Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35275 on 3 March 2021. 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

Physiotherapists are one of the Allied Health Professions (AHPs) and are represented by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists - they must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) before being allowed to practice in Scotland. The Society is also a member of the Allied Health Profession Federation Scotland (AHPFS).

Physiotherapists are statutorily regulated healthcare professionals, and have legally been able to operate throughout the pandemic.

On 22 July 2020 we wrote to the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists (CSP) via the AHPFS advising them that where they had not already done so, privately practising Physiotherapists were able to resume elective procedures, providing that they followed the relevant guidance as set out by Health Protection Scotland, the HCPC and the Scottish Government.

On 18 December we again wrote to the CSP via the AHPFS confirming that The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 as amended set out that where ‘other services or procedures’, including those provided by privately practising Allied Health Professionals, are ancillary to medical, health or social care services they may continue in Level 4 areas. At that time we advised that face to face services provided by privately practising Allied Health Professionals in Level 4 areas focus on essential or urgent treatment of clinically diagnosed conditions, where no provision of treatment would have a significant adverse impact on the wellbeing of the patient, in keeping with the spirit of the Strategic Framework and Regulations.

Massage therapists are not subject to statutory professional regulation, and are defined as ‘close contact services’ in the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 as amended. These regulations include provision related to premises which provide a close contact service and mobile close contact services. They set out that premises based close contact services, including massage therapies, are permitted in levels 0-3, and mobile close contact services, including massage therapies are permitted in levels 0-1.

Individuals with severe asthma will be prioritised for the vaccine under priority group 6. This includes: people with asthma who have required regular or repeated courses of oral prednisolone (3 prescriptions in the last 6 months or 168 tablets in last 6 months if on Chronic Medication Service); and Asthma patients with a recorded hospital admission because of asthma.

There is good evidence; most recently the ‘ Rapid evidence review: Childcare quality and children's outcomes' (NHS Health Scotland, 2017); to indicate that the best experiences for children tend to be found where there is a range of staff with complementary skills and higher level qualifications, including teachers with a background in early years methodology or staff with specific early childhood qualifications, such as a BA in Childhood Practice.

Scottish Government is committed to a highly skilled ELC workforce with a mix of professionals, and welcomed figures from the most recent Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland, published in December 2020, which showed that the number of graduates in the Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) workforce, including teachers, graduates and those working towards manager-level degrees, has grown 5% since 2019. This publication also showed that the number of graduates with degrees relevant to early years and the number of staff working towards these qualifications had increased by 7% and 8% respectively.

Scottish Government continues to encourage teachers to have a role in delivering learning in ELC. As a way of developing teachers’ expertise in early years, we continue to fund places for both teachers and holders of the BA Childhood Practice degree on Masters courses in early years education offered at the Universities of Strathclyde and Aberdeen. We have also worked with Education Scotland to offer a learning and development course specifically for school leadership teams, on how provision in ELC sets the foundations for future learning.

The Scottish Government funds a range of services for survivors of all types of childhood abuse, including sexual, and for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Our vision for mental health is of a Scotland where people can get the right help at the right time, expect recovery and fully enjoy their rights, free from discrimination and stigma.

The Scottish Government has a dedicated fund for non-statutory organisations who provide support to adult survivors of childhood abuse, the Survivors of Childhood Abuse Support (SOCAS) Fund. The SOCAS Fund is a £10m fund over four years with an estimated yearly spend of £2.5m. It launched in April 2020, with 29 organisations from across Scotland successfully securing funding for the duration of the Fund. It will run until the end of March 2024. The funded organisations support adult survivors of all forms of childhood abuse, physical, emotional and sexual abuse and neglect.

As well as providing funding to these organisations, one of the key aims of the SOCAS Fund is to build resilience and sustainability in the sector and encourage the sharing of best practice. To help achieve these aims the Fund has specialist fund managers to advise the individual organisations and to facilitate collaboration. The Scottish Government also works with an independent Advisory Panel, made up of people with lived and professional experience of child abuse, to help drive the direction of the fund.

The Scottish Government also funds Future Pathways, a service for adult survivors of childhood abuse experienced while living in care in Scotland. Future Pathways takes a person centred, outcomes based approach, looking at what is important to the individual and advising on and helping to coordinate the support they are looking for. The Scottish Government initially invested £13.5m in Future Pathways, to run from 2016 to 2021. In July 2020, the Minister for Mental Health announced up to a further £9 million investment to enable Future Pathways to provide vital support to survivors for a further two years, until March 2023.

Psychological Therapies and CAMHS services in Scotland provide therapies for trauma as needed for children, young people and adults based on individual treatment formulation and needs. These therapies and interventions last as long as is needed to help the individual. Treatment may include psychotherapy, trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR), group therapy; and antidepressants.

On the 2 February, the First Minister confirmed that the Scottish Government will introduce a routine testing programme for schools and childcare staff. This includes all Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) and School-aged Childcare staff (SAC) who work in a setting that is registered with the Care Inspectorate.

Phase one of the testing programme is being rolled out to all schools, ELC and SAC settings that are attached to school buildings, during week commencing 22 nd February. Phase two will see testing rolled out to all local authority and private, voluntary and independent led standalone settings which are not attached to schools.

We are currently gathering data for settings, in conjunction with local authority partners, to enable delivery of testing kits to settings included in phase two. We will confirm a delivery schedule for phase two, following this data collection.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of marriage and civil partnership to couples and to society more widely. Whilst our priority is public health, we know that the sector has been hit hard and we do not underestimate the crisis created by the pandemic.

The Scottish Government continues to listen to concerns from businesses as we explore how to continue to help during this unprecedented economic crisis.

The Scottish Government has no plans, at present, for a route map specific to the wedding sector. We understand that people want certainty: but nothing would undermine public confidence and trust more than setting arbitrary future dates for relaxation without having an objective basis to be confident we will be able to achieve them safely.

Officials recently met with representatives from the Scottish Wedding Industry Alliance to hear their concerns and we will consider next steps. I continue to engage with the sector and I am due to meet with them again soon. Informed by these discussions, we hope to offer greater certainty in the coming weeks around how and when restrictions affecting the range of business in the wedding sector will be eased, as the evidence allows

On 23 February, we published an update to our coronavirus strategic framework. The First Minister also confirmed to Parliament that we will set out more detail in mid-March any revision to the content of each protection level taking account of our experience and of sectoral views.

Baby sensory classes do not meet the definition of close contact services as stated in The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 and are therefore ineligible for support under this fund.

Baby sensory class practitioners may be eligible for support through the UK Government’s Self Employment Income Support Scheme which protects up to 80% of a self-employed person’s average monthly trading profits. The £120 million Local Authority Discretionary Fund provides another potential route to financial support, I would encourage those who run these classes to check their Local Authority website for eligibility.

Vaccine certification is not currently an alternative to managed isolation.

We are, however, contributing to the World Health Organisation Safer Vaccination Programme on vaccine certification. This includes consideration of technical details, ethical and equality issues, and privacy standards. The outcome of those discussions will guide our work in this area.

It is too soon to introduce any form of certification. We need to know more about the efficacy of the vaccines, their impact on transmission and the length of immunity before it would be safe to introduce a vaccine certificate. However work has started to scope and develop a technical solution to allow secure, authenticated access to Covid vaccination status. This is to ensure technology is not the limiting factor should the work underway indicate it would be appropriate to introduce certification at the right time.