Seòmar agus comataidhean

Published information on Lyme disease for medical practitioners can be found at: http://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/education-and-training/by-theme-initiative/public-health/health-protection/gastrointestinal-infection-and-zoonoses/lyme-disease.aspx

and for the public at:

https://www.nhsinform.scot/bugs-and-germs

I have asked Caroline Lamb, Chief Executive Officer of NHS Education for Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) has a key role in co-ordinating recruitment to and overseeing the quality of postgraduate Medical training for both GPs and hospital specialists. The training curricula are written by Medical Royal Colleges and approved by the General Medical Council – who will consider advice from a wide range of stakeholders – including NES. These curricula are subject to regular review and updating, and the training is delivered by territorial NHS Boards in clinical placement settings, also approved by the GMC.

Beyond that quality management role, NES is involved in delivering and commissioning on-going continuous professional development in training and education in a number of areas for a range of staff groups.All qualified healthcare practitioners have a professional obligation to undertake continuous professional development to meet identified learning and professional development needs, and the Medical Royal Colleges and NHS Education for Scotland provide a selection of courses and learning resources to support their further development.

ME/CFS is one of many health conditions that involves both physical and psychological aspects. There is good evidence that using a ‘bio psychosocial’ model to both understand and treat all health conditions, irrespective of cause, is highly beneficial in both improving psychological and physical health outcomes and enabling health professionals to deliver holistic care without perpetuating a mind/body dualism. To that end, NES has been involved with stakeholders to develop a range of interventions for staff working with children and adults with a range of health conditions including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis and ME/CFS.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with sport scotland and Scottish Golf to widen participation and to promote golf to young people across Scotland. That is why we are supporting major events such as the Solheim Cup in 2019 which will provide opportunities for a new generation of young people and, in particular, girls to take up golf and get involved in sport more generally.

sport scotland’s continued investment of Scottish Golf supports a wide range of activity that encourages and supports young people to participate in golf, including both club and coach development. Investment also includes specific conditions to expand reach to the inactive and underrepresented in golf, including women and girls, as well as to tackle inequality and discrimination.

This is an operational matter for Police Scotland.

The Government has no plans to review drainage charges. All businesses, including nursery schools, are required to pay water, sewerage and drainage charges where they are connected to public services. Where a nursery school is a charity, it can seek exemption or a reduction in charges where its income is less than £300,000 per year.

The current licence fee is £2,101 (following 1 April RPI increase). The fee is on a cost recovery basis which covers cost of licence determination and any required compliance visits.

FreeStyle Libre flash glucose monitoring sensors were added to the Scottish Drug Tariff in November 2017. It is for NHS Boards to consider their inclusion on local prescribing formularies. These decisions will be informed by evidence of clinical and cost effectiveness, local needs, pressures and resources including funding. In 2018-19, frontline NHS Boards are receiving additional funding of £354 million - a 3.7% increase.

Information on the number of Freestyle Libre devices is not held centrally.

SEPA has offered advice and provided a checklist to assist operators in carrying out a compliance assessment. Until such times as this process is carried out SEPA will not have an indication of the number of licences required.

Those sites which are compliant with the general binding rules (GBRs) will incur no cost. Those which are not compliant with GBRs will initially be subject to the licence application cost. Any further cost will be dependent on the level of improvement required in the Asset Improvement Plan, as agreed between SEPA and the operator.

Following discussion, on 8 March, with sector representatives which included FPS, there was agreement that there would be a relaxation on the date for the submission of Asset Improvement Plans from the previously stated 9 months to 12 months from the date of issue of the licence. Within the licence a mutual timescale for the actual improvements to be carried out will be agreed between SEPA and the operator.

This SEPA study was published as evidence in the Public Petitions Committee Report of case PE1522.  http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01522

A market place impact assessment of the licences was not carried out. SEPA has, however, engaged with the sector on the proposed approach to determining whether sites will require a licence.