 As Parliament resumes, our next item of business is consideration of business motion 6.2.7.0 in the name of Joe Fitzpatrick on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, on the suspension of standing orders in relation to consideration of an SSI later this afternoon. I would ask any member who wishes to speak against the motion to press their request-to-speak button now, and I call on Joe Fitzpatrick to move motion 6.2.7.0. Formally moved. Thank you. No one is asked to speak against the motion. The question is that motion 6.2.7.0 be agreed. Are we agreed? We are. So the next item of business is portfolio questions. Question 1 has not been lodged. Question 2, Rhoda Grant. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported shortage of dentists in rural and island communities. Mr Eileen Campbell. Thank you. We have seen a substantial increase under this Government in the numbers of high-street dentists providing NHS dental care in Scotland. We recognise the potential challenges facing very remote and island communities, and that is why we have put recruitment and retention allowances for high-street dentists in place. The areas where those allowances are available are reviewed annually to ensure that the needs of our island and rural communities are reflected. Rhoda Grant. I thank the minister for that answer, but it has had little impact. She will be aware that a dentist's practice has closed in use with proposals to close another one there. The lack of dentists in Lewis means that 6,000 people are without a dentist in a similar situation in Shetland, where people are being asked to fly to the mainland to access private dental treatment. Nothing that she has specified has changed that. It is not enough, and she knows the poor dental health impacts on an individual's overall health. What is she going to do to make sure that my constituents can access dental services close to home? Officials are working closely with the board in relation to Lewis in the past few months, and we expect a new high-street dental practice to open within the coming months in Stornoway. As soon as an opening date has been confirmed, we will be sure to let interested members know about that. In Shetland, capacity has been built because this is the first time that a high-street dental practice is offering NHS dental services happening, and that will open in Shetland. That will enable the board to free up the public dental service to ensure that those islands that are further away from the mainland of Shetland have access to dentists. However, I should point out that this record of this Government is strong when it comes to dentists. Over 91 per cent of the people in Scotland are registered within NHS Dentist. That is compared to only 52 per cent in September 2007, so what we inherited in 2007 has been drastically overcome. We will continue to build on that record to ensure that people across the country, regardless of whether they live in rural or island communities, get the access that they deserve. Edward Mountain I want to question the minister further, because it is not just about dental health. In Caithness, we have the situation where there are plans for a many NHS Highland to pull services between three medical surgeries, which is totally unacceptable. Does the minister have a view on that, or is that acceptable as well? I was slightly tangential, but if the minister can briefly respond. I think that we are endeavoured to ensure that we engage with the member about the issues. What we are doing as a Government is ensuring that adequate provision is provided locally for people who are requiring medical help and support, and ensuring that the clinical health service is driven by evidence that ensures that appropriate sightings of specialist services are delivered in a safe way for patients. We have a strong record again on ensuring that medical provision and medical support are provided in localities suited to people, and we will again, in the issue that Edward Mountain raises, continue to work with him to ensure that that provision can be enhanced. Gillian Martin I have a relevant supplementary question. I remember a situation in Aberdeen in Aberdeenshire a year ago, when there were queues around the block to register with NHS dentists. Such was the demand of patients relative to the shortage of NHS dentists. Can I ask the minister how the number of dentists has been trained and employed to deliver NHS services has changed in the last decade? The minister will note that it is for the chair to decide which is relevant and what is not relevant. Gillian Martin is right and correct to point out that there has been significant change over the past 10 years. Part of that success has been down to the opening of Aberdeen dental school, whereby the member represents in 2008, which has helped to increase the supply of dentists in the north of Scotland by 31 per cent over the same period. Over the past 10 years, the number of dentists providing NHS general dental service, both independent and employed, has increased by almost 30 per cent. We now have nearly 3,350 dentists in Scotland, providing NHS general dental services. We continue to train dentists to ensure that the dental workforce of the future reflects the needs of our population, with 178 students expected to graduate this year compared to 133 in 2008. Colin Beattie To ask the Scottish Government how many nurses from the rest of the EU have registered to work in Scotland since the EU referendum was held, in the light of a recent report suggesting that there has been a 96 per cent decline for the UK as a whole. Shona Robison It is important to note that, despite the huge drop in registrations across the UK as a whole that the member refers to, the nursing and midwifery council has recorded an increase of approximately 7.4 per cent over the year to May 2017, and the number of EU-trained nurses registered to an address in Scotland. Colin Beattie I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. The cabinet secretary might be aware that, as the nursing establishment has expanded following the application of workforce planning tools, that the boards have a