Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-11342 on 5 October 2017. 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 has committed to providing access to free sanitary products to students in schools, colleges and universities. The funding that will be provided will depend on the delivery options selected, as will timescales. We have committed to working with COSLA and other partners such as Universities Scotland and Colleges Scotland to consider options for delivery to ensure we provide access to sanitary protection in the most effective way we can. Information gathering from colleges and universities is underway and officials are in contact with stakeholders to explore delivery options and timescales for implementation. I will also meet with key stakeholders to take forward discussions on delivery in the near future and to ensure we move as quickly as possible, working in partnership with stakeholders to implement this commitment. I will be happy to provide Parliament with a timetable and further detail when our work has been developed and agreed with our partners.

Scotland’s Baby Box is a universal provision, and as such all women who are under maternity care in Scotland are entitled to a Box. We recognise, however, some vulnerable or hard to reach groups require additional support to access ante-natal services. The Scottish Government have therefore worked closely with Heads of Midwifery and with midwives on the frontline to ensure that the registration process is consistent and supportive - regardless of the mother’s circumstances. The process offers health professionals the opportunity to engage with parents at timely intervals throughout pregnancy. This is an important step in encouraging the small number of expectant mothers who do not currently register for ante-natal services to do so, and to receive appropriate support and health care for themselves and their baby.

This early engagement with ante-natal services allows vulnerable mothers to build a relationship with their primary midwife and provides continuity of care throughout their pregnancy journey.

Midwives also work closely with other statutory services, for example social work services, throughout the pregnancy journey, where a woman is classed as vulnerable.

We are also promoting the Baby Box through our Third Sector partners to ensure that as many of our vulnerable families are aware of the initiative, and provide support in gaining access to maternity services at a timely point in the pregnancy.

The delivery address to be altered at any time to accommodate the location of the mother prior to birth, this includes delivery to all types of temporary accommodation

Scotland’s Bay Box is a universal entitlement, and as such, no data on a mothers benefit entitlement will be collected.

We are commissioning qualitative research in order to in allow us to gather parents’ initial views on the items and information included in the box. This initial research aims to inform policy decisions on which items to include in the Baby Box going forward.

And, as we set out in our new Programme for Government, we will introduce a scheme to fund access to free sanitary products in schools, colleges and universities and consider action to support those on low incomes, but not in education, in light of the findings of the current pilot scheme in Aberdeen.

Parents receive notification of the delivery date for their Box a week before delivery is due.

If our delivery partners are unable to make delivery, a card will be left to give notice of the attempted delivery and give options to rearrange delivery. If no redelivery is arranged after two weeks the Baby Box will be returned to the APS warehouse

Three attempts to contact the parent and rearrange delivery are made. Where they are unable to contact the parent after 3 attempts, parents are asked to contact the Freephone helpline.

Two weeks thereafter delivery is cancelled. However, should parents contact us after this point a box will be despatched. Crucially, no eligible parent misses out.

The information requested is not held centrally by ISD as there is no ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision) code suitable to identify the diagnosis of lipoedema in the data supplied by NHS Boards.

The malware incident that affected NHS Lanarkshire on 25 August 2017 has been identified as a new variant of Bitpaymer ransomware. This malware incident is considered a zero day attack in that the new variant was released on the same day the actual attack takes place so no anti-virus software is available to protect against the attack.

In this financial year NHS Lanarkshire is projected to spend over £29.45 million on IT ( which includes security and resource investment).

Locally NHS Lanarkshire have invested themselves in a range of prioritised, mitigating IT security controls, such as better rollout of patches and anti-virus software which they have put in place and further actions are now being developed , such as replacing firewalls, which will increase the robustness of NHS Lanarkshire cyber security.

In additional NHS Lanarkshire has increased the number of skilled cyber security and IT resources by 8, including 3 additional security skilled staff.

As there is no ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision) code suitable to identify the diagnosis of lipoedema in the data supplied by NHS Boards, specific treatments cannot be linked to this diagnosis.

However, lipoedema is frequently treated with liposuction and brachioplasty procedures and it is possible to provide the total number of these procedures done for all conditions combined. Tables 1 and 2 show the number of liposuction and brachioplasty procedures that have been carried out by financial year, from 2006-07 to 2016-17. It is, however, important to note that it is not possible to identify which of these procedures were carried out to treat lipoedema.

Table 1. Number of liposuction procedures^1,2; by NHS Board; 2006-7 to 2016-17^p

Source: ISD Scotland SMR01 dataset as at 13th August 2017

Ref: IR2017-01400

^p- provisional

* Indicates values that have been suppressed due to the potential risk of disclosure and to help maintain patient confidentiality.

- Denotes zero

1. The data relates to the following OPCS Classification of Surgical Operations and Procedures (4th revision) (OPCS-4) code:

S622 – Liposuction of subcutaneous tissue, not elsewhere classified

2. Any liposuction procedures that were carried out as part of another procedure have been excluded.

3. Since March 2008, the Golden Jubilee National Hospital (National Waiting Times Centre) moved to provide specialist services resulting in a case-mix of patients that differ substantially from the majority of other hospitals in Scotland.

Table 2. Number of brachioplasty procedures^1,2; Scotland; 2006-7 to 2016-17^p

Source: ISD Scotland SMR01 dataset as at 13th August 2017

Ref: IR2017-01400

^p- provisional

1. The data relates to the following OPCS Classification of Surgical Operations and Procedures (4th revision) (OPCS-4) code:

S033 – Excision of redundant skin or fat of arm

2. Any brachioplasty procedures that were carried out as part of another procedure have been excluded.

The malware incident that affected NHS Lanarkshire on 25 August 2017 has been identified as a new variant of Bitpaymer ransomware. This malware incident is considered a zero day attack in that the new variant was released on the same day the actual attack takes place so no anti-virus software is available to protect against the attack.