Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government did not submit a response to the Department of Health’s consultation on its proposals to transfer functions from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) to the Care Quality Commission. The Scottish Transplant Group, which advises ministers on matters relating to organ donation and transplantation in Scotland submitted a response on the HTA aspects of the consultation. The Westminster Government response to the consultation (which includes all stakeholder responses) can be found at the link below:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2013/01/response-hfea-hta

The Scottish Government does not make a financial contribution or provide personnel support to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority but does have a formal contract with the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) in relation to the functions it undertakes in Scotland. In 2012-13 the charge for this was £38,826. No personnel support is given to this organisation.

The Scottish Government will set out its proposals for an independent Scotland in a comprehensive white paper in the run up to the referendum.

The Scottish Government does not hold contracts with the pharmaceutical industry for the annual seasonal flu vaccine. This is carried out by community pharmacists on behalf of General Practitioners. National Procurement Division of NHS National Services Scotland leads on the annual process of tendering and procurement for the Scottish Government national contingency stock of influenza vaccine which is reserved for use where vaccination uptake is higher than expected and additional vaccine is required to ensure those in at-risk groups can receive the vaccine.

The Scottish Government has priority access to a novel vaccine in the event of a pandemic via a contract signed by the Department of Health on behalf of the four UK administrations. This contract reserves capacity for the production and supply of pandemic vaccine.

In compliance with the International Health Regulations (IHR), Health Protection Scotland (HPS) undertakes surveillance to monitor the emergence of new viruses and variations and either provides or receives alerts from the Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) via the Health Protection Agency, the competent body for the UK, as part of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control network of national/regional institutes.

The EWRS is a health professional network to promote cooperation and coordination between the EU Member States, with a view to improving the prevention and control of communicable diseases. Where an incident or outbreak of infectious disease has been identified which has capacity for spreading to other member states, HPS will provide an assessment and if it considers necessary, will issue a HPS Briefing Note to Health Protection Teams in local NHS boards and GPs to provide background to the case and recommendations for action. HPS work closely with Scottish Government to ensure they are fully informed and ministers are aware.

Health boards have local health protection plans in place to activate their response where a public health incident or outbreak occurs.

In addition, all Scottish Virology laboratories are part of a UK Clinical Virology Network which share information and where appropriate laboratory re-agents to allow testing capabilities for novel viruses or variations. Such contingency arrangements allowed the rapid roll-out of testing for the novel coronavirus in Scotland following the development of a new laboratory test by colleagues in the Respiratory Virus team in the Health Protection Agency (Colindale).

Awareness of all the risks of antenatal smoking, including the increased risk of stillbirth, is taught as part of midwifery and medical education curricula. All women are counselled of the risks of antenatal smoking at booking and throughout the pregnancy if they continue to smoke and are offered help with smoking cessation.

All health professionals have a responsibility to take a person-centred approach to improving the health of the people they care for and primary care settings are particularly well placed to engage with smokers. The guidance makes clear that GPs should be aware of all referral options to specialist smoking cessation services as well as how to provide advice to smokers through brief interventions. Helping smokers to quit is part of the primary care remit and payments are currently made to GP practices for recording smoking status and appropriate onward referral under the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF).

The Scottish Patient Safety Programme - Maternity Care Quality Improvement Collaborative will include smoking cessation as one of its two main aspects of care. The programme will focus on improving the numbers of women who are referred to smoking cessation services and improvements in the clinical management of risks for those women and their babies who are unable or unwilling to stop smoking.

National care pathways indicate that midwives should assess fetal growth at each scheduled antenatal visit from 28 weeks of pregnancy. If concerns were detected regarding growth at the time of the anomaly ultrasound scan, at between 18 and 20 weeks of pregnancy, there would be a follow up, however the reasons for a small baby at this point are usually chromosomal or other abnormalities and this is not a time that “growth” per se is monitored. Normally formed babies are about the same size at 20 weeks.

Where a midwife has a concern related to fetal growth, she/he would refer the woman for ultrasound examination and obstetric review as required. Scans for growth would not be commenced until 28 weeks routinely or at 24 weeks if there had been a previous problem with severe growth restriction or another significant medical risk factor.

Women who are known to be at risk of fetal growth restriction will have additional monitoring including additional ultrasound scans during pregnancy.

Scotland’s take home naloxone programme is supported by the collection and reporting of national monitoring information, which is led by the Information Services Division (ISD) of NHS National Services Scotland.

2011-12 was the first full year of the rollout of the programme. The programme’s baseline measure and the number of take home naloxone kits issued through the programme was published by ISD Scotland in July 2012: http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/publications/abstracts/naloxone_programme_2011_12.html. The next release of monitoring information for 2012-13 will be published by ISD in summer 2013.

The Scottish Government works closely with an expert advisory group which provides advice and guidance on the rollout of the programme across Scotland, including on monitoring and evaluation. The advisory group continues to review the delivery of the programme so that it can be continually developed and targeted. As the academic evidence base around take home naloxone grows, it is expected that this will inform the delivery of Scotland’s national programme. A copy of the research study by Phillip Coffin and Sean Sullivan published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (January 2013) will be shared with members of the expert advisory group for their consideration.

A financial memorandum is being developed to accompany the Children and Young People Bill. This will detail the estimated costs and savings associated with each of the Bill provisions.

It is being developed in collaboration with stakeholders, including COSLA and will be introduced to Parliament along with the Bill this year.

The Chief Veterinary Officer Sheila Voas is a member of the Human Animal Infections and Risk Surveillance group and attends meetings.

The Scottish Government does not make any direct financial contribution to this group. However some costs are incurred for travel and subsistence as the meetings are generally held in London.

In an independent Scotland it would be sensible to continue participation in the group, if invited. It is a useful forum to identify and assess infectious incidents in animals and humans globally, which have potential for interspecies transfer and may pose a threat to UK public and animal health.

In addition, Health Protection Scotland is also represented on the group in relation to issues which impact on human health from animal infection and associated disease.

Current diagnostic waiting time standards provide an indication of the maximum time that patients referred for investigations can expect to wait. Urgency of referrals is judged by the referrer. Referrals for diagnostic tests are prioritised according to clinical need and irrespective of the source of referral.