Chamber and committees

While the allocation of trainees in these medical specialties in the North of Scotland is below the 15% allocation, there are a number of other training programmes in this region with an allocation above the agreed 15% of training posts, for example Acute Medicine (16.8%), Cardiology (15.4%), Gastroenterology (18.6%). Should they wish, Boards in the North region may submit proposals to redistribute posts more evenly across the medical specialties, or for adjustments to be made across all regions for different training levels. Any such adjustments would need to be agreed with other Scottish Boards, carefully planned to ensure continuity of service and care for patients and also attractive to trainees to maximise the chances of successful recruitment.

An allocation of 15% of trainees to the North of Scotland was agreed with NHS Boards Chief Executives which reflects population levels in the area. At present, the North of Scotland has 15.9% of overall training posts in Scotland, marginally exceeding the target. It is open for those Boards in the North region to set out proposals to increase their trainee allocations which, in the first instance, would be considered by the Scottish Shape of Training Transition group.

The allocation of Internal Medicine Training posts in the North of Scotland currently stands at 14.8%. The precise allocation of specialty training posts into training programmes also depends on the capacity to both deliver such training and provide appropriate senior supervision for these trainees. These are operational matters for NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to agree with Boards concerned, and NES is currently managing the distribution of additional IMT posts in line with the introduction of a third year to the revised IMT programme. Further information on this distribution will be available over the coming weeks, however the North of Scotland is expected to receive an allocation in line with its agreed national distribution.

In December 2019, we published the first Integrated National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan in the UK. Developed in partnership with COSLA, the Integrated Plan sets out how health and social care services will meet growing demand to ensure the right numbers of staff, with the right skills, across health and social care services.

The Integrated Plan, and the preceding National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan parts 1-3, included a number of commitments to increase the medical workforce supply. This includes having grown medical undergraduate intake by 22% over the course of this Parliament, alongside the provision of increased training places in a number of specialties in both lower and higher specialty training. A proportion of these specialty training posts will be based in the North of Scotland.

The Scottish Government has also provided funding for training posts which focus on supporting rural healthcare, including funding specifically to promote retention of physicians in remote and rural medicine. Equally, the Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM) programme, a collaboration between the Universities of Dundee and St Andrews with learning delivered through the University of the Highlands and Islands, has specific learning focused on rural medicine and healthcare improvement.

In addition to encouraging those at the beginning of their medical career to consider practicing in more rural areas, the Scottish Government is also providing funding to the Scottish Clinical Collaborative. This is a joint project between the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Scottish Government to give experienced retired or semi-retired consultant surgeons, anaesthetists and other doctors the opportunity to work in rural general hospitals. The project will help ensure that vital expertise is not lost and will help to maintain our rural healthcare services.

In December 2019, we published the first Integrated National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan in the UK. Developed in partnership with COSLA, the Integrated Plan sets out how health and social care services will meet growing demand to ensure the right numbers of staff, with the right skills, across health and social care services.

The Integrated Plan and the proceeding National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan parts 1-3 include a number of commitments to increase the medical workforce supply. This includes an additional 50-100 medical undergraduate places by 2021, which we are on track to deliver. A proportion of these posts will be based in the North of Scotland.

As well as more established specialties, the Scottish Government has also provided funding for training posts which focus on supporting rural healthcare. The Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM) programme is a collaboration between the Universities of Dundee and St Andrews, which is designed to develop doctors interested in a career as a generalist practitioner within NHS Scotland and focuses on rural medicine and healthcare improvement.

In addition to encouraging those at the beginning of their medical career to consider practicing in more rural areas, the Scottish Government is also providing funding to the Scottish Clinical Collaborative. This is a joint project between the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Scottish Government to give experienced retired or semi-retired consultant surgeons, anaesthetists and other doctors the opportunity to work in rural general hospitals. The project will help ensure that vital expertise is not lost and will help to maintain our rural healthcare services.

Along with the Integrated Plan, we have provided updated guidance on workforce planning to all health and social care organisations in Scotland. Within this supplement to the Integrated Plan are a series of NHS Scenarios, including on the medical workforce. This supports NHS planners to proactively and effectively plan their workforce, ensuring Boards have the correct mix and number of staff in place.

This approach should contribute to a reduced reliance on medical agency staffing in the future.

We support the use of overdose prevention facilities as an effective and evidence-led intervention in our fight to save lives and reduce drug related harm.

There is a strong body of evidence from other countries that these facilities can not only prevent fatal overdoses but also encourage engagement with services which is essential to support recovery and reduce harm.

We continue to have an open mind toward viable, legal ways in which we can move forward with enabling such facilities to operate.

I will also continue to urge the UK Government to take action as quickly as possible, either by taking the necessary steps to allow for the set-up of these facilities, or to devolve the powers to Scotland so that we can.

I am determined to continue to take urgent action on drugs and I will be working closely with stakeholders to improve the health outcomes of those who use drugs.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-34269 on 20 January 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

New subsea cables will be laid in Argyll and Bute, Highland, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands local authority areas. This will build on those already laid as part of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband project in the Highlands and Islands. As outlined in my response to S5W-34020 on 14 December 2020, we have issued BT with an updated intervention area taking account of changes in commercial roll-out plans. Once this remodelling work is finalised, details on which communities will benefit from the R100 North lot contract will be available via the online checker.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

As outlined in my response to S5W-34020 on 14 December 2020, we have issued BT with an updated intervention area taking account of changes in commercial roll-out plans. It is only once this remodelling work is finalised that we will be able to say with certainty when we expect build to be completed in the R100 North lot. In the meantime, our Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme will offer access to a superfast broadband connection for anyone whose home or business broadband speed is less than 30 megabits per second and where there are no plans to bring access to superfast broadband by the end of 2021.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

At contract signature, BT indicated that they would build to almost 71,000 of the 90,530 premises that were in scope. Of these, BT have indicated that they planned to build to 60,700 as Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) or 85.6% of their build. This is an excellent outcome, delivering up to gigabit per second speeds to all benefitting from FTTP, and and, in addition, just over 10,500 premises were flagged as due to be connected via Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) rather than FTTP under the North lot contract.

R100 set out to ensure that everyone could access at least superfast speeds (30 Megabits per second) and so delivery of such a high proportion of full fibre (FTTP) technology is delivering more than our original commitment. As outlined in my response to S5W-30420, we have issued BT with an updated intervention area taking account of changes in commercial roll-out plans and so we expect that this FTTC figure will change once roll-out plans are finalised.

Once this remodelling work is finalised details on which communities will benefit from the North lot contract will be available. The R100 programme is a superfast broadband programme and so all connections delivered via the R100 contracts, our Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme or commercial coverage will provide speeds of at least 30 Mbps.