Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a rare, hereditary skin disorder affecting 1 in 250,000 people. Specialist UV protective clothing is not available on prescription for people with rare genetic skin disorders such as XP. Only drugs and devices included on the Scottish Drug Tariff can be prescribed by an appropriate health care professional.

With regards to the process, it is for the manufacturers of medicines and devices to consider submitting their products for inclusion in the Scottish Drug Tariff based on their business and commercial operations. Any medicine or device shall only be included in the Scottish Drug Tariff following an appropriate assessment including the clinical benefits and cost effectiveness.

Local prescribing formularies are put in place by the NHS Board and are based on range of issues including the local general population, prevalence, clinical decisions and appropriateness for the patient concerned.

As explained in my answer to S5W-17582 on 23 July 2018, the treatment and supervision for this condition is highly specialised and is best delivered through specialist hospital services which can provide expert advice to fit the particular needs of the patient concerned.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

The Scottish Government National Support Team take forward key projects to deliver national strategic priorities. It is also available to support capacity building and sharing of learning and good practice amongst Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) in order to promote the delivery of our national strategic priorities. Examples include:

• National data collection, and support for the use of that data to progress against core outcomes;
•  Support through implementation planning for the Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISY), including adaptions to local delivery systems and IT infrastructure, to ensure full compliance with data entry and national reporting requirements;
• A whole population approach to addressing problem alcohol use, including Minimum Unit Pricing;
• Providing £1.326 million funding to the Scottish Drugs Forum, Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs, Crew and the Scottish Recovery Consortium to strengthening engagement with the sector in relation to policy objectives and workforce development;
•  Developing plans to reduce drug and alcohol deaths and harm.

ADPs are strongly encouraged to use the national support that is available to them as well as utilising local expertise.

The Scottish Government is investing an additional £20 million per year, for the lifetime of this Parliament, to help reduce the harms caused by alcohol and drugs. We will be writing to stakeholders in the coming weeks with details of how this investment will be allocated to support new and innovative approaches which responds to the needs of patients in a more joined up person centred way.

Rates of addiction are not recorded however data is published on problematic drug and alcohol use.

a] https://isdscotland.scot.nhs.uk/Health-Topics/Drugs-and-Alcohol-Misuse/Publications/2014-10-28/2014-10-28-Drug-Prevalence-Report.pdf

b] https://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health/scottish-health-survey/Publications

Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships have clear responsibilities for tackling problem alcohol and drug use and promoting recovery and should collectively demonstrate progress against both national and locally relevant alcohol and drug outcomes.

The Microsegmentation of the Autism Spectrum Report was commissioned as a recommendation of the Scottish Strategy for Autism. The Scottish Government is committed to implementing the findings and recommendations of this report, published on 22 March 2018, in partnership with Integration Joint Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships. The report is available from the following link: https://www.gov.scot/Resource/0053/00533382.pdf .

In response to the question “what the recognised qualifications are for each microsegment”. Following clarification of this question it has been established that the question is “What is the criteria for each microsegment” The criteria is explained as follows:

The eight segments have been developed from the survey data of a sample of approximately 1,000 individuals, combined with the evidence base from the literature. The criteria for each segment are as set out below. The criteria within each main segment for with or without additive risks are also explained below.

Segment 1: Asperger profile. No ID.

Criteria: Individuals who either have a diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome or who are diagnosed as having an autism spectrum disorder, with clinically normal language and intellectual development, and without severe early onset symptoms.

Segment 2: Autism/other ASD profile. No ID.

Criteria: Individuals with a diagnosis of childhood autism, atypical autism, or PDD-NOS, or autism spectrum disorder, but without intellectual disability.

Segment 3: Autism/other ASD profile. Mild ID (scores 50-70).

Criteria: Individuals with a diagnosis of childhood autism, atypical autism, or PDD-NOS, or autism spectrum disorder, with mild intellectual disability, that is, with standard scores for intelligence and adaptive functioning falling in the range 50-70.

Segment 4: Autism/other ASD profile. Moderate/severe ID (scores 50-70).

Criteria: Individuals with a diagnosis of childhood autism, atypical autism, or PDD-NOS, or autism spectrum disorder, with moderate or severe intellectual disability, that is, with standard scores for intelligence and adaptive functioning falling below 50.

Within each of the four main segments there are two divisions:

A: those who meet criteria for the profile applying to that segment, but who do not have additive risks, that is, who do not have co-occurring conditions in addition to their autism spectrum disorder.