number of vacancies to fill. We, the minister, therefore agree that losing the option of freely recruiting nurses from elsewhere in the EU will result in great strains in the NHS and might impact on patient services across the region, and in my constituency of Midlothian North and Musselborough in particular. Shona Robison I very much agree with the member on that. The health foundation figures that the member refers to show a 96 per cent drop in the number of nurses from the EU registering to practice in the UK as a whole since July last year, and it is extremely concerning with only 46 EU nurses registering in April this year. The point is that, without EU nurses, it will be even harder for the NHS and social care providers to find the staff that they need to provide our services, which would be another negative consequence of a hard Brexit that we need to avoid. Dean Lockhart I remind the cabinet secretary that nurse shortages have existed for a long time before the EU referendum. In fact, when health secretary, the First Minister, cut nurse training places by a fifth, will the cabinet secretary accept that the current shortages of nurses in Scotland is as a result of that decision? Shona Robison Of course, what Dean Lockhart has not acknowledged is that we have more qualified nurses and midwives than previously. The number has increased by more than 2,700 whole-time equivalent under this Government. Of course, there is more to be done, and that is why there has been a commitment. In fact, the fifth successive rise in student nursing and midwifery intakes this year, the fifth successive rise to bring us closer to delivering our commitment to create 1,000 extra nursing and midwifery training places over the course of this Parliament. I would have thought that that was something that Dean Lockhart would have welcomed. Bill Bowman To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support NHS Scotland's recruitment of nurses and midwives. Workforce planning is the responsibility of NHS boards who have fully delegated powers to recruit and plan their workforce to best serve the needs of the population. The Scottish Government works closely with NHS boards in their recruitment efforts, and a great deal is already being done to deliver sustainable solutions to workforce challenges. Since 2007, the number of qualified nurses and midwives in NHS Scotland has increased by 6.7 per cent. That is over 2,700 whole-time equivalent more qualified staff. We have also recommended a fifth successive increase in nursing and midwifery student intakes in 2017-18. Of course, a national health and social care workforce plan is being developed to strengthen workforce planning practice, including within the nursing workforce. Bill Bowman Thank you for that reply. The Royal College of Nursing wrote to me this morning and said that nursing morale is low and that teams are struggling to recruit and retain the staff that they need. The latest figures show that the nursing and midwifery vacancy rate stands at 4.5 per cent, the highest ever reported. With unful posts at this level, how will patients receive the care that they need? I will say to Bill Bowman that we work very closely with the RCN. I meet them on a regular basis and listen to any concerns that they raise. In terms of nursing vacancies, in some specialities in particular, because of the creation of more posts, that has an impact on the number of vacancies. However, it is important that vacancies are filled. Of course, some of the work that is going on with boards is to make sure that, as we drive down agency costs and the reliance on agency recruitment, part of the solution to that is the filling of substantive posts. That work is on-going with boards to make sure that vacancies are filled. There are some challenges, in particular specialities, such as pediatrics and district nursing. Partly linked to the creation of new posts. Of course, we have a major expansion of health visitor posts, which will take some time to fill, but great efforts are being made in order to do that. Anas Sarwar Under the cabinet secretary, we have seen a workforce crisis, with more than 2,500 nursing and midwifery vacancies. When will the cabinet secretary publish the workforce plan before the summer recess? When will she clamp down on the £175 million of agency spend? When will she scrap the NHS pay cap? Should we accept that the cabinet secretary to help create the problem can't be the one that can fix the problem, so instead wait for that expect to reshuffle and ask the question of the next health secretary? Anas Sarwar Such a charmer. In response to the questions that Anas Sarwar has raised, on the workforce plan, it will be published before the recess. On agency spend, the Government has less agency spend than we inherited when Labour was in power. Of course, as I answered in my previous work on the way to drive that down, but it is still less than what we inherited. On the pay cap, I would hope that we can address the issues of pay with the staff side. As I said previously, it is important that we take that issue forward. As the First Minister herself has said, in relation to the position of rising inflation and costs, we very much recognise that. The discussions with the staff side are under way in order to find a way forward that we can jointly agree on. Of course, he might also want to reflect on other parts of the islands where the pay of nurses under this Government is higher than any other parts of this Government, particularly for the lowest-paid staff in the NHS, more than £1,000 more than other parts of the islands. We have done a lot of work, and we will continue to do that work in partnership with the staff side. Stuart McMillan To ask the Scottish Government whether the health secretary has met the new chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. If so, what was discussed? I have met the new chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Jeane Grant, and we discussed matters of importance to local people. Stuart McMillan I thank the cabinet secretary for that reply. Does the cabinet secretary agree that the new chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde gives the board the opportunity to significantly improve its communications with elected representatives and the wider public, not least in matters of local service changes? Jeane Grant Yes, I expect all health boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, to meaningfully communicate and engage with all local stakeholders in line with national guidelines and standards, especially when local service changes are proposed. I know that the new chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is taking the opportunity to review a number of arrangements at the board and is fully committed to working effectively with local representatives and local people in the best interests of patients. Maurice Corry The people in my area of West Scotland are concerned by the suggested moving of GP out-of-hours services from the Vale of Leven hospital to RAH Paisley. It is viewed locally that this goes against the spirit and substance of the vision for the Vale. The public are concerned by the time distance that would be placed between them and a primary care source. Can the minister confirm whether the moving of GP out-of-hours services from the Vale is going to go ahead or not? Jeane Grant The issue of out-of-hours services is very challenging because Greater Glasgow and Clyde have found it very difficult to recruit GP to the out-of-hours services. Given that is the challenge, they have to continue to provide a safe service and they are having to look at the best way to do that. I would expect to make sure that people within the locality of the Vale of Leven hospital continue to get a good, safe out-of-hours service. Of course, the wider amount of work that we are doing around out-of-hours, led by Sir Lewis Ritchie, is to set up an established urgent care hubs that will be multidisciplinary in nature to make sure that we are not relying solely on GPs to provide that out-of-hours care. That is a sustainable solution, but it will take some time to roll out across Scotland. I am very happy to keep the member informed of the progress of that. Ivan McKee I am sure that the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board has decided to proceed with its plans to close Lightburn hospital and that a final decision will be passed to the cabinet secretary. Can the cabinet secretary expect to formally receive those proposals and what the process will be for consideration, for example, while the cabinet secretary will be interested to meet directly with users of the current facilities? Ivan McKee Cabinet secretary, I expect to receive the board's formal submission shortly. In all such cases, I will carefully consider all the available information and representations before coming to a final decision. That will include meeting with local service users and stakeholders to hear their views. The member will be aware of the history of Lightburn hospital and what I have said, as the First Minister said previously, that I would not consider approving proposals that do not address the concerns that were expressed previously in 2011, when the issue was last considered. Those issues have to be effectively addressed. On how long it will take to make a decision, I will take as long as it is required in order to fully look at all the issues and take the time to meet local people, as I am sure the member would expect me to do. Pauline McNeill As the cabinet secretary says, the fate of the future of Lightburn hospital remains in her hands. In her deliberations, the issue can be considering the fact that many current users of Lightburn hospital will not be able to travel to the potentially proposed sites such as Stop Hill or Parkhead, because there is no bus service. She will be aware, I am sure, that of the very low car ownership of people in the east end. Will the cabinet secretary take that factor into account when she makes her deliberations? If people cannot access the service by public transport, they cannot access the service at all. Pauline McNeill Of course, all those issues are the issues that I would look at in terms of accessibility and transport issues. Those issues are important. I can assure Pauline McNeill that I will consider that as part of my deliberations. Neil Bibby Scottish Government, when it last met NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, what issues were discussed? Pauline McNeill Both ministers and Scottish Government officials regularly meet with all health boards, including Greater Glasgow and Clyde, to discuss matters of importance to local people. Neil Bibby I last met the health secretary at a protest in Paisley against the closure of the RAS children's ward award that the Scottish Government said was safe. The health secretary cannot ignore that thousands of families and NHS staff in Renfrewshire are totally opposed to this closure. The health secretary said that she would listen. Local SNP politicians may be silent, but the message from families and staff is loud and clear. The RAS should not be downgraded and the children's ward should be saved right now. Will the health secretary and the Scottish Government therefore prove that they are finally listening to families and staff and stop the closure of the RAS children's ward without any further delay? Pauline McNeill As Neil Bibby will be aware, after I had the pleasure of meeting him on 19 May, I had a very important meeting with local parents, who are the most important people in all of this. At that meeting, which they felt was constructive and a good format in order to hear in detail some of the views of local parents, I gave an undertaking to have a further series of local meetings with local people to consider. That is the right process to undertake. I thought that Neil Bibby would appreciate that I should take the time in order to meet as many local parents as possible. I would think that it would be very odd if he thought otherwise. I will continue to do that. I have another visit planned at the beginning of July to visit the hospital and indeed to meet further local parents as part of the very clear service change process that is laid out for ministers to follow. That is what I will do. Question 