Question reference: S6W-18365
- Date lodged: 25 May 2023
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Current status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 June 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many A&E departments there are; what percentage of those have dedicated mental health professionals, and how many (a) additional mental health professionals in A&E departments have been recruited under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 and (b) mental health professionals in total are based in A&E departments, as of 1 May 2023.
Answer
The A&E departments across NHS Scotland currently include:
- 30 large consultant-led Emergency Departments; and
- 60 minor injuries units and community units.
At the end of the Action 15 commitment of the Scottish Government’s Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027, an additional 179.2 whole-time equivalent mental health professionals were recruited to A&E settings.
The Scottish Government does not currently collect the requested data on the total number of mental health professionals based in A&E departments. While data regarding the number of staff in post is available for specific mental health professional groups in NHS Scotland, this cannot be broken down by settings such as A&E.