Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 25 September 2018
25 Sep 2018 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Mental Health Strategy: 2018 Annual Report
The national rural mental health forum has been established to help people in rural areas maintain good health and wellbeing. The forum will help to develop connections between communities across rural Scotland so that isolated people can receive support when and where they need it. The forum has been provided with £50,000 of funding in this financial year—funding that was jointly provided by the mental health and rural portfolios, which demonstrates the cross-cutting nature of the forum’s work. Since 2016, membership of the forum has grown from 16 to 60.
The forum has agreed to deliver three outcomes: a much-improved understanding of the unmet need for mental health support in rural Scotland; evidence of how to better overcome barriers to accessing and seeking support, therefore enhancing people’s mental wellbeing in rural Scotland; and better-informed rural and health policy due to specific evidence and support from forum members.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Ken Macintosh)
NPA
The next item of business is a statement by Clare Haughey, the Minister for Mental Health, on the mental health strategy 2018 annual report. The minister wil...
The Minister for Mental Health (Clare Haughey)
SNP
Our 10-year mental health strategy, from 2017 to 2027, paints a clear picture of the kind of Scotland in which I want to live: a Scotland where people can ge...
Annie Wells (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
I thank the minister for advance sight of her statement. I welcomed the Scottish Government’s commitments in its recent programme for government, because w...
Clare Haughey
SNP
It is rather disappointing that Annie Wells could not welcome the progress that has been made in 18 months. Stakeholders that have been involved in ensuring ...
Mary Fee (West Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I thank the minister for advance sight of her statement. Everyone wants mental health to be on an equal footing with physical health. However, the reality ...
Clare Haughey
SNP
I hope that I will be able to answer most of Mary Fee’s questions. It was additional funding that was announced in the programme for government. I am pleased...
Alison Johnstone (Lothian) (Green)
Green
I thank the minister for advance sight of her statement. The minister spoke about the delivery of an additional 800 mental health professionals to support A...
Clare Haughey
SNP
We have made a commitment to the additional mental health workers, and we are working with the chief officers of the integration authorities on developing th...
Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (LD)
LD
I, too, am grateful for early sight of the minister’s statement. Liberal Democrats are grateful to see the 800 mental health workers begin to be recruited. ...
Clare Haughey
SNP
As I said in my answer to Alison Johnstone, we are working with the chief officers of the integration authorities in delivering our commitment. We are making...
Emma Harper (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I welcome the minister’s statement. Can she give a commitment that the Scottish Government will continue to engage with organisations such as the national ru...
Clare Haughey
SNP
The national rural mental health forum has been established to help people in rural areas maintain good health and wellbeing. The forum will help to develop ...
Donald Cameron (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
Recent figures show that, in the past year, over a fifth of CAMHS patients in the Highlands and Islands region have not been seen within the 18-week target. ...
Clare Haughey
SNP
As I said earlier, the Scottish Government recognises that it is not acceptable for people to wait for a long time to be seen by mental health services. That...
Fulton MacGregor (Coatbridge and Chryston) (SNP)
SNP
This week, we have been given more stark reminders about the devastating impact that bullying—often of our young people—can have on lives, families and commu...
Clare Haughey
SNP
I agree entirely with Fulton MacGregor that bullying of any kind is totally unacceptable and must be dealt with quickly, whenever and wherever it happens. E...
Anas Sarwar (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
Unbelievably, the Minister for Mental Health said in her statement that we need “to move away from the current focus on waiting times and workforce statisti...
Clare Haughey
SNP
I recognise—as does the Government—that mental health services are not good enough for our young people. That is why we have set up a task force under Dame D...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP)
SNP
Some people with mental health issues find it quite difficult to ask for support face to face with their general practitioner. Can the minister say whether t...
Clare Haughey
SNP
There are various ways in which people can access services. Breathing space, for example, is a confidential phone line that is run by NHS 24. People can also...
Brian Whittle (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
I think, similar to the suicide prevention strategy, the Scottish Government seems to be focused on trying to deliver a service to people who are caught in a...
Clare Haughey
SNP
It is interesting that Mr Whittle left poverty off that list, considering what the United Kingdom Tory Government is doing in rolling out universal credit an...
Stuart McMillan (Greenock and Inverclyde) (SNP)
SNP
Can the minister provide an update on action 33 of the mental health strategy, which relates to the needs of people with learning disabilities and autism?
Clare Haughey
SNP
Yes, I can. The review to consider “whether the provisions of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 ... fulfil the needs of people with...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Thank you very much. I apologise to Mr Stewart and Mr Lyle as we have no time to call more members.