7, David Stewart. To ask the Scottish Government what initiatives it is supporting to tackle obesity and type 2 diabetes. Mr Eileen Campbell. In line with the evidence, we have invested in a range of programmes to tackle obesity by making it easier for people to be more active, to eat less and to eat better. Those include football fans and training, the healthcare retail standard, eat better, feel better and a £50 million investment in active schools between 2015 and 2019. In tackling type 2 diabetes, our newly formed expert group is leading on the development and implementation of a diabetes prevention framework that will complement our wider health strategy to identify high-risk population and support early diagnosis, treatment, education and lifestyle management. David Stewart. Presiding Officer, 5 per cent of the population of Scotland have diabetes, and since 2008, there has been a 25 per cent increase in diagnoses. Diabetes costs then excess around £1 billion a year in direct costs, and the nine diabetes care processes are a key tool to prevent avoidable complications such as kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, sight loss and amputation. Will the minister introduce robust reporting and monitoring processes to assess how well each and every health board is delivering those services to people with diabetes? Minister. I appreciate the interest that David Stewart takes on that as well. The Diabetes Survey 2016 aims to be published within 12 months of the end of each calendar year, so there is already a process in gathering information. The expert group is also looking at a range of areas where we can enhance our knowledge of diabetes. The other thing that I would mention is that the obesity strategy consultation will also be important in terms of the preventative work that we can try to help people to avoid going down the route of acquiring diabetes in the first place. Tomorrow, I am speaking at a conference with podiatrists on some of the work that they are doing to enhance their knowledge on how to help treatment and help people to cope with the impact of having diabetes. I ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support the development of more innovative approaches to improving the treatment of conditions such as diabetes. Examples of current innovative approaches include the My Diabetes, My Way, the current SBRI innovation process to develop personalised care and education for people who have type 1 diabetes and the work of the Scottish Diabetes Research Network, which supports the setup and delivery of clinical and epidemiological research across Scotland. Innovation is one of the priorities of the Scottish Diabetes Improvement Plan, and we will continue to ensure that we provide the support that the diabetes community needs to develop and adapt innovative approaches to ensure that people get the help and have the right support that they require. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce waiting times for adults referred for psychological therapies. We have put in place a £54 million comprehensive package of support to improve access to mental health services for adults on children, which will provide funding for additional staff for workforce development and for in-depth improvement support to local services. In this first year, £4.3 million has been awarded to boards across Scotland to build capacity within mental health services. Further funding has been awarded to NHS Education Scotland to provide each board an individual tailored offer of funding and workforce development. As part of a comprehensive package of support for boards, £4.6 million was announced for healthcare improvement Scotland to establish a mental health access improvement support team, which is working in partnership with boards to improve access to mental health services. I thank the minister for that response. I am glad to say that the hard work of staff at NHS Forth Valley has resulted in improvement in camp services in recent months. However, the issue of waiting times remains a problem for adults referred for psychological therapies at NHS Forth Valley. According to the latest ISD figures, only 40 per cent of adults' patients waiting for psychological treatment were seen within the Scottish Government's target timetable of 18 weeks. That left nearly 500 people waiting too long for support. Does the minister agree that NHS Forth Valley needs more support to address those concerns? I am glad that Dean Lockhart recognised the great improvements that we have seen in NHS Forth Valley in terms of waiting times for access to camp services. He has gone up from 57.1 in 2015 to 99.7 in 2017. That shows the value of the improvement that he is working with NHS Forth Valley. He should be aware that there has been an initial focus on camps. We will be looking to see from the team and from boards to share the lessons that we have learnt in camps to improve the delivery of psychological therapies to adults. We have also seen, as a result of the higher profile of mental health, almost double the number of people in NHS Forth Valley coming forward for psychological therapies. That is also why it is really important that we make sure that we increase the number of lower-intensity interventions for people who want psychological therapies. Monica Lennon The minister will know that there tends to be a sharp drop-off in referrals to psychological therapies for adults over the age of 65. From the £54 million package that the minister referred to in our earlier answer, can she say what specific work the Government is carrying out to reduce this inequality to ensure that adults across Scotland have the same level of service or access to psychological therapies regardless of their age? Monica Lennon is absolutely right that one should get access to services regardless of age. I am very well aware of the work that Age in Mind is doing in relation to that. However, the whole emphasis of the mental health strategy has been to ask one to get help fast, which applies to older people over the age of 65, as well as to anybody else. Jamie Greene To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce hospital waiting times in the west Scotland parliamentary region. I announced on 30 May that £50 million was being made available to NHS Scotland to help improvement in performance and reduce waiting times for patients. The funds are being distributed across all territorial boards, including those in the west of Scotland parliamentary region. The west of Scotland boards will receive up to £23 million in total from the additional funding. Jamie Greene I thank the Government for that answer. Last quarter, NHS North Ayrshire and Ireland had the worst waiting times of any health board in Scotland. We have only 73.6 per cent of people meeting the 18-week referral to treatment guarantee. In March this year, that was over 2,000 people waiting too long. Cabinet Secretary, why does she think that the specific health board's performance is at the bottom of the spectrum? What specific support might she be able to offer to help it improve? More important, when will she set out a timeline for when Scotland's health boards will meet the Government's own waiting time targets? I recognise some of the particular challenges in waiting times performance in Ayrshire and Ireland. I can tell the member that the board has been allocated £3.7 million to improve waiting time performance. Part of the challenge that Ayrshire and Ireland have is the recruitment and retention of key specialist staff. That has been a long-standing issue in Ayrshire and Ireland. Ayrshire and Ireland are being supported to look at solutions to that and how they will overcome some of those challenges. In terms of the plans, all boards are drawing up their clear plans for waiting time improvement and recovery performance. Those plans are due to come in to the Scottish Government very soon indeed. I will be very happy to keep Jamie Greene informed about some of the detail of the plan for Ayrshire and Ireland, if he so wishes. In the last quarter, 95.6 per cent of patients waiting for chronic pain services in Ayrshire and Ireland waited over 18 weeks. To put that into perspective, in the quarter ending in March this year, of the 295 patients referred for chronic pain, only 13 were seen within the target 18-week period. Does the cabinet secretary agree that that is completely unacceptable? What specific action is the Government taking to ensure that those suffering from chronic pain in Ayrshire and Ireland are given the treatment that they need within the Government's own targets? There is a lot of work going on. Of course, the figures for chronic pain services and the waiting times for that is something that the Scottish Government gathers information on, which is unusual. It is not really gathered elsewhere. However, it is very important that we use that information to make the improvements that need to be made. Elaine Campbell, the Minister for Public Health, has established an expert group that is looking at how to make those improvements. Support will be given to Ayrshire and Ireland elsewhere in order to make the improvements. I agree with Colin Smyth that that performance is not acceptable—it is not as we would want it to be. We know that people who are suffering from chronic pain have a very severe impact on their quality of life, so it is very important that that work is taken forward. Again, I am sure that Elaine Campbell will be happy to keep the member updated of progress. To ask the Scottish Government how many patients in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde were not treated within the legally guaranteed treatment waiting time in 2016. In the year 2016, over 85,100 patients in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde were seen within the legal treatment time guarantee, with around 3,000 patients waiting longer than 12 weeks. I recognise that, for some patients, they are waiting too long for treatment, which is why I have made the £50 million available to NHS Scotland, with up to £11.2 million being made available to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. That additional funding will build up their capacity to make sure that all patients are treated in a timely fashion. Despite the actions of the cabinet secretary, the treatment waiting time guarantee failure is actually going up and not down. As she has said, the independent statistics have shown that over 3,000 patients waited longer than the Government's own legal guaranteed treatment target. To put that in context in terms of the sharp increase since March 2016 to December 2016, there was a 5,600 per cent increase in the number of patients waiting over 12 weeks. How can the cabinet secretary justify this rise? Does she recognise the impact that it is having on patient care and the extra stress it is putting on our staff? Does she not recognise—let's just get one more example of her complete mismanagement of our NHS? The reason that I have announced the £50 million is because I recognise that the waiting time performance needs to be improved and the impact on patient care. That £11.2 million that I gave in my first answer will be deployed to deliver the plan that Greater Glasgow and Clyde has been working on in order to deliver an improvement in the waiting time performance. That has not impacted us yet because the plan is being drawn up and the money has only just been recently announced. The waiting time performance and the improvement that we will expect to see over the next few months will be of benefit to patients in Greater Glasgow and Clyde and, of course, elsewhere in Scotland as that money begins to have an impact. Emma Harper The cabinet secretary has answered the initial part of my question, which was about what investment is being made in the NHS to improve waiting times, but I wonder if the cabinet secretary could outline what additional support is provided to health boards to reduce waiting times. Officials work closely with boards to improve waiting times performance. That is why officials are working with the Greater Glasgow and Clyde to agree a plan for increasing activity, which will support the reduction of waiting times, particularly focusing on those patients with the longest waits. In addition to that, a prig programme