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We are clear that any death related to substance use is a tragedy and we will continue to do all we can to prevent others from experiencing similar heartbreak.

Evidence supports the view that methadone remains a central component of the treatment for opiate dependency and is just one part of a package of care, treatment and recovery that can be offered to individuals to help them recover from drug addiction. Decisions on the type of treatment to prescribe are for clinicians to make, in discussion with their clients. That view was endorsed in a 2013 report to Scottish Government by an independent expert group on opioid replacement therapies, and is also in line with current UK guidelines.

It is also worth noting that there were only 4 deaths in 2016 where methadone was the only substance present. This highlights the issue of polydrug use which we know is a characteristic of some of Scotland’s problem drug users. We continue to work with our partners to address and better understand these issues.

Each drug related death is a tragedy for the individual, their family and the wider community. Unfortunately, there is a general trend of increasing drug related deaths across the UK and many parts of Europe. This is predominantly being driven by an older cohort of long term, vulnerable drug users who are experiencing multiple health problems.

We remain fully committed to tackling the damaging impact of drugs in Scotland. In response to the changing drug landscape and the rise of drug-related deaths, I recently committed to refreshing our drug strategy. This offers an opportunity to reinvigorate our approach, to respond to emerging challenges and to be more innovative in our response to the wider health and social problems individuals face.

Despite the rise of drug related deaths, the general level of drug use in Scotland is falling, drug taking levels among young people remains low and we’ve achieved significant reductions in treatment times for those needing help with drug problems.

The full summary of progress made by the Mental Health Strategy 2012-15 has now been published on the Scottish Government website at the following link:

The new Mental Health Strategy contains an initial set of 40 Actions. Each action is intended to tackle a specific issue and, in this way, the Strategy will make a positive and meaningful difference to people with mental health issues.

Action 39 of the Strategy commits to establishing a Bi-annual Forum of stakeholders to help track progress on the actions in this Strategy, and to help develop new actions in future years to help meet our ambitions. A key role of each Forum will be to receive reports illustrating progress towards achieving each Action.

I have committed to submit an annual progress report to Parliament, which will summarise this progress towards both individual Actions, and towards the implementation of the Strategy as a whole. We will submit the first annual report in Summer 2018, and see the work that will be undertaken at each Bi-annual Forum as crucial to developing and agreeing the content of each report.

Finally, Action 40 of the Strategy commits to carry out a full progress review in 2022, the halfway point of the Strategy, to ensure that lessons are learnt from actions to that point.

Action 15 in the Mental Health Strategy 2017-27 commits the Scottish Government to increase the workforce to give access to dedicated mental health professionals to all A&Es, all GP practices, every police station custody suite, and to our prisons. To deliver this commitment there will be an additional annual investment reaching £35 million in 2021-22 for 800 additional mental health workers in those key settings.

School nurses are valued members of the nursing workforce and the Scottish Government remains committed to their vital contribution to improving the health and wellbeing of children, young people and families.

NHS Dumfries & Galloway and NHS Tayside advised that those staff who left the school nursing service during the pilot phase did so through retirals and transfers to new positions in another area.

The pioneering school nursing pilots showed that a targeted school nursing role added value to the service through maximising their contribution and effectiveness, and by providing additional support to young people. This includes reviewing initial referrals and redirecting children to other agencies such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) if evidence of mental health concerns are identified. In addition, school nurses will work alongside mental health colleagues in CAMHS, Psychology, Education Psychology and other children's services if required.

The existing School Nurse Specialist Practitioner Education Programme is in the process of being revised by NHS Education for Scotland to ensure that future nurses in schools have the enhanced skills to deliver care to school aged children with complex needs. Funding is being provided to support the development of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for existing nurses working in schools, in areas such as mental health, should NHS Boards and Integrated Joint Boards (IJBs) require to upskill their workforce in light of the refocused role.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that no-one is inappropriately delayed in hospital and we continue to drive improvements through local Integration Authorities.

However, the long delays highlighted by the BBC are not awaiting mainstream care and accommodation, but are extremely complex cases with very specialist needs that require specialist facilities or specific, often new-built accommodation that takes a considerable time to design, commission and arrange. Furthermore, the vast majority of these patients are not delayed within acute settings, as reported by the BBC.

Officials are currently working with a collaboration of housing and care providers to test community living solutions for people with complex needs. Following a commitment in the Keys to Life Implementation Framework, a two year project is also underway to consider models of support for people with learning disabilities with complex needs who are currently living in out-of-area placements, or delayed in hospital.

In Scotland the number of people with a diagnosis of dementia - including Alzheimer’s disease - and the number of people dying of dementia has risen as our population ages, and the rates of diagnosis have improved partly due to a greater awareness of getting a timely diagnosis. The Scottish Government commissioned a report last year which assessed, for the first time, estimated and projected annual diagnosed incidence for dementia rising to 20,000 by 2020. Scotland is not alone in experiencing a considerable rise in dementia-related deaths in recent years. In addition, part of the increase is attributable to the introduction by The National Records of Scotland (NRS) of new software to code deaths and adoption of a more recent World Health Organisation (WHO) update to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). This has resulted in some deaths previously assigned to respiratory causes being allocated to dementia. This development brings Scotland into line with Official National Statistics (ONS), therefore making our mortality figures more comparable with those for England and Wales and further afield.

The Scottish Government published a third three year National Dementia Strategy in June, including an enhanced focus on palliative and end of life care. The strategy builds on our progress over the last ten years in transforming services and improving outcomes for people with dementia, their families and carers. It sets out
21 commitments and provides a framework for further action to ensure the realisation of our shared vision for people with dementia and their carers.

The Scottish Government provides funding to a wide range of organisations that provide support for male victims of sexual abuse, both in terms of specific services for victims of sexual abuse and more general victim support services.

Support for Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse

The provision of support services for survivors of childhood abuse is the responsibility of local Health and Social Care Partnerships. However, the Scottish Government works alongside statutory, voluntary and third sector organisations to build greater capacity and capability to address the needs of all survivors. The Scottish Government’s Survivor Support Innovation and Development Fund has made available £1,800,000 for 2017-18. This includes an award of £40,000 to Speak Out Scotland, a voluntary organisation that supports and assists in improving the lives and wellbeing of male survivors of childhood sexual assault. Through the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention Fund (CYPFEIF), the Scottish Government is providing £25,000 to the Moira Anderson Foundation in 2017-18 to support their work with victims of childhood sexual abuse.

Support for Victims of Rape and Sexual Abuse

The Scottish Government will provide funding of £1,204,000 to Rape Crisis Scotland in 2017-18, which is used to fund 14 local rape crisis centres, a Rape Crisis Helpline and to enable Rape Crisis Scotland to provide a strategic approach to tackling rape and sexual assault. Rape Crisis Scotland provides support services for people who have been raped or sexually abused, regardless of sex or gender – this breadth of service was reflected in their recent “I Just Froze Campaign”, funded by the Scottish Government, to increase public understanding of responses to rape.

Support for Victims of Sexual Exploitation

The CYPFEIF will provide £300,000 to Barnardo’s Scotland in 2017-18 to strengthen capacity to tackle child sexual exploitation in Scotland, including the exploitation of boys and young men. Funding supports awareness raising of child sexual exploitation in both schools and the community, direct support for children at risk of, or who have experienced, child sexual exploitation, as well as helping to progress a number of actions within the National Action Plan to Prevent and Tackle Child Sexual Exploitation.

The Scottish Government will also provide funding of £465,454 to Migrant Help in 2017-18. Migrant Help supports adults who have been trafficked for the purposes of any form of exploitation, including men who have been trafficked for sexual exploitation. The support package provided by Migrant Help includes access to safe accommodation and material assistance, as well as help to access information and specialised care such as medical treatment and counselling. Victims are also provided with access to translation, interpretation, legal services and help to access compensation. Psychological services are provided to victims via the ANCHOR project, which is a service provided by Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board and funded via an additional grant payment of £70,000 for 2017-18 from the Scottish Government.

General Victim Support

Funding of £4,217,000 will be provided to Victim Support Scotland by the Scottish Government in 2017-18. Victim Support Scotland provides support and information services to over 200,000 people affected by crime each year, including victims of sexual abuse.

With regard to younger victims, Childline (operated by the NSPCC) will receive £313,200 of funding from the Scottish Government to provide confidential advice and information to children, young people and families affected by all issues, including sexual abuse, and for specific projects to increase access to vital support for children and young people.