 Gwethaf, y cyfleid yw y peth angen i ddweud y pwyllwy o mysbyddiant, y cwmifio hefyd yn fawr. Yn y cwmifio hefyd, y bydd gennym ni gyd ymddangos cyfleid ymddangos cyflwy o hyfforddiant, ac mae'n gweithio gwael i gwyllgor i'r gulf. Clubgolf yw'r Gwllwch Gwllwch Gwllwch Gwllwch Gwllwch Gwllwch Gwllwch Gwllwch Gwllwch Gwllwch Gwllwch Gwllwch Gwllwch ar gyflogol, ac yn unigrwydd y drafodaeth sydd gennym iawn bydd gwell yn gyflogol. bond ar gyflogol flyniadau y Gion. Rwy'n meddwl i'n meddwl i'r lot o'r gwmpas, ac yn entwarol dda i'r newid gyflogol mewn gwirionedd, mae'r byd yn ymgyrch i'r defnydd. Yr phryglwr ei chyflwmydd ar gyd yn sefydledig 400 yn 6 eistedd o ddau, a'r bydd gweithio'r opeitau gan y cyflogolog naddidd y methode cyllid yn ei ddod i chweithio'rserolingsu hyn ond, yn cael eu gallu parwysau a'r byw celfweithio. I thank the minister for that. However, as the minister knows, the former First Minister made a great commitment to the sport. Obviously, there has been considerable developments at primary level. What plans does the Scottish Government have to ensure that that transcends into secondary education and beyond? I have been very impressed with the efforts of Scottish Golf, which the new governing body However, the Merger of the Gulf Union and the Ladies Association have developed their get-in-to-golf programme, which is an evolution of the club golf programme, which seeks to involve a wider range of people and try to get whole families involved. Er, I'll be very happy to continue those discussions with them. If there's more, we can support their effort. I'll be glad to consider it. Questions 2. To ask the Scottish Government whether e-cigarettes are now available on prescription from the NHS. Minister Maureen Watt. The regulation and licensing of medicines is a matter for the UK Government and the Medicines and Regulatory Healthcare Products Agency, MHRA. I am aware that the MHRA has recently issued its first general sales licence to a product that is considered to be a true e-cigarette. That means that smokers will be able to purchase this product as a licence smoking cessation aid when the manufacturer makes it available. I understand that at this time the manufacturer has not yet released this product to market. There are no plans for this product to be routinely available on prescription in line with other forms of nicotine replacement therapy, which have similar licences. Decisions about prescribing would be a matter for individual NHS boards. I would expect any decisions to be based on the full range of evidence on the clinical risks, benefits and cost of this product, compared to existing smoking cessation aids. We would be happy to work with health boards on this once the manufacturer makes more information about this product available. I thank the minister for her response. This is clearly a complex area, but nevertheless I think that we are aware that there are clear health benefits from smokers moving away from tobacco towards e-cigarettes and we should be doing what we can to encourage them along that path. Would the minister take on board the fact that I think that this is an area that does need more clarity? There have been press reports suggesting that prescribing of e-cigarettes will become available. There are constituents who are interested in looking at this as an option. There are also implications for the cost to the NHS budget should this become a widespread practice. Can I suggest that the Scottish Government take more of a lead in being clear as to what exactly the policy is on this going forward? I thank the member for his question. Clearly we know that many people now are using e-cigarettes as a need to stop smoking or to stop using nicotine. We believe that it is better if people use it in conjunction with existing smoking cessation products. On the committee I chair we discuss this regularly. E-cigarettes are still a very new product and new information about them is coming forward virtually on a weekly basis. I assure the member that we are on the case. Question 3, Johann Lamont, has not been lodged and an explanation has been provided. To ask the Scottish Government what medical staffing challenges it has identified in NHS Lanarkshire. We work closely with all NHS boards to enable them to provide safe, effective and high quality care for Scotland's people at all times. That remains our absolute priority. Under this Government's staffing levels in NHS Lanarkshire have increased by 13.3 per cent or over 1,200 whole-time equivalent. There have also been significant increases in medical consultants 63.2 per cent in all specialties since September 2006, including emergency medicine. Over the same period, consultant vacancies in Lanarkshire as a percentage of establishment have fallen by 4 per cent. NHS Lanarkshire continues to fill vacancies successfully in a number of specialties and has approved further investment to recruit additional medical consultants and is proactively recruiting to available vacancies. Last year, NHS Lanarkshire graded the medical staffing position in a number of departments as high risk. It also reported concerns still about on-going recruitment difficulties and over-reliance in locums and the future of the health board's approved training status. Can the cabinet secretary advise which services continue to be high risk and give me an absolute guarantee that the Scottish Government will secure the future of approved training status for the health board, which is of the utmost importance to the viability of local services, medical recruitment and the career development of junior doctors? Of course, we are aware that certain services in NHS Lanarkshire are currently under enhanced monitoring from the GMC, primarily on concerns raised by trainees of poor clinical supervisionists. For the board, working with its medical workforce and NHS education for Scotland to identify solutions and reassure the member, we have been assured that NHS Lanarkshire is making good progress on its improvement plans. Clearly, I have close oversight of that. I am very happy to keep the local member updated about that as we go forward, but I hope that that has given us some level of reassurance. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the representatives of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Ministers and Scottish Government officials regularly meet representatives of all boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. I have had sight of a financial planning document provided and understand prepared by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. I understand from that document that it proposes the possible closure of Lightburn hospital. The minister will be aware of the background concerning Lightburn hospital and the commitment from the now First Minister that Lightburn hospital had a future. I wonder if the minister or the cabinet secretary confirmed today that there are no plans to close Lightburn hospital. Cabinet secretary. I have certainly had nothing submitted to me from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde about the future of Lightburn hospital. However, if the board has any plans to change Lightburn hospital, it would obviously have to go through the procedures that we would expect it to. Obviously, if it was classified as major change, it would come to me. As I said, I have not had any sight of anything from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde asking to be able to proceed with any changes to Lightburn hospital. In the budget for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, he will be aware that, in a very tight financial settlement, health boards received a fair settlement, although challenging. Within that, £250 million has been allocated towards social care, which the member called for and supported and, hopefully, still does. I have three similar questions on NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. If other members wish to ask supplementaries, I will take them at question 8. Question 6, Drew Smith. To ask the Scottish Government when it will next meet NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Cabinet secretary. Well, ministers and Scottish Government officials regularly meet with representatives of all boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. I am sure that when she does next meet the board, she will discuss the poor performance of the Glasgow royal infirmary against her own A&E waiting time target, and specifically the fact that the most recent figures have revealed one in five patients waiting for more than four hours. Can I also offer the cabinet secretary the opportunity to apologise to patients who have been waiting for eight hours at the so-called immediate assessment unit at the Queen Elizabeth hospital? Is she aware of the calls from staff there for that service to be dismantled and restructured? And what has she done to resolve the situation that last Wednesday led to a frail elderly patient being left on a trolley in a corridor and without a pillow for eight hours? Cabinet secretary. Well, of course, I would be interested to look and investigate any individual issues of concern. If they have come to me, I always ensure that the board investigates and that a response is given. If the member has any specific patient concerns, he should raise them with me and I will respond to that. Clearly, this week and next week are two of the most challenging weeks for our A&E departments. That has always been so. If you look at the performance across Scotland from the figures printed and produced yesterday, although challenging, the performance is considerably better than the performance last year. Clearly, we want the boards to recover and I expect them to recover, including Greater Glasgow and Clyde, more rapidly than was the case last year. I am absolutely always keen to see progress being made, but I would hope that the member and other members would recognise the hard work and progress that has been made, whether that is in Glasgow or elsewhere. He raised a specific issue about the assessment unit. He will be aware that a lot of support has gone in to the assessment unit. The capacity has been increased, with the new ambulatory care area being established, which is capable of seeing 20 to 30 patients a day. The board has also created additional bed capacity across the sites with winter contingency plans meeting an additional 104 beds across the region. Although I absolutely do not think that that was an appropriate level of care for that individual patient and we would want to see improvements made, I do hope that, as I said earlier, the member would recognise that progress has been made compared to last winter, and that that would be recognised, because I think that the staff deserve that. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of access to advanced radiotherapy. The radiotherapy subgroup of the national cancer clinical services group is carrying out an exercise to establish the range and types of radiotherapy treatments currently available in each of Scotland's five cancer centres. In the context of my supplementary, I would like to indicate that I am a co-convener of the cross-party group on cancer. The cabinet secretary will be aware that the cross-party group and Cancer Research UK wish to highlight the benefits of radiotherapy, which experts suggest involve in four in 10 cancer cures. Many experts further advise that access to the most advanced treatments in Scotland is extremely variable, but there is no public data available to support what many people know. If such data was in the public domain, all involved in addressing the issue could give it the focus that it deserves. Will the cabinet secretary confirm that she will use her influence to ensure that this data is made available and that access to advanced radiotherapy is treated as a priority within the Scottish Government and across the NHS? I think that the member raises an important point. Of course, accessible and accurate data is an essential component in enabling us to shape radiotherapy services to meet the needs of the population. Earlier this year, officials conducted an exercise to investigate what clinical data is available to support advanced radiotherapy service planning. It was found that the existing clinical data was incomplete and therefore was not of the quality that it needed to be. Therefore, the radiotherapy subgroup of the national cancer clinical services group is conducting further information gathering to establish a more robust platform for the planning and sustainable delivery of advanced types of radiotherapy. The information will inform the forthcoming cancer plan, which will be an important publication to set the future direction of travel for the next 10 years. I hope that the member understands the reasons for that. I am happy to keep in contact with her as we take those matters forward. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and what issues were discussed. Ministers and Scottish Government officials regularly meet with representatives of all health boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. In her response on the 18 June last to the Scottish Government's inquiry into the Vale of Leven hospital tragedy, the Cabinet Secretary undertook to establish a website on which regular updates would be posted on the implementation of all 75 recommendations. She undertook to give a report to the health and sport committee at the end of November and to report back to Parliament in November as well. My inquiry suggests that no such report has been received by the health and sport committee. There has been no report back to Parliament and, more urgently, having checked the website, there is absolutely nothing updating any progress on any of the 75 recommendations, some seven months after the Cabinet Secretary undertook to do so. Can she explain why this is? Can she remedy it? Can she explain to Parliament why the follow-through on this has fallen short on an inquiry that arose from the deaths of so many people? First, to reassure the member that I have been ensuring that boards, as they were expected to, have taken forward their plans to implement the 75 recommendations. I will absolutely, as a matter of urgency, look at the issues that he raises about the website not being kept up-to-date. I am aware that there is continual communication with the patient groups, and I will ensure that that has continued. It is my understanding that it has, because that has been a really important relationship that has been built with those patients and the families of those affected. On the report to the end of November, again, I will check that. If that has not happened, I will rectify that as a matter of urgency as soon as question time is finished. The health secretary will be aware that, last week, 237 individual patients waited more than four hours for treatment at the A&E department of the RAH in Paisley. Last February, the cabinet secretary sent in a crisis team and promised to fix the problem, but yet again we are seeing only 81 per cent of patients being seen within the waiting time target. That is not progress. Everybody knows that there are not enough beds or staff at the RAH. When are you going to provide the long-term solution and investment that is needed to fix the problems at the RAH in Paisley? I think that the member does the staff at the RAH a great disservice. If you look at the progress that has been made at the RAH over the past few months, since the figures that the member highlighted, there has been huge improvement in the performance of the RAH. As I said earlier, the two most challenging weeks of the year and the winter period last week and next week are the two most challenging weeks of the year and the winter period. I would have thought that he would recognise for the staff's sake—not my sake—but for the sake of the staff who have put in so much effort to improve things at the RAH and all of our other A&E departments that he would recognise the substantial progress that has been made, a huge improvement within the figures over the past few months compared to last year. I think that the staff deserve a little bit more recognition of that and a little bit less criticism. I think that that would go down a lot better with the staff at the RAH. I wonder when the cabinet secretary next meets NHS creator Glasgow and Clyde who would raise with some the issue of podiatry. I have a number of elderly constituents who have been refused simple nail cutting. One such constituent is in his 90s and cannot bend to attend to his nails. Another suffers from vertigo. When I asked the board to consider this case as a special one, I was told quite simplistically that vertigo does not affect foot health. Clearly, it may well do if it means that the sufferer cannot bend to attend to his nails. Will the cabinet secretary look at the guidelines for podiatry for older people and reform them so that constituents such as mine can get the kind of help and attention that will allow them to remain in their own homes, cut down the number of falls and just give them a better quality of life? If the member wants to furnish me with more of the details of the particular case, I will certainly look into that individual case. In a general sense, she is aware that the Scottish Government's personal foot care guidelines were published back in September 2013, which described the tonial cutting as personal foot care rather than podiatry care. The reason for that was to ensure that the podiatry service is focusing on those who have the greatest need. No one at risk of developing serious foot problems would be discharged from the podiatry service. Health boards would emphasise that people who develop more serious foot problems are able to access the podiatry service for assessment and treatment. Basically, the podiatry service has been required to focus its attention on those people who need the service most, people with conditions that have a serious implication for foot care. Those are the guidelines that have been in place since September 2013. However, as I said in my opening remarks, if the member wants to write to me about