Chamber and committees

The requested information is not centrally held. NHS Education for Scotland publishes annual data on joiners/leavers, but this information does not specify start date or professional background of joiners. Information on joiners/leavers by staff group for each financial year can be found on the following link: NHSScotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence

In October 2021, SG officials wrote to those remaining on the COVID-19 temporary registers with advice on how to view and access NHS Board vacancies, encouraging them to consider returning to the service. Prospective candidates were directed to vacancies hosted by individual NHS Boards, who are fully responsible for local recruitment.

Our overall assessment, from the numbers that remained on the registers and feedback from boards, is that a reasonable return rate would have been in the region of 5-10%; or around 200 doctors, nurses and midwives, allied health professionals and pharmacists (headcount) nationally. However, as candidates were directed to NHS Board vacancies, the Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of returners joining as a result of this measure.

A decision was taken, in discussion with Boards, that monitoring the rate of applicants in autumn and winter who had applied from emergency registers would be a burdensome task for already pressured Health Board recruitment teams.

We know how difficult the pandemic has been for businesses, voluntary organisations and staff in these sectors.

Third sector organisations which operate in hospitality, entertainment, culture and events can apply for support from the £375 million support package to help businesses immediately impacted by measures introduced to control the spread of Omicron, if they meet the eligibility criteria. We have provided details on how £262 million of this funding will be allocated and payments have now started.

Since the start of the pandemic, businesses have benefitted from more than £4.4 billion in support from the Scottish Government. Voluntary organisations could receive support from the Strategic Framework Business Fund which provided £344.8 million to businesses across Scotland, if they met the eligibility criteria.

Each year since 2010-11, and as demonstrated through the Budget publications, the Scottish Government has delivered its commitment to pass on frontline health consequentials to the Health Portfolio. This refers to resource consequentials arising from increases in funding allocated by HM Treasury to the Department of Health and Social Care.

As the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy has made clear in Parliament, there are some areas of required spend where Covid consequentials have fallen short of expectation. In addition, there are some timing differences between spend in England and equivalent spend in Scotland .

In this context, the Scottish Government has taken steps to align funding from the UK Government with actual spending profiles in Scotland. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy highlighted in her letter to the convenor of the Finance and Public Administration Committee, Covid 19 Financial support Scottish Government update | Scottish Parliament Website , that the Scottish Government has required to repurpose some health consequentials to specifically support wider public health measures. Further detail will be provided in the Spring Budget Revision.

The Scottish Government is keen to see all health and social care partnerships maximise their potential to recycle and reuse their community equipment, and benefit from the efficiencies and savings this can result in. For example, EquipU, the joint equipment store covering 6 local authorities and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, reported that during 2021 £4.2 million worth of equipment was recycled, with a reuse cost of only £410,000. The service has also reported a 17% increase in recycling to date this Financial Year. Other areas are reporting similar increases and have also increased initiatives, and public communication to ensure the swift return of unwanted equipment to store services.

Scottish Government officials are currently carrying out a review of the Guidance on Providing Community Equipment and Adaptations, with a consultation planned for March 2022.

Since May 2020, the Scottish Government has invested over £48 million in our Connecting Scotland programme, which provides people on low incomes with a device, connection with unlimited data for two years, as well as training and support. Since programme launch 60,000 digitally excluded people in total have been brought online. We are now working to scope out an extension to the programme to reach 300,000 people by the end of this Parliament.

The programme is part of our wider package of support to help everyone in Scotland benefit fully from the advantages of the digital world – from broadband connectivity to digital skills training and support for schools and business.

For more detail on data relating to echocardiograms, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05550 on 21 January 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Information on outpatient referrals can be found here ( Waiting times - Data & intelligence from PHS (isdscotland.org) . Waiting times information is not broken down by diagnosis code.

In April 2021, we commissioned Public Health Scotland to develop the Scottish Cardiac Audit Programme, this includes the collection of data on Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implant, and Adult Cardiac Surgery in Scotland, both of which are relevant to the management and treatment of heart valve disease.

Further development of this audit programme and decisions around any future data to be collected will be undertaken in collaboration with clinicians and people with lived experience of heart disease in Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05487 on 21 January 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The information requested on how many people have been treated using hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy is not centrally held.

34 people were referred to England in 2017-18, 28 in 2018-19, 25 in 2019-20, 20 in 2020-21 and 13 people so far in 2021-22.

The information requested on the cancellation and postponement of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy is not centrally held.

NHS Lothian have, as part of their action plan agreed with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, the British Academy of Audiology and the Scottish Government, contacted 92 children identified in the review as being of clinical concern and requiring possible retesting.

The Board continues to undertake work to review children known to the service who have risk factors for hearing loss and, based on the outcome of each review, recall children where appropriate in line with national guidance.