Chamber and committees

Wearing a face covering continues to be a legal requirement in certain environments open to members of the public. The enforcement of the Coronavirus Regulations is, of course, a matter for the Chief Constable and Police Scotland. Police Scotland have indicated that, to date, the vast majority of people are, as we would expect, complying with the regulations. It is, however, important to note that some people are exempt from wearing a face covering, and their reasons for this might not be immediately apparent.

In Police Scotland’s approach, enforcement has always been a last resort, where engagement, explanation and encouragement to comply have all failed. The Chief Constable made it clear at the outset that it is important that Police Scotland’s policing tone and style reflects the need for positive engagement and that common sense needs to be applied by everyone.

The Scottish Government will continue to keep the Coronavirus Regulations under review.

Work on development of a protocol for NHS boards who wish to undertake pilot programmes for lung cancer screening was planned following the Scottish Screening Committee meeting in November 2019. However, this was paused due to the focus on Covid-19 and the remobilisation of the NHS. In particular, efforts of the Scottish Government, Health boards and the Scottish Screening Committee have focused on ensuring that the adult national screening programmes, which also had to be paused in March, can restart safely.

Progressing this work remains important, and it will be resumed as soon as it is possible to do so.

In March 2020, the Scottish Government and NHS Education for Scotland (NES) launched the Health and Social Care Covid-19 Accelerated Recruitment Portal. The Portal has allowed returning professionals, including retired GPs and others with relevant skills and experience, to come forward and support health and social care services.

Upon completion of NES pre-employment checks, portal registrants have been made available to Health Boards for deployment. At 31 August 2020, over 1,400 returning health professionals are available to Boards. NES have contacted candidates who have yet to be selected by Boards for deployment to affirm their continued interest. We remain prepared to utilise the Portal to mitigate future spikes in staffing demand.

An interim review exercise has been conducted involving the Scottish Government, NES and NHS workforce planning colleagues to gather lessons learned since the Portal’s implementation; and to inform its future direction.

Health Boards and Integration Authorities are currently developing pan-NHS planning, with support from the Scottish Government, for the safe and effective delivery of this year’s flu vaccination programme.

Over the week commencing 21 August there was a significant increase in demand for testing, some of it associated with the re-opening of schools.

This led to issues with the booking portal. We brought these to the attention of the UK Government and have worked with them and National Services Scotland to rectify this.

In addition we were made aware that the Edinburgh Regional Testing Centre had to be closed on 25 August due to high winds, although it re-opened the following day.

Demand for testing fluctuates for a range of reasons. With winter pressures on the testing system in mind, we have been taking forward plans to expand existing capacity by:

• Deploying additional mobile testing units
• Increasing the number of tests that can be carried out at regional testing centres
• Utilising additional NHS testing capacity, for example by activating additional drive-through facilities
• Establishing new walk-in centres across Scotland: initially 11 of these are planned

Alternatively, home test kits are available through the UK Expanded Testing Programme and can be booked via the UK online digital portal, and are an option where people seeking a test are unable to attend a fixed drive-through centre or mobile testing unit. As with all COVID-19 related measures, we will continue to keep access to testing under regular review.

The prescribing of generic medicines has been a long term initiative and was not the key decision behind the abolition of prescription charges. The prescribing of generic medicines can often cost considerably less than branded equivalents, and are clinically as effective. This is actively promoted within NHSScotland and accounts for 84% of all dispensed medicines in the community.

Prescription charges were abolished in April 2011 because Scottish Ministers believe that prescription charges are a tax on ill health, and are a barrier to good health for many people. This is particularly so for those with long-term conditions and those on low incomes who in the past have faced choices about which medicines they can afford to take.

The introduction of free prescriptions has been fully funded by the Scottish Government, at no cost to NHS budgets. Prescribing decisions are ultimately matters for each clinician taking into account the individual circumstances and treatment needs of each patient.

On the 29 June, I wrote to Scottish Hospices to confirm that their funding requests (totalling £10.1m) related to loss of income during the pandemic during the first financial quarter of 2020 would be met in full. Integration Authorities and NHS Boards were also notified of this on the same date, and the funding was processed for onward allocation to hospices at the end of June 2020.

It is important to reflect that this funding was provided on a one off basis for the full first quarter of the year to account for loss of income during the pandemic, and that we expect the existing commissioning arrangements between hospices and Integration Authorities to be maintained going forward.

It is also important to reflect that in April 2020, I indicated that Scotland was likely to receive an estimated £19 million in consequentials in respect of the £200 million for hospices included in the UK Government’s announcement of £750 million for charities. HM Treasury have not yet provided an updated final consequential funding figure associated with the original announcement, although it is expected to be significantly lower than the £19m originally expected.

When we have clarification on the total consequential funding we will receive this will be allocated in full to Scottish Hospices.

The NHS in Scotland is currently using COVID-19 antibody tests from the following companies. The table also includes details on where they are manufactured.

Scotland’s Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith and I wrote to health boards and Integration Joint Boards on 16 April 2020 to ensure the need for continuation of care for this group of people is prioritised. A copy of this letter can be found here .

Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) and the Scottish Drug Forum both published national guidance on contingency planning for the delivery of alcohol and drug services during the pandemic. You will find the SDF guidance here , and the SHAAP guidance here .

Additional funding was also set out through the Wellbeing Fund and the Supporting Communities Fund. The link attached provides a more detailed look of this breakdown - https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-support-for-alcohol-and-drug-services/

The Scottish Government continues to monitor service levels to help support local areas where any difficulties in sustaining support services are being found .

Scotland's roadmap that details the phased pathway out of lockdown was updated on the 30th July, and includes guidance and advice for community spaces and churches regarding opening for meetings. Where third sector providers of support groups deem remote support is insufficient for the people they work with, community and relevant centres can open for the purpose of resuming face-to-face and group support where deemed essential and where appropriate protective measures according to current guidance, such as physical distancing, are in place. The Scottish Government has worked with the Scottish Recovery Consortium and providers of alcohol and drug support groups to develop guidance to enable these meetings to restart. I have attached the link for further guidance - https://www.gov.scot/publications/covid-19-framework-decision-making-scotlands-route-map-through-out-crisis-phase-3-update-30th-july-2020/
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