the specific case, I will certainly look into it to ensure that the guidelines are being appropriately applied. I think that it is time that the cabinet secretary stopped accusing the opposition of not being supportive to staff. On behalf of my party—I am sure of the other opposition parties—we have repeatedly said that the staff are doing a fantastic job. However, I want to draw attention to today's evening times and ask a question on that, Deputy Presiding Officer. Russia gridlock causes travel misery near the new hospital. This is about staff as well as patients. Staff are reporting having to take up to two hours to get out of the area at night, and they are often being fined by their nursery schools for failing to pick up their children on time. If she is so concerned about staff, will she please do something about it? At the same time, the ambulance drivers, whom we know now from our freedom of information inquiry, have up to 30 minutes waiting time at the Queen Elizabeth hospital. 50 per cent—more than any other hospital in Scotland—are also reporting substantial delays at rush hour time in getting patients to and from the hospital. The A&E waiting times do not reflect the additional matters. Will she deal with this traffic problem rapidly? On the issue of A&E waiting times, I am absolutely happy to defend and fix and rectify any issues where performance is not as it should be. Let's take the Christmas week of this last year. A 96 per cent performance across our A&E departments in Scotland, the best performance for five years, not a single word of praise from the Opposition, not one word of praise for staff who delivered a very, very good performance. No praise— As soon as there is an opportunity to have a go again at the staff in our A&E departments, the opportunity is taken by the Opposition. All I am asking for and all the staff are asking for is a bit of balance and a bit of praise when performance is delivered. If you do not take my word for it, you should go and speak to the way that staff perceive the attacks on the A&E departments. It is not about an attack on me, it is about an attack on them. Richard Simpson raised issues about ambulance turnaround times. I have been very clear with the Scottish Ambulance Service that ambulance turnaround times, particularly the Queen Elizabeth, have not been good enough. They have assured me that that has not impacted on clinical safety and that they are actively working with ambulance service colleagues to address this. We have also allocated £400,000 this year to the ambulance service to ensure that they were better prepared for winter. I hope that Richard Simpson would welcome that. We announced that there was £11.4 million increase in funding next year, which will see around 300 extra paramedics recruited over the next five years to help to improve that situation. Yes, the turnaround time at the Queen Elizabeth needs to improve. The Scottish Ambulance Service has assured me that it will do so, and I hope that that is something that Richard Simpson may welcome. I wonder if you could advise what remedies open to members of this Parliament who are being wrongly accused by the health cabinet secretary of denigrating NHS staff. I do not think that I have ever heard a member in this chamber of any party denigrating or in any way criticising members of NHS staff. We all understand and appreciate the job that they do. Having undergone surgery in the past two weeks, I can tell you that from personal experience, but what members of the opposition are also trying to do is raise issues that members of staff themselves are bringing to our attention. What remedy are open to members of this chamber when they are being wrongly accused in this way by the cabinet secretary? As you well know, Ms Ferguson is not a point of order. However, you have made a point. I am not responsible for what the cabinet secretary says in answer. Neither am I responsible for what members ask his questions, but I would ask members if they could be more succinct or we will not get any further with this question session. Dr Simpson, could you wait until I finish speaking and then your microphone will be switched on? Thank you. Is it not your duty to ensure that members treat each other with respect in this Parliament? When a member accuses other members of denigrating staff in the health service, when they have never done so, never in 13 years in this Parliament have I ever denigrated staff and yet I am accused by the cabinet secretary of doing so, that is not treating others with respect. Thank you, Dr Simpson. I think that all members are aware that we should treat everyone in the chamber with respect, but, as I said, I am not responsible for the content of the cabinet secretary's answers. Did I have a point of order at the other side of the chamber? In the light of the points of order being taken during question time, can you add time on for those of us who actually have questions that we wish to answer? Ordered, please. No, I am afraid that we are fixed today with the time that question time finishes for very specific reasons. If we can move on, question number nine, Alison Johnstone. Thank you. To ask the Scottish Government how it considers supporter involvement in football clubs, including ownership, can make a positive contribution to society. Minister Jamie Hepburn. The Scottish Government recognises the pivotal role football clubs play in communities the length and breadth of Scotland. That includes their economic impact, as well as the many wider community activities that clubs are engaged in. On the back of legislation unanimously agreed by the Parliament as part of the community empowerment Scotland Act 2015, we have been consulting on a range of different options to enhance supporter involvement and will work with the football authorities and, of course, supporters to take forward proposals to do that. I would urge anyone who has not participated yet in the consultation to do so before it closes on 15 January. I thank the minister for his response. Does the minister agree with