Seòmar agus comataidhean

As I confirmed in my statement to parliament on 2 November 2016, which is available at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=10595&mode=pdf, I have met the clinical teams in Glasgow and Edinburgh and, in the light of those discussions and full consideration of the evidence, I expect to make a decision before the end of the year.

The OneScotland branded National Entitlement Card (NEC) was introduced in 2006 to deliver the Scottish Government's concessionary travel scheme. In 2014 the NEC design was amended and the OneScotland brand was replaced with the mygovscot brand card. The roll out of digitally enabled services contributed to the decision to make this change and the technology within the card was upgraded to reflect these developments. There was no requirement to replace cards as both versions were compatible with the bus industry technical infrastructure.

Recent advances in smart card technology informed the decision to further enhance the technology within cards by introducing an e-purse into the NEC. To allow cardholders and transport operators to be able to easily identify whether a card is
e-purse ready for the future, the external design was altered by introducing the saltirecard logo. The saltirecard brand was introduced in September 2016. The cost associated with the change of branding and encoding amounted to £5346.10.

Both the mygovscot and saltirecard branded NECs are far more technologically capable and are valid for concessionary travel and compatible with other emerging smart ticketing opportunities. Not all NECs require to be replaced - the replacement only applies to the OneScotland branded cards which would have been due to expire in December 2016 and would be required to be replaced naturally. For this reason, no extra costs have been incurred.

The legal and court action costs incurred by the Scottish Government in relation to the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 to date total £434,100.

The Scottish Government funds the ALISS Programme through the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE). The service includes sources of support in the community across the full range of health and care services not just for mental health.

The Minister for Public Health and the Chief Medical Officer launched two reports covering progress and activity to date at an event on 17 March 2016. These are available online with ALISS Report 1 2009-2013 available at http://www.alliance-scotland.org.uk/download/library/lib_56ea957220720/ and ALISS Report 2
2013-2016 available at http://www.alliance-scotland.org.uk/download/library/lib_56ea95a6f09fa/

The monitoring and governance of the national audiology quality standards sits with NHS Boards. The Scottish Government is committed to improving the services, support and care available to people with hearing loss through its national strategy ‘See Hear’. Delivering person centred care and empowering people to be at the centre of their care is a strategic priority for the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland.

I refer to my previous answer to question S5W-03039 on 30 September 2016 and add that as an independent organisation, Mental Health Tribunal Service for Scotland (MHTS) provides assurance to Scottish Ministers on the discharge of its functions.

MHTS was established by the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 to make decisions on the care and treatment of people who are subject to the Act. The rules under which the Tribunal operates are set out in the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland (Practice and Procedure) Rules 2005. Scottish Ministers receive an annual report on the performance of the Tribunals functions which is also laid before the Scottish Parliament.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government is currently considering this finding from Action on Hearing Loss Scotland's 'Time to raise the standards' report.

Most people who use mental health services receive treatment without being subject to an order or certificate under the Mental Health (Scotland) (Care and Treatment) Act 2003. For some individuals however, compulsory treatment is used to provide the person with medical treatment to alleviate suffering and for the protection of both the person and others. Compulsory treatment is only allowed under mental health legislation in Scotland in very strict circumstances.

Firstly, certain criteria must be met before an order or certificate can be granted. For a 28 day short-term detention certificate (STDC), this includes that an approved medical practitioner considers it likely that the patient has a mental disorder (as defined by the 2003 Act) and that the patient’s decision making ability is significantly impaired by their disorder and without treatment the patient could be of significant risk to their own health, safety and welfare, or to the safety of others. The patient can appeal the granting of an STDC to the independent Mental Health Tribunal. A longer term order can only be granted by the Tribunal, and the application must have the support of two doctors who agree that the criteria for the order are met.

Secondly, treatment under the 2003 Act is governed by a range of safeguards. For certain treatments, including medication given for more than two months, a Designated Medical Practitioner, an experienced psychiatrist appointed by the Mental Welfare Commission, must agree to the treatment.

In addition to this, the 2003 Act is based in rights and principles and contains tools to support patients in expressing their will and preferences. The principles 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 and of any carer. Under the 2003 Act, any service user has the right to support from an independent advocate, the right to appoint a named person to represent their interests and the right to make an advance statement setting out how what treatment they would and would not like to receive when unwell

Information on cancer survival at one and five years after diagnosis in Scotland for children, teenagers and young adults who were diagnosed with cancer between 2007 and 2011 has been placed with the Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 58278).

Scottish Government investment in cancer research is primarily through the Chief Scientist Office (CSO). CSO supports cancer research through a number of mechanisms. These are:

• Over £40 million annually in the NHS to meet the additional costs of hosting research. Of this around £10 million per annum supporting the cost of cancer research (including research into rare tumours) carried out in the NHS. This figure is not routinely broken down into tumour type.

• CSO invests £350,000 per annum in the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres Network (in collaboration with a number of other funders) to assist in delivery of early phase cancer studies. This figure is not broken down into tumour type

• CSO also invests £438,000 annually in the Scottish Cancer Research Network to increase and sustain clinical trial activity in cancer care. This figure is not broken down into tumor type

• Funding of cancer research studies submitted to the Chief Scientist Office research committees. Applications generated by the research community are assessed based on scientific excellence. The funding level is subject to quality of applications submitted.

An analysis of currently active studies funded though the CSO committees shows that the following amounts have been committed for projects specifically aimed at rare cancers. The definition of rare is a tumour not included in the 10 most common cancers listed by incidence in the ISD report Cancer Incidence in Scotland (2014) published on May 17 2016.

Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma £226,312

Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma £194,556

Oesophagogastric Carcinoma £143,624

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia £176,624

Glioblastoma £174,582

Further indirect support is provided through an annual contribution (currently around £10 million) from CSO to the major National Institute for Health Research programmes that cover a broad range of health research including cancer research across the UK