Clare Haughey: I thank Brian Whittle for his questions; I will try to answer each of them in turn. We recognise that it might be a difficult time for some pupils who are going back to school, but we also recognise that being at school actually helps some children, in terms of their mental health and socialisation, and provides them with support that they might not have if schools were not open. However, I...
Clare Haughey: I think that Mary Fee has perhaps misunderstood some of the contents of the plan, which is about things going forward. Mental health services have continued during the Covid pandemic, albeit that some of them—group therapy, for example—have had to stop. Because of the Covid restrictions, a number of people could not physically be in a room; that simply would not have been safe. However,...
Clare Haughey: We have been responding to mental health needs, and we will continue to respond to them throughout Scotland.
Clare Haughey: We have worked closely with partners across health and social care, including NHS boards, health and social care partnerships and local employers, to ensure that a range of mental health and wellbeing support is in place for our amazing workforce. During the pandemic, a wide range of measures to protect staff wellbeing has been put in place at the local level. Sometimes those measures have...
Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government provides funding to the national rural mental health forum for work to improve mental health and wellbeing in areas of rurality. In our transition and recovery plan, we have committed to work in partnership with the national rural mental health forum to develop an approach to ensure that rural communities have equal and timely access to mental health support services....
Clare Haughey: If Pauline McNeill wants to write to me with the details of that specific case, I would certainly be happy to look at it. The community mental health and wellbeing centres, which we are developing in conjunction with our local authority colleagues, are for people in the five to 24 age range. Some of the centres will be in place before the end of the financial year. I am certainly happy to get...
Clare Haughey: The community wellbeing services will support children and young people to access support for their mental health and emotional wellbeing in their communities. We have allocated £2 million to local authorities towards the development of community mental health services for children and young people, and we are allocating a further £3.75 million in this year’s budget specifically to fund...
Clare Haughey: Alison Johnstone speaks of the care home workforce as highly skilled people who provide care to some of our most vulnerable residents, which is what we all feel about them . As I mentioned in a previous answer, we set up the staff wellbeing hub, which we have now expanded so that it is available not only to NHS staff but to care home staff. We did so in recognition of the difficult situation...
Clare Haughey: I will take the point on suicide statistics first. My understanding is that the statistics will be published in November this year; they have been delayed because of the Covid pandemic. With ISD Scotland, we are looking at how we can get more real-time statistics on suicide and self-harm, so that we can work with the national suicide prevention leadership group to target interventions more...
Clare Haughey: I thank George Adam for raising that important issue. We understand that older people are more likely to experience circumstances that contribute to poorer mental health, such as poverty, isolation, loneliness and poor physical health. The wider impacts of Covid-19 might exacerbate those circumstances further. That is why we have set out key actions in the document to support the mental...
Clare Haughey: I am really pleased that Annie Wells has asked that question, because that issue has not been raised yet in questions from members, although I spoke of it in my statement. In the transition and recovery plan, we have committed to establishing an equality forum to help us identify the specific actions that we should take to address mental health inequality on an individual and a structural...
Clare Haughey: I add my thanks to members across the chamber for their contributions to this extremely important debate. I also thank those who have been in touch with us ahead of today. That includes Inclusion Scotland, Engender and Close the Gap, but, most importantly, it includes the families and friends of loved ones who have shared their experiences with me, as a Scottish minister and as a constituency...
Clare Haughey: Of course, we will continue to work with all partners who provide care across the country. Mr Whittle needs to remember that the virus emerged in January this year, and none of us could have predicted what would happen in the months following that. We will continue to work with care home providers, but it must be remembered that we cannot instruct them in the way that some people seem to...
Clare Haughey: Jackie Baillie may well be aware of the guidance that the cabinet secretary issued on 4 September, which recognises that the needs of older adults in care homes are different from the needs of younger adults who are living in care, and which allows for the safe reopening of communal activities and areas and for community and social outings.
Clare Haughey: I could not connect to the voting platform. I would have voted in favour of the motion.
Clare Haughey: My vote was not recorded because I could not get on to the platform, but I would have voted yes.
Clare Haughey: I want to correct Annie Wells. She said that the Scottish Government will consider the recommendations, but we have said that we will implement them, and we will accept Jackson Carlaw’s amendment to the Government’s motion. I am sure that she will welcome that. In the spirit of cross-party working, will she work with her colleagues in Westminster and ask the UK Government to also accept...
Clare Haughey: I thank all members who have contributed to the debate. I extend my thanks to Baroness Cumberlege and her review team, and to those who contributed to the report’s findings. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport and I were grateful to meet the baroness and her team yesterday. She spoke of the courage, determination and strength that was shown by those who came forward to tell their...
Clare Haughey: The independent case review will look at that, among other issues. We note members’ concerns about women who want, because they lack trust in services, to seek treatment elsewhere. It is vital that every time a patient accesses any part of the healthcare system, that person can have confidence that they will receive the best available treatment, without fear of harm. For that reason, we are...
Clare Haughey: On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I was not able to vote either.