Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government does not currently have any plans to update the research carried out in the 2018 Health and Homelessness in Scotland report.

The Scottish Government does not collect data regarding the use of health services by people experiencing homelessness.

An Equality Impact Assessment for the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 was published on 30 March 2017. Following feedback from stakeholders we agreed to publish a refreshed Equality Impact Assessment and this will be published in the Summer.

The number of school nurses employed by NHSScotland over the last four years by Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) and headcount is shown in Table 1. As pre-2015 data is not comparable with recent ISD data, this information is not provided for 2014.

NHSScotland workforce statistics

Table 1 - Nursing and midwifery (qualified and support) staff by specialty

This information is not centrally available.

The national waiting times data mart does hold patient data at specialty level that shows how long patients waited for their appointment and how long patients who are still waiting for their appointment have waited to date. ISD can only determine the waiting times up to the quarter ending 31 December 2018 (the most recently published data) at specialty level within an NHS Board.

Data is not however held at procedure level.

Table 1 provides the median wait (days) for inpatients and day cases who were under the age of 16 years and had received their treatment (completed waits). The specialties included are oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral surgery, orthodontics, paediatric dentistry, community dentistry and restorative dentistry.

Table 1: Median wait (days) for inpatients and day cases who are under the age of 16 years for dental specialties (completed waits) for quarter ending 31 December 2018

NHS staff, maternity and neonatal service users, the NHS, the Royal College of Midwives, the National Childbirth Trust and Bliss, along with others, were instrumental in shaping the five-year plan for maternity and neonatal care. It was as a result of their expert advice that a phased approach is being taken. The initial budget of £12 million is only intended to support the initial phase and we are looking at future funding, recognising that roll out will take several years.

We expect individual Health Boards to meet their responsibility to determine equipment and training needs for their staff. No staff should be financially disadvantaged by moving to the new model of care and we expect all Health Boards to be guided by existing national policy on pay and conditions.

My officials are scoping a pilot project that will offer recently retired professionals the opportunity to work with inexperienced and newly qualified staff to help build confidence and provide support. The project is in the early stages, and will include midwives as the work develops.

Staff carrying out this procedure are likely to be categorised within one of the three groups below, for which WTE numbers of staff in post across NHS Scotland are given:

• Anaesthetics Consultants: 765.8 WTE as at December 2018.
• Oral Surgery: 108.1 WTE as at December 2018.
• Paediatric Dentistry: 27.6 WTE as at December 2018.

However, data published by ISD Scotland does not provide details of what an individual’s role entails within these groups.

It is the responsibility of NHS Boards to have the correct theatre capacity in place to meet local priorities and ensure high quality patient care.

The Scottish Government does not collect data at a national level specifically in relation to looked after children's mental health and wellbeing.

The Guidance on Health Assessments for Looked After Children and Young People in Scotland, published in May 2014, was developed to assist those involved in carrying out health assessments of our looked after children and young people by setting out the minimum standardised elements of a health care pathway which Health Boards are expected to implement in collaboration with local authorities and other organisations. Information gathered from health assessments of looked after children and young people is therefore kept at a local level by regional health boards.

The Guidance on Health Assessments for Looked After Children and Young People in Scotland, published in May 2014, details the minimum standardised elements which regional NHS Boards should record as part of the healthcare pathway for a looked after child. It provides a template for the health assessment itself, including details of the specific core data in relation areas such as mental health, which should be recorded. The template is available to view on the Scottish Government website ( Guidance on Health Assessments for Looked After Children in Scotland , Annex A, p35): https://www.gov.scot/publications/guidance-health-assessments-looked-children-scotland/ .

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling gender inequality in all areas of Scottish life and has continued to invest in women’s health including work on decreasing stillbirth rates, neonatal care and the establishment of endometriosis centres.

The First Minister's National Advisory Council on Women and Girls (the Advisory Council) was formed to address gender inequality and published their first report in January 2019. As part of recent digital engagement a Spotlight on Women and Girl's Health was undertaken, inviting feedback on health related questions. This feedback is currently being analysed and a summary is expected to be published on the Advisory Council's website in June. The responses will provide awareness of current issues and help to inform future reports to the First Minister.

At that point, consideration will be given on how to coordinate activity further on this issue.