anti-sectarianism campaigners like Dave Scott of Nill by Mouth that greater fan control and ownership is an exciting opportunity for the silent majority of fans who are appalled by sectarianism to find their voice in clubs and ensure a welcoming and tolerant atmosphere in our game? Secondly, if the majority of people responding to the Government's consultation support a fan's right to buy, when will the Government deliver it? Minister. I would certainly concur that we want to see a positive atmosphere in football grounds the length and breadth of Scotland. As is possible, I agree that football support involvement can contribute significantly towards that end. I think that I was clear having set out the Government's intended way forward at the time of the community empowerment bill debate, Presiding Officer, that I have no preconceptions on what type of mechanism will be taken forward. My clear commitment is to consider the responses that we garner as part of the consultation as quickly as possible and then to engage with the football authorities and, indeed, football supporters, quickly thereafter to determine a way forward. To ask the Scottish Government how it supports and promotes participation in Highland sports like Shindee and Highland games heavy events. Scottish Government is committed to protecting the Highland games as a tradition enjoyed by many communities across Scotland, a national agency for sports. Scotland also shares this commitment and recognises the Scottish Highland Games Association as the governing body of traditional Highland games in Scotland. We are also providing the Cabinet Association with funding of up to 546,000 pounds between 2015 and 2019 to support and develop Shindee. I thank the minister for his reply and he will be well aware that I attend many Highland games in the summer in my constituency. There has been a marked increase of foreign heavies participating and a reduction in Scottish heavies participating in those games. I fear that if we do not up our game and provide even more support and encouragement even for young people to get involved in these heavy events, that in five or ten years' time there won't be any Scottish heavies competing in our Highland games. I suppose that one of the advantages that Mr Thomas has over me is that there will be many more opportunities to attend Highland games in his constituency than there might be in my own, but certainly it would concur as important that we do what we can to support the development of heavy events that might be part of the various Highland games across the country. Working in partnership with local authorities and other sports Scotland's active schools programme provides a range of extra-curricular opportunities for children and young people to get active and stay active across a wide range of sports and physical activities. Heavy events such as hammer throwing and shot putter are categorised under athletics in the active schools programme. Although we cannot provide a specific breakdown for specific activities in athletics, I know that it is sessions for athletics to place at schools in all 32 local authorities during the 2014-15 academic year. The Government always stands ready to consider any proposals that are made in good faith as to how we can further support involvement in physical activity and support across the country. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the prevalence of smoking among young people. Minister Maureen Watt Trends in Scotland continue to show that smoking among young people are at the lowest levels of prevalence since current surveys began in 1982. However, we must continue to take firm action to support young people to choose not to smoke if we are to achieve our vision of a smoke-free Scotland by 2034. Current activity includes continued sales and promotion restrictions, such as our display ban and standardised packaging, robust enforcement of legislation and education activities such as our pallet of the assist peer education programme. The minister will be aware of the tobacco-free schools initiative that was launched last year by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in conjunction with Ash Scotland, which aims to ensure that nobody is exposed to tobacco on school grounds. However, after writing to a number of councils in my region, I was disappointed to learn that many councils appear to be unaware of the initiative. Given that two thirds of smokers start smoking before the age of 18, what steps can the minister take to support the roll-out of tobacco-free schools across Scotland? I thank Stuart Maxwell for his continued support and interest in this area. Going forward, our strategy calls for NHS boards and local authorities to establish smoke-free outdoor areas. It is for local authorities to decide how to do that in partnership with their local populations. I know that some areas have already taken action to create smoke-free campuses, schools, colleges and universities such as the Tobacco-Free Schools initiative that was developed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde together with Ash Scotland, as the member mentioned. I fully support that work and would encourage all local authorities to consider how to do that. The assist programme, the peer-ledged schools-based programme, which we are piloting in Tayside Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Lothian health board areas, is due to conclude in 2017 and will be evaluated. I hope that that will help with the roll-out to other areas. Question 12, Gil Paterson, has not been lodged and an explanation has been provided. To ask the Scottish Government how many so-called deep-end GP practices have been taken into NHS board control. There are currently no deep-end GP practices that have been taken into NHS board control. However, we are aware that one deep-end practice in Dundee is due to come under board control in March of this year. She has just said that plans are progressing to take the Loughy GP practice in Dundee, not into control of the health board, but it will come under control of the integrated joint board. That is the first practice in an area of high deprivation in Scotland for that to happen. It is the first GP practice in the whole country to come under the auspices of an integrated board. Can she please tell me who is ultimately legally responsible for delivery of this primary care service, NHS Tayside or Dundee City Council? NHS Tayside is because, although through integration the services come together, the employment status of each of the respective groups of staff remains either the local authority or the health board. In this case, NHS Tayside will be the employer of what I understand will be three GPs at the practice and, of course, the other staff at the practice will also be transferred into the employment of the health board. What is important is that there is an opportunity through the Dundee community health partnership working in an integrated fashion to take on the responsibility for the operational management of the practice and looking at the possibility of a multidisciplinary workforce and really being able to stabilise that practice and look to the future hopefully to develop new services for the people of Loughy. I think that that will be something that everyone will welcome. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase spending in mental health. Despite the UK Government reducing our total budget by 4.3 per cent in relative terms between 2015 and 2016-20, the draft budget for 2016-17 confirmed that the £397m resource consequentials for health were passed on in full, bringing the total budget for the health, wellbeing and sport portfolio to over £13 billion for the first time last year and its investment of £100 million to improve mental health service over the next five years. The draft budget for the coming financial provides an additional £50 million resulting in a total package of £150 million. On Tuesday, the First Minister announced that £54.1 million over one-third of that package will invest over the next four years to prove access to services for people of all ages, including children and adolescents. I thank the minister for that comprehensive answer and welcome the increase in spending. Can the minister confirm if there is any national strategy or guidance being looked at to have transition from services from CAMHS to adult services? I would certainly recognise that it is essential that contact with health services is maintained when patients move between services such as adolescent to adult services. Health boards have arrangements to ensure minimisation of disruption to care and to avoid loss of contact already. I would say to Mr Robertson that we are present and engaged in the early stages of the new mental health strategy. I welcome all suggestions as to what can be part of that. I will certainly make sure that Mr Robertson's point is included as part of our considerations. If he wants to contribute to that process—indeed, if any member wants to contribute to that process, they would be very welcome to do so. Government, what progress is being made on the construction of the new intensive psychiatric care unit at Strathedon hospital? Construction of the £4.5 million new intensive psychiatric care unit on the Strathedon hospital site is progressing well, and it is expected to be completed within budget by 25 April 2016. I thank the minister for that answer and his comprehensive answer to the previous question of Dennis Robertson. I recognise that the new IPC unit will help to provide essential care to those who need it most when it opens. Is the minister able to add any further information as to facilities for children and young people, particularly in Fife, as a result of the increased promise to the budget? Of course, we already have made significant commitments for children and young people through mental health services. We have the CAMHS heat standard to improve access to treatment for children and adolescents. Indeed, in the latest published figures, 27 per cent more people were seen by CAMHS in the comparable period for 2014. I recognise that more needs to be done. Yesterday's announcement of 54.1 million investment from our total funding package of 150 million in mental health services over five years will improve access to psychological therapies for all ages, including children, adolescents and mental health services. That will include people in the NHS Fife area. Ask the Scottish Government whether it is considered how it can make it easier for inpatients to participate in NHS consultations. Listening and learning from patients is vital to improving healthcare quality, and it has always been a priority for this Government. Our Patients Rights Act of 2011 gives all patients the right to participate and is set out in our patient charter. We want to build on that and continue to make it easier for the voices of patients to be heard. To that end, recent developments include patient opinion, the independent website through which people can share their experiences directly, our voice, which will strengthen participation systems and practice. Of course, we are currently in the middle of the national conversation that I launched in August through which we have already engaged over 10,000 people on the future of our health and social care services and what really matters to them. Consultations can sometimes feel like a way to kick an issue into the long grass, so what help has the Scottish Government offered to NHS boards to make consultations quicker without compromising their response rate? The member raises a fair point. Extensive guidance has been given to boards and, of course, the involvement of the Scottish Health Council should help boards in making sure that, when they consult on services in their area, they do so in a way that is of quality and is genuinely participative. If there are further changes that we can make to improve that, I am certainly happy to hear those proposals through the national conversation or directly to myself if the member wants to write to me. Thank you. That ends question time.