of reform is under way on modernising the outpatient journey in order to make sure that outpatient performance improves and that there are a range of changes that are laid out in the modernising outpatient programme. That work is very, very important to make sure that those who are coming through the system are getting to the right health professional as quickly as possible in order to have their needs assessed. Question 12 has not been lodged. Question 13, David Torrance. To ask the Scottish Government how it promotes cervical screening awareness. The Scottish Cervical programme is supported by a range of national and local resources, including a suite of public communication materials that are also available in a number of languages. A new advertising campaign launched in February this year develops in partnership with Joe's Trust to raise awareness of cervical screening amongst women aged 25 to 35. Various local initiatives, including cervical screening awareness workshops, dropping clinics for women from disadvantaged backgrounds, dedicated staff working with women with learning difficulties and NHS board run workshops for staff to promote cervical screening. The Scottish Government is also working closely with Cancer Research UK and colleagues in NHS boards to develop a facilitators programme to support and promote cervical screening in GP practices and pilot projects to target uptake amongst those less likely to participate in screening. We are also investing up to £5 million of funding from the cancer strategy in screening programmes to reduce inequalities in access to screening in Scotland. David Torrance, I thank the minister for that answer. The majority of cervical cancers are caused by a persistent human papilloma virus infection, which causes changes to cervical cells. Can the minister provide an update of progress on the HPV primary screening in Scotland? Yes, thank you. The UK National Screening Committee recommended the introduction of HPV primary screening in January last year. Following on from that recommendation, a full and detailed business case has been developed for the implementation of that recommendation in Scotland. It was considered by the Scottish Screening Committee at the start of this year. The SSE recommended to ministers that the HPV primary testing should be introduced in the Scottish Cervical Screening programme over the course of the next two years. We are now working with the NHS national services division and NHS boards across Scotland to implement that change. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Forth Valley and what issues were discussed. Scottish ministers and officials meet regularly with NHS Forth Valley to discuss matters of interest to local people. The cabinet secretary and the chamber are clearly aware that NHS Forth Valley has met waiting time targets for those needing specialist child and adolescent mental health support, which is a marked improvement in the last year following support from healthcare improvement Scotland. I note the cabinet secretary's response to question 8 earlier, however, can she advise the chamber what action the board is taking to improve their adult mental health service performance? As the member said, within Forth Valley, there has been a focus on CAMHS and NHS Forth Valley are to be congratulated on their progress on the hard work that it has taken to reach this point. I will be looking to see that team and boards look to share the lessons and best practice to improve access and delivery of psychological therapies as matters are taken forward, as well as the improvements support. The £54 million package of support to improve access to mental health services also includes funding for additional staff, workforce development and capacity planning within local services, which will support improvements in adult mental health services. We remain determined that we will hit our 90 per cent target and will continue to work with boards to make sure that that happens right across Scotland, including Forth Valley. To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that the highest quality of food is served in our hospitals. Minister Eileen Campbell Thank you. Patients have a right to expect high quality and nutritious food that meets their specific needs and aids recovery. The Scottish Government has a strong set of nutritional standards in place for hospital food and, in March 2016, we consulted on refreshed and expanded guidelines in the Scotland's national food and drink policy becoming a good food nation, which advocates greater use of fresh, seasonal, local and sustainable produce. Given recent revelations in public food procurement and where our food comes from in hospitals through the central Excel contract, does the Scottish Government not recognise that, as her colleague does in education, an inquiry into nutritional value of hospital food is appropriate? I apologise, but I did not hear all of that question. However, I think that it was about procurement. It was just to say that our contracts do endeavour to encourage more local sourcing through an increased focus on fresh and local and seasonal produce. There has been an increase in the proportion of food sourced from Scotland. Recently, the Scottish Government has convened a cross-industry meeting to examine increasing Scottish sourcing through public sector contracts, where we agreed to look at how we can build much more capacity of local producers and streamline the contracts process to make it far more accessible for local producers and increase regional buying. I would also say that we take the issue very seriously. Scotland was the first country in the UK to develop a document specifying catering guidelines and nutritional standards for food in hospitals. We will certainly look to see where improvements can be made. We have already made improvements across hospitals, but there is no denying that good-quality food is part of the healing process and will endeavour to make improvements where we can. Thank you very much, and that ends portfolio questions. Thank you. We will just take a few moments for members to change seats for the next item of business.