Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s commitment to the early diagnosis of cancer is reflected in the £44m Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme. The NHS Recovery Plan – published August 2021 – commits an additional £20m for the DCE Programme, to provide greater public awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer and supporting the development of optimal cancer pathways to improve earlier diagnosis rates. Research will be undertaken in the coming months to better understand the possible barriers and levers to early diagnosis that any new DCE campaigns should focus on.

An overarching DCE social marketing campaign 'Survivors' was previously developed in close consultation with the Scottish Cancer Coalition in 2018. The campaign aimed to reduce fear around cancer and empower people to take early action, be it visiting their GP practice or attending screening when invited. To coincide with the campaign, a symptom-checker tool was developed on DCE’s website (getcheckedearly.org) to raise awareness of the early signs and symptoms of cancer, including blood cancer.

The National Cancer Plan, published on 9 December 2020, includes 68 actions and has been backed with up to £114.5 million. This includes a flagship innovation of the introduction of Early Cancer Diagnostic Centres (ECDC), with three Early Cancer Diagnostic Centres (ECDC) already established in NHS Scotland this year. The Centres provide primary care with a new referral route for patients with non-specific symptoms suspicious of cancer (i.e. weight loss, fatigue, nausea), which don’t meet site specific Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer. The Clinical Lead for two of the Centres are Haematologists, reflecting the role that this new model can play in diagnosing blood cancers in Scotland.

The establishment and implementation of ECDCs are overseen by a national oversight group, of which the Scottish Cancer Coalition (that includes blood cancer charities) has representation on.

Officials are currently in discussion with the Blood Cancer Alliance to arrange a meeting in the new year, to explore how further improved outcomes for patients diagnosed with blood cancers can be achieved.

Table 1 shows the number of secondary teachers in each Local Authority at the time of the census and who did not hold a post in the following year's census. Some teachers may be double counted if they are recorded as working in two different local authorities.

Table 2 shows the number of secondary teachers by their main subject at the time of the census and who did not hold a post in the following year's census. Some teachers may be double counted if they have a post at more than one schools and are recorded as having a different main subject at different schools.

In both tables teachers who were not teaching at the time because they were either on leave or seconded from their post (e.g. on maternity leave) are counted as holding a post. The total figure in table 1 and table 2 are different as some teachers may be double counted.

There are a number of reasons why a teacher would not hold a post in the following year's census, these include resignation, retiring, end of contract, moving to independent schools etc.

Table 1

The number of Nurses employed by NHS Ayrshire & Arran in the last five years can be found on the NHS Education for Scotland (NES) website on the following link: Nursing and Midwifery | Turas Data Intelligence (nhs.scot)

The number of GPs in each board is available at Table 2 of:

General Practice - GP Workforce and practice list sizes 2010 - 2020 - General Practice - GP workforce and practice list sizes - Publications - Public Health Scotland

The next update, including figures for 30 September 2021, is published on 14 December.

The number of Doctors other than GP's including Consultants, doctors in training and other trained doctors employed by NHS Ayrshire & Arran in the last five years can be found on the NES website on the following link:

Medical and Dental | Turas Data Intelligence (nhs.scot)

Significant financial and non-financial investment has been made in capercaillie conservation by Scottish Government, its partners and agencies, NGOs, landowners, communities and individuals. While the status of the capercaillie population in Scotland remains vulnerable, without the investment that has been made it is likely that we would have lost capercaillie from Scotland.

Support has included funding from NatureScot towards research and conservation of capercaillie in Scotland since 2011 as well as funding via the Forestry Grant Scheme specifically to support capercaillie populations.

Other Scottish Government funding in support of habitat management is likely to have benefited capercaillie but where not specifically provided for this species no breakdown is available.

The Forestry Grant Scheme, delivered through the Scottish Rural Development Programme and Scottish Forestry, will provide £307,759 of support specifically for capercaillie between 2016 and 2025. Prior to this, the Scottish Government paid out £781,452 through the Rural Priority (RP) Scheme’s Capercaillie Package between 2008 and 2019.

NatureScot, (formerly Scottish Natural Heritage), made payments of £544,705 towards the research and conservation of capercaillie in Scotland during the period December 2011 – December 2021.

Other Scottish Government funding in support of habitat management is likely to have benefited capercaillie but where not specifically provided for this species no breakdown is available.

Booster information was made available in the international travel section of the NHS Scotland Covid Status App on 9 December, and on paper/pdf certificates from 13 December.

Integrated Joint Bodies are best placed to decide how funding can be used to best respond to local needs in their own communities. To allow them to do so, Scottish Government funding to support Alcohol and Drug Partnership projects is transferred to the NHS Boards via their baseline allocations for onward delegation to Integration Authorities. This year NHS Ayrshire and Arran received £6,779,624.

That funding has increased dramatically as part of the national mission to tackle the drug deaths emergency in Scotland: we are allocating an additional £250 million over the next five years to improve and increase access to services for people affected by drug addiction.

We are clear that any opportunities to engage with people in crisis, including those who have experienced near-fatal overdose, should be explored in order to encourage access to appropriate treatment. The implementation of the new Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards will ensure that anyone identified through hospital admission as being at risk of drug-related harms or near-fatal overdose will be identified, prioritised and supported into the treatment that is right for them.

Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) lies at the heart of Scottish Government policies and the services that are available to support children, young people and families. For over a decade, GIRFEC has shaped the way children’s services are planned and delivered in Scotland, and it is well-embedded in policy and practice.

One of the core components of Getting it right for every child is a named person or equivalent role, who is a clear point of contact for children, young people and parents to go to for initial support and advice. Children and families should be made aware of the help and support that is available, including named person, however there is no requirement to accept the help offered.

Whilst there is an intention to repeal Parts 4 and 5 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, on named person and child’s plans (which were never implemented and are therefore not currently in force), the commitment remains to deliver these core components of GIRFEC within existing law.

I can confirm that £5.3m has been allocated in 2021-2022 to complete the A77 Maybole Bypass. In addition, £9.95m has been allocated for maintenance activities on the A77 Trunk Road.