B: those who meet criteria for the profile applying to that segment, but who do have additive risks, that is, who have one or more co-occurring conditions in addition to their autism spectrum disorder, such as ADHD, obsessive compulsive disorder or any other diagnosable mental health disorder.

The Scottish Government provides funding for sporting facilities through the National Agency for Sport, sport scotland. Since 2007, sport scotland has invested over £168m in sporting facilities across Scotland through their Sports Facilities Fund (SSF).

The facilities already in place, along with future plans, are driven by community demand and encompass all kinds of facilities rather than purely all weather pitches. The guidelines for the SFF were updated earlier this year and can be found at https://sportscotland.org.uk/funding/sport-facilities-fund/ . They now highlight that sport scotland want to support projects that clearly demonstrate an impact on one or more of their priorities for improvement. These priorities include ‘Equalities and Inclusion’, highlighting projects that “widen access, provide opportunity or remove barriers to participation in areas of socio-economic disadvantage or rural parts of Scotland” (as well as another bullet point on projects that widen access for under represented groups that share protected characteristics).

Recent examples of all weather pitches funded through SFF in the Aberdeenshire area include:

- £200,000 awarded to Westdyke Community Club in 2017 for a project to install an all weather football pitch at Lawsondale Sports Centre.

- £186,600 awarded to Aboyne Tennis Club in 2017 for a project to upgrade court surfaces and install floodlights.

- £100,000 awarded to Fetterangus Community Association in 2018 for a sports pavilion project providing good quality changing for Buchan Ladies, the local women and girls football club.

The Scottish Government does not set targets for the treatment of stroke patients. The Scottish Stroke Care Standards, in the Scottish Stroke Care Audit (SSCA), are used to assess the performance of stroke services, at a Scotland wide, NHS Board or individual hospital level, not at the level of individual patients. The standards are set at a level which aims to be both challenging but achievable by hospitals. It is, therefore, inevitable that some stroke services will not meet some standards. This is done to encourage improvements in performance. Once a Standard is routinely exceeded by all hospitals it is recommended it is raised. Stroke services need to use appropriate Quality Improvement methods to optimise their own performance.

Our Stroke Improvement Plan (2014) sets out a comprehensive programme for further reducing the number of deaths from stroke and improving stroke treatment and care across the whole patient pathway. It focuses on providing the best possible care in the acute setting, as well as helping peoples’ longer-term recovery in their own communities. The Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme measures progress towards meeting the priorities in the Improvement Plan.

The SSCA shows that last year’s modest improvements were maintained in all four ‘bundle’ standards, the most important overall indictor of the performance of stroke services. NHS boards report self-evaluated performance against the Stroke Improvement Plan priorities, and this shows variability across the country. The Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme National Report 2018 contains the results of the annual Scottish Stroke Care Audit and NHS boards benchmarking against the Stroke Improvement Plan priorities and is available at https://www.strokeaudit.scot.nhs.uk/index.html

A Directors of Planning Thrombectomy Advisory Group is developing a national planning framework for the provision of thrombectomy for stroke for Scotland. The development of the framework will consider all the elements required to deliver the service. It is anticipated that the framework will be completed by spring 2019 and will be submitted to Directors of Planning and follow due process for the planning of NHS Scotland services.

The Scottish Government continues to work with Scottish local authorities through Zero Waste Scotland, to tackle all forms of fly tipping including asbestos and other hazardous materials. Information about the cost of removing materials that have been fly tipped is not held centrally.

Sunscreen is available on prescription to patients who have specific medical conditions. This includes people with photosensitivity due to genetic conditions and cancer patients who have skin photosensitivity as a result of radiotherapy.

Our estimates of the costs of improving Scotland’s domestic and non-domestic buildings were set out in the Energy Efficient Scotland Consultation. We estimate that the cost of meeting the programme for domestic properties is in the region of £8 billion, to bring around 75% of Scotland’s private sector domestic buildings to EPC C and around 50% of its social rented sector properties to EPC B. Current estimates place the total cost of improving the energy efficiency of our non-domestic buildings at £2-4 billion. The Energy Efficient Scotland Consultation closed on 27 July and can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/Resource/0053/00534912.pdf

As set out in the Energy Efficient Scotland Routemap we will continue to provide grant funding to support households in fuel poverty to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. For businesses and households who are not in fuel poverty we will continue to make available low-cost loans to help them spread the costs of investing in energy efficiency improvements.

Details of future programme delivery will be set out in 2020 and further analysis will be undertaken to fully understand the breakdown of expenditure required (from public, private and third sector sources) to improve the energy efficiency of Scotland’s buildings. There are a number of factors which will affect the breakdown of expenditure including built form, construction type and heat supply.