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In order to support the delivery of healthcare and forensic medical services to people in police care there is a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Police Scotland and NHS Boards. The MoU clearly sets out roles and responsibilities with regards to service delivery. Across Scotland, there are a range of service delivery models in place to provide healthcare in police custody. Regardless of the service model, individuals in police custody should receive the same level of access to healthcare services and the quality of service provided should be the same in each NHS Board.

The National Nurse Advisor of the National Prisoner Healthcare Network is liaising with the Scottish Executive Nurse Directors (SEND) to respond to, and address, the matters raised in the Royal College of Nursing Scotland report.

In addition, the National Prisoner Healthcare Network is supporting improvements in healthcare for all prisoners to reduce health inequalities, as well as reduce reoffending. This includes work on through care, substance misuse, health improvement, palliative care and care for prisoners with dementia.

The report has also been viewed by NHS board Prison board Operational Leads and they now aim to consider local responses to the matters identified.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) does not test for New Psychoactive Substances (NPS). There are significant challenges around the detection and identification of NPS compounds and the availability of up-to-date testing kits due to the variants of such substances constantly changing.

SPS has adopted a therapeutic approach, alongside professional case management and the utilisation of existing drug testing powers to manage this evolving issue.

The National Nurse Advisor of the National Prisoner Healthcare Network will be liaising with the Scottish Executive Nurse Directors (SEND) Group in early 2017 to consider how best to respond to, and address, the matters raised in the Royal College of Nursing Scotland Review of the Transfer of Prison Health Care from the Scottish Prison Service to NHS Scotland. The report has also been viewed by NHS board Prison board Operational Leads and they now aim to consider local responses to the matters identified.

Nursing staff working in the criminal justice system are NHS employees and as such benefit from a number of workforce approaches that support staff including the online toolkit for the Knowledge and Skills Framework (eksf) and iMatter which are both intended to provide staff with an opportunity to have their views heard and acted on with the aim of enhancing their skill set and their employment experience.

The Scottish Government intends to refresh its approach to Staff Governance Standard Monitoring to ensure that the process is adding value and driving improvement. We are currently working in Partnership to develop proposals to ensure that a mechanism is in place which remains fit for purpose and which provides meaningful and relevant information both nationally and locally.

In addition, the Chief Nursing Officer has launched an engagement process to develop a 2030 Nursing Vision; this is an opportunity for nurses in all settings to contribute to the discussion about what skills and experience they will need to progress their career through knowledge, education and practice.

There is evidence from a wide range of sources that the prevalence of mental health conditions is higher among people in prison compared to the general population, and that such issues are likely to contribute to the underlying causes of offending. The international evidence base on mental health and offending was recently reviewed as part of an evidence review published by Scottish Government. This is available on the Scottish Government website at: .

This information is not held centrally. The reconviction rate for people getting custodial sentences is routinely available from administrative data sources. Information on the mental health status of people in prison is held separately by health boards in a way which does not allow routine linkage to the reconviction data.

The provision of police IT systems is a matter for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority.

The provision of police IT systems is a matter for Police Scotland and the SPA. The Scottish Government does not hold the requested information.

The deployment of Police Officers is a matter for the Chief Constable.

The National Prisoner Healthcare Network is undertaking a range of activity in order to improve health outcomes for individuals in the custody of the Scottish Prison Service. This includes workstreams on female offenders, substance misuse, throughcare, alcohol and drugs and mental health. The workstream reports are available at the National Prisoner Healthcare Network website at: