Hansard

The next item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-13494, in the name of Jim Eadie, on the fifth anniversary of the family nurse partnership programme in NHS Lothian. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament congratulates Edinburgh on becoming what it believes is the first city in the world to offer the Family Nurse Partnership programme to all eligible women in its fifth anniversary year; understands that the pilot programme, which was launched in NHS Lothian in 2010, has provided support and advice to 660 mothers in Lothian; welcomes confirmation that the resources and staffing are now in place for every eligible young mother in Edinburgh to be offered a place on the programme; further understands that the programme is an intensive, preventive, one-to-one home visiting programme for young, first-time mothers from early pregnancy until their child reaches the age of two and was developed in the United States by Professor David Olds; supports its main aims of improving pregnancy outcomes, child health and development and the economic self-sufficiency of the family; considers that the scheme has been such a success that it now operates across seven NHS board areas, Lothian, Tayside, Fife, Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Ayrshire and Arran, Forth Valley and Lanarkshire and benefits over 2,000 mothers across Scotland; welcomes plans for expansion into Borders and Grampian NHS board areas later in 2015, and commends what it sees as the valuable work undertaken by Family Nurse Partnerships in Lothian and across Scotland.