Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has remained engaged with the aviation sector throughout the pandemic and will continue to do so, including on testing of international travellers.

Travellers returning from green and amber list countries must use the NHS tests, which can be booked through the UK Government’s booking portal for international travel. These kits are home test PCR kits provided by NHS Test & Trace. The cost of the kits is set by the UK Government and the process managed through its contract with the travel management company, so our ability to reduce costs unilaterally is limited.

Currently, we are not using private test providers for international travellers arriving into Scotland from green and amber list countries due to concerns about the speed and reliability of the flow of data from private companies. We are having on-going discussion with the UK government on any issues with using private test providers and any risks attached to this. We are keen to understand fully the key performance indicators (KPIs) that have been recently set for these companies and the process should these not be met.

The Scottish Government holds monthly performance meetings with all NHS Boards, including NHS Grampian. Their last meeting was earlier this month.

Officials also hold weekly cancer performance meetings to monitor the Board’s progress with regards to cancer services.

Recovering the NHS is our immediate focus, and this is why we have committed to publishing an NHS Recovery Plan within the first 100 days.

As part of this, we are investing over £330 million in a network of National Treatment Centres, one of which will be located in NHS Grampian. This will provide additional capacity for elective care.

The Scottish Government does not hold a breakdown of the requested figures by local authority area. The annual figures are shown in the following table:

Information on the number of patients within NHS Grampian who have been waiting more than 12 weeks is published quarterly by Public Health Scotland and can be found at NHS waiting times - stage of treatment 25 May 2021 - Data & intelligence from PHS (isdscotland.org)

This data shows the number of (a) inpatient or day case admissions and (b) outpatient appointments who have been waiting over 12 weeks.

We have no plans to bring forward secondary legislation to introduce a no-fault compensation scheme at this time.

Despite carrying out considerable research and a number of consultations since no-fault compensation proposals were first introduced in 2007, forming expert groups and looking to other countries, including Sweden, there has never been consensus on the most appropriate compensation or redress model for Scotland, or how such a scheme would meet its objectives within our health and social care framework. The member herself has previously questioned whether a no-fault compensation scheme might introduce an additional administrative burden, a culture of compensation, more litigation and a charter for lawyers.

Working with Healthcare Improvement Scotland and other health and care partners we are creating a health and social care environment that uses knowledge from adverse events to inform continuous improvement to health and care services in a culture that embraces openness and learning, without fear of censure when things go wrong. The Duty of Candour Procedure (Scotland) Regulations, which we introduced in April 2018, places this approach on a legal footing.

We will continue to focus our energies and use all the mechanisms at our disposal in driving forward preventative measures in the delivery of person-centred treatment and care that is safe and of a high quality.

A web-based app has been developed as a means to collect data from those who agree to participate in the COVID in Scotland Study to understand the long-term health of people who have had COVID-19. This research study, led by the University of Glasgow in collaboration with Public Health Scotland and funded by the Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office, is Scotland-wide. Invitations to take part in the study are sent via SMS to all adults in Scotland who have had a positive COVID-19 test with the app available to those that agree to participate to submit data on their symptoms. This approach using an app to collect data from study participants will be described and evaluated as part of the reporting of this study once completed.

No agreement has been signed between CalMac and Pentland Ferries as commercial discussions are still taking place

Ferguson Marine closely tracks all projects that could potentially benefit the shipyard.

To improve the resilience of ferry services serving island and remote mainland communities, we are exploring opportunities for chartering additional tonnage including the temporary time charter of the MV Pentalina. Industrial relations are a matter for CalMac Ferries Ltd, its employees and the recognised trades unions. I understand discussions have been taking place between CalMac and its local Union representatives on these matters.

Discussions are progressing between CalMac and Pentland Ferries with regards to the time charter of the MV Pentalina. The impact on the annual level of subsidy cannot be confirmed until negotiations have been completed.