- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 4 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have been referred to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS); what proportion of patients have waited more than a year on CAMHS waiting lists; what proportion of patients have started treatment within 10 weeks of referral, and how many CAMHS specialists have been available, in each NHS board in each of the last three years.
Answer
CAMHS Referrals
Information on patients referred to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) is as follows. The data is not currently available for quarter October 2023 – December 2023. As such the following figures for 2023 only cover January – September. Information for quarter October – December 2023 is expected to be published on 5 March 2024.
| | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 (Jan - Sep) |
NHS Ayrshire & Arran | 2131 | 2620 | 2241 |
NHS Borders | 696 | 860 | 639 |
NHS Dumfries & Galloway | 1261 | 1591 | 1185 |
NHS Fife | 3178 | 2910 | 2188 |
NHS Forth Valley | 1649 | 1453 | 1509 |
NHS Grampian | 3738 | 3738 | 2746 |
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde | 8299 | 8906 | 6390 |
NHS Highland | 1838 | 1678 | 1203 |
NHS Lanarkshire | 3826 | 3575 | 2517 |
NHS Lothian | 6989 | 7880 | 5636 |
NHS Orkney | 16 | 114 | 122 |
NHS Shetland | 134 | 152 | 95 |
NHS Tayside | 2076 | 2404 | 1719 |
NHS Western Isles | 164 | 158 | 95 |
One-Year Waiting Lists
We have seen transformational improvements in CAMHS waiting lists in the last year, and this has continued during the latest quarter. Children waiting over 52 weeks has decreased by 88% since end September 2022 – a reduction of 1,105 (down from 1,252 to 147).
Waiting list data for CAMHS is taken at the end of each month, and only contains data of the number of patients waiting within specific wait bands at that point. As such it is not possible to identify individual patients journey within the present Public Health Scotland publication PHS CAMHS Waiting Times . This publication provides data on waiting lists at the end of each month and for each health board.
Treatment Within 10-weeks of Referral
Patients starting treatment are divided into 4 wait bands 0-18 weeks, 19-35 weeks, 36-52 weeks and 53 weeks plus. Information therefore on patients starting treatment within 10 weeks is not available. Boards continue to respond to high demand for CAMHS, with statistics showing that 1 in 2 people referred to CAMHS start treatment within 10 weeks. Further data information on CAMHS patients starting treatment is publicly available via Public Health Scotland: PHS CAMHS Waiting Times .
CAMHS Specialists in Each Board
Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) workforce data is publicly available in NHS Education for Scotland (NES) Turas Data Intelligence at: NHS Scotland Workforce Data . This provides data on staff joining and leaving rates by Health Board.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 4 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many instances of long child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) waiting times have been raised by the public with (a) each NHS board and (b) the Scottish Government, in each of the last three years.
Answer
Information on enquiries to Boards about CAMHS is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Each NHS Board in Scotland has their own system in place for managing complaints raised by the public.
The Scottish Government records and processes enquiries and correspondence addressed to Scottish Ministers on its Ministerial and Corporate Correspondence (MiCase) System and any correspondence related to CAMHS is answered via this system. Over the last 3 years, 27 cases specifically mentioned CAMHS waiting times.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 4 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has been advised by NHS Tayside that child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) waiting times are expected to worsen.
Answer
Scottish Government Ministers and officials are aware of the current challenges faced by NHS Tayside in meeting waiting time standards set out for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).
NHS Tayside are receiving additional support which includes providing access to professional specialist advice, making sure that they have robust improvement plans place and are continually monitoring their implementation. Regular and structured engagement with NHS Tayside at both Ministerial and official level is continuing. This is in addition to requesting formal quarterly written updates.
In addition all Boards have been asked to submit trajectories setting out a timeline for clearing long waits. These will be updated annually and used to inform further targeted improvement work to ensure all Boards meet CAMHS waiting times standards.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 4 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) staff have (a) been recruited and (b) left the health service, in each NHS board in each of the last three years.
Answer
Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) workforce data is publicly available in NHS Education for Scotland (NES) Turas Data Intelligence at: NHS Scotland Workforce Data .
This also provides data on staff joining and leaving rates by each Health Board.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 7 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of assaults by pupils in schools.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 7 March 2024
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 28 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the proposed introduction of a similar ban in Scotland, what meetings (a) it has and (b) its agencies have had with (i) the French government and (ii) other relevant stakeholders in France regarding banning the disposal of unsold goods.
Answer
Neither the Scottish Government nor its agencies have had meetings with the French government or other relevant stakeholders in France regarding banning the disposal of unsold goods. Officials have, however, met a representative of the Ellen McArthur Foundation to provide insight into the operation of the ban in France.
We intend to engage with a wide range of stakeholders in developing any regulations.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 27 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it currently supports to provide those in the heritage restoration sector with opportunities to develop expertise and skills in climate resilience.
Answer
One of the key priorities identified in Our Past, Our Future, Scotland’s revised historic environment strategy which was commissioned by Scottish Ministers, is “Delivering the transition to net zero.” Actions identified to deliver this priority include improving the delivery of heritage skills training by revising and expanding the Skills Investment Plan for Scotland’s historic environment to identify the opportunities and actions needed to create a sustainable skills ecosystem. And also improving and enhancing the research and development infrastructure for heritage in Scotland by creating new national centres for skills and innovation.
The Scottish Government delivers support for the historic environment through its sponsorship of Historic Environment Scotland. Historic Environment Scotland, along with key partners, have consulted with 340 individuals and 160 organisations as part of the refresh of the Skills Investment Plan which is due to be published in April this year. As part of this refresh, a net zero roundtable was held on the 26 October 2023 to specifically look at the priority actions needed to support a skilled workforce to deliver the transition to net zero.
On behalf of the Scottish Government, Skills Development Scotland published a new report which has assessed the known investment, the skills demand now and in the future, and current training and learning support for green skills in Scotland. This report is available at https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/news-events/2023/november/90-billion-of-investment-in-green-industries-signals-need-for-net-zero-skills .
We are also continuing to effectively integrate sustainability and green skills into apprenticeships in Scotland to ensure the system remains flexible and relevant as we transition to net zero.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 22 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the contribution of the nuclear industry to Scotland's economy.
Answer
Independent analysis procured by the Scottish Government for the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan estimated that in 2021 there were 5,338 jobs (direct and indirect) and £918m GVA (direct and indirect) in the nuclear power electricity generation and decommission sectors. While Hunterston B power station has been retired (as of 7 January 2022), decommissioning jobs are assumed to remain at the level of power generation jobs within the initial six years of the decommissioning phase of de-fuelling.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 22 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Review of the 2019 Food Waste Reduction Action Plan, whether it will provide an update on what its position is regarding the feasibility of its target of reducing food waste by 33% by 2025.
Answer
As noted in the recently published Draft Circular Economy and Waste Route Map , Scotland is highly unlikely to meet its target to reduce food waste by 33% by 2025. To accelerate our rate of progress, the Scottish Government has committed to reset its approach to tackle food waste, and is engaging with key partners across the food and drink sector to identify effective food waste reduction actions.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 22 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the most recent list, broken down by local authority, of projects funded, or confirmed to be funded if not already begun, through the Recycling Improvement Fund.
Answer
To date, 37 projects from 25 local authorities have been approved for funding through the Recycling Improvement Fund (RIF) and the Fund’s Small Grant Scheme.
A list of local authorities and projects approved through the RIF is available on the Zero Waste Scotland website: www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/resources/recycling-improvement-fund .
A list of local authorities and projects who have been approved for funding through the RIF Small Grant Scheme is available on the Zero Waste Scotland website: www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/resources/recycling-improvement-fund-small-grant-scheme .
Zero Waste Scotland is in regular contact with local authorities to support new applications.
