencing or directing the delivery of services to supportvulnerable groups of children and young children including those looked afterby the local authority. The statutory guidance will be finalised once the NHS Reform(Scotland) Bill is enacted.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 16 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Forgotten Children, Addressing the Health Issues of Looked After Children and Young People, whether the specific needs of looked after children and young people in care will be considered in the preparation of the sexual health strategy.
Answer
The draft Sexual Health andRelationships Strategy which has been the subject of an extensive consultationprocess specifically draws attention to the needs of children who are lookedafter, including the importance of sexual relationships education, access toservices, and adequate training for those who care for them. The views receivedfrom the consultation in this respect will be reflected in the final strategy.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 16 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Forgotten Children, Addressing the Health Issues of Looked After Children and Young People, what steps will be taken to ensure parity of access to health care, screening, preventative services and immunisation courses for looked after children with children not in care.
Answer
Volume 2 of the guidance onthe Children (Scotland) Act 1995, Children Looked After by LocalAuthorities states that children being looked after should have the same accessto NHS provision and school health services as other children. When drawing upthe care plan local authorities should ensure that the child is provided withadequate health care, including any necessary medical, psychiatric,psychological, dental or ophthalmic attention and any necessary immunisations.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 16 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-5973 and S2W-5975 by Ms Margaret Curran on 1 March 2004, what steps will be taken in the short term to ensure that homeless people in East Lothian receive adequate services whilst East Lothian Council produces its improvement plan and during implementation of the plan once approved by Communities Scotland.
Answer
I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is asfollows:
Scottish Ministers actingthrough Communities Scotland now require East Lothian Council to take action toensure that homeless people in its area receive adequate services. The council’simprovement plan, setting out how it will respond to the findings of thePathfinder Inspection Report is due to be submitted on 17 March 2004.
Communities Scotlandexpects this to contain immediate, short term and longer term actions toprogress improvements. The agency will then agree arrangements with the localauthority for monitoring the implementation of the plan to ensure that thenecessary improvements in the services for homeless people and those threatenedwith homelessness are achieved. Performance in this area will be reassessedwithin two years and a full re-inspection of the local authority will becarried out within five years.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 16 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Forgotten Children, Addressing the Health Issues of Looked After Children and Young People, what steps will be taken to introduce (a) dedicated educational assessments and support for looked after children, (b) prioritised mental health services for looked after children and (c) guidelines on the production, and use, of clear confidentiality agreements for each individual within the care system.
Answer
Volume 2 of the guidance onthe Children (Scotland) Act 1995 states that the care plan should set outthe educational and wider developmental needs of the child being looked after.Local authorities should provide educational and developmental opportunitiesand support and promote potential and achievement.
The Scottish Executive is currently working with its expert advisory Child Health Support Group to secure improvement in children and young people’smental health and in Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) services,through implementation of the Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) Reporton Child and Adolescent Mental Health, published last year. It isanticipated that this work will improve the capacity of specialist CAMHservices to provide a more effective service for looked after children andyoung people. A key element is the development of a “template” which will describethe essential elements of a comprehensive CAMH service. It will includeservices for vulnerable children and young people, such as those who are lookedafter, and is expected to be published in the autumn of 2004. However, decisionsabout local health service provision are ultimately a matter for each NHS board.
The Scottish Executive published a revised NHS Code of Practice on Protecting PatientConfidentiality in July 2003 and issued guidance in August on The Use ofPersonal Health Information in NHSScotland to Support Patient Care. Guidance onsharing information and confidentiality is also provided in Getting ourPriorities Right, published in February 2003.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 16 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Forgotten Children, Addressing the Health Issues of Looked After Children and Young People, what steps will be taken in respect of the recommendation that child and adolescent mental health services should develop dedicated practitioners or teams with an expertise in managing the mental health needs of looked after children.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question SW2-6664 on 16 March 2004.All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 16 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-15033 by Malcolm Chisholm on 2 May 2001, what level of funding has been allocated for the provision of needle exchange facilities in (a) 2001-02, (b) 2002-03 and (c) 2003-04 to date.
Answer
As explained in the answer given to question S1W-15033 on 2 May 2001, we do not allocate funding specifically for needle exchange facilities. The table sets out funding specifically allocated to NHS boards to support work to prevent transmission of blood-borne viruses. It is open to NHS boards to use these resources for the provision of needle exchange services in accordance with local needs and priorities.
| | 2001-02 £ | 2002-03 £ | 2003-04 £ |
| Argyll and Clyde | 415,922 | 415,922 | 415,922 |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 370,000 | 350,000 | 350,000 |
| Borders | 116,498 | 115,498 | 115,498 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 116,804 | 115,804 | 115,804 |
| Fife | 408,062 | 408,061 | 408,061 |
| Forth Valley | 276,705 | 276,075 | 276,075 |
| Grampian | 690,825 | 690,825 | 690,825 |
| Greater Glasgow | 1,555,208 | 1,560,208 | 1,560,208 |
| Highland | 200,197 | 200,197 | 200,197 |
| Lanarkshire | 441,775 | 441,775 | 441,775 |
| Lothian | 2,505,627 | 2,524,627 | 2,524,627 |
| Orkney | 39,000 | 36,000 | 36,000 |
| Shetland | 56,000 | 55,000 | 55,000 |
| Tayside | 854,377 | 861,377 | 861,377 |
| Western Isles | 48,000 | 47,000 | 47,000 |
| State Hospital | 24,000 | 20,000 | 20.000 |
| Scotland Total | 8,119,000 | 8,119,000 | 8,119,000 |
We have also allocated an additional £13.3 million to NHS boards over the years 2001-02 to 2003-04 to support treatment services for drug misusers. These services include needle exchange facilities.
All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 16 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to increase the number of needles and syringes available for distribution for intravenous drug users, given that one million needles were distributed in Greater Glasgow last year where an estimated seven to 12 million were needed, as referred to in Issue 172 of the Scottish Drugs Forum Bulletin.
Answer
In December 2002, weinformed drugs services that the Lord Advocate had set new limits on thenumber of needles and syringes which could be issued to clients attendingneedle exchanges. The limits were increased to a maximum of 20 sets on firstvisit, and a maximum of 60 sets on subsequent visits, subject to return of usedsets for safe disposal.
It is for local services topurchase and distribute this equipment, based on local priorities and demand. Allocationsof injecting equipment to individual clients will depend on the needs andcircumstances in each case. The answer given to question S2W-6704 on 16 March 2004describes the resources made available from the Executive which can be used tosupport local needle exchange facilities.
All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility forwhich can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 15 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it shares the concerns of the Alliance of UK Health Regulators on Europe that doctors from Europe's 10 accession countries will no longer have to pass an English test in order to be registered to work in the UK from 1 May 2004, whereas doctors from America, New Zealand and Australia will still be tested and, if so, what measures it will take to ensure all registered doctors are language competent.
Answer
Doctors who are European economicarea nationals do not have to undertake an English language competency test inorder to be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). The law does notcurrently permit this. However, the NHS must ensure that all doctors theyemploy have the necessary knowledge of English to carry out their duties safelyand may require a doctor to undertake a language assessment as part of therecruitment process, regardless of which country they come from.
