Chamber and committees

The Covid-19 Clinical Guidance Cell, which was established by the Chief Medical Officer to rapidly develop and revise guidance on clinical management of COVID-19 for the NHS, has produced guidance on prevention of venous thromboembolism in hospitalised patients with COVID-19-related disease.

This guidance has been developed in partnership with Health Improvement Scotland and SIGN, based on review of available evidence. It is currently at the peer review stage and is going to be published on the SIGN website soon.

As part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) launched the Rapid Research in COVID-19 programme on March 25th 2020. Following independent expert review, the list of funded applications was published on April 28th 2020. No applications specifically addressing links between COVID-19 and DVT were received. A number of projects were funded on COVID-19 related inflammation, hypertension and cardiovascular injury with potential pathophysiological relevance to DVT. Links to the lay summaries of these studies on the CSO website are provided below.

https://www.cso.scot.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/COVEDI2010.pdf

https://www.cso.scot.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/COVGLA2004.pdf

https://www.cso.scot.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/COVGLA2005.pdf

The full list of funded projects is available from the CSO website

https://www.cso.scot.nhs.uk/rapid-research-in-covid-19-programme/

The data is not centrally available.

Public Health Scotland have pre-announced that Acute Hospital Activity and SMR01 data to end March 2020, is scheduled for publication in September 2020 and that data for April to June 2020 is scheduled for publication in November 2020.

https://beta.isdscotland.org/forthcoming-publications/

Contract tracers working as part of NHS Scotland’s Test and Protect service are employed by the NHS, either within local Health Boards or by NHS National Services Scotland, they are not employed by an agency or agencies. These workers are paid on NHS terms and conditions.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Public Health Scotland publishes weekly statistical information on the Test and Protect system every Wednesday. The most recent publication is available at:

https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/population-health/covid-19/covid-19-statistical-report/ .

A public health surveillance system for ongoing analysis and interpretation of alcohol and drug health-related data is being developed. Understanding the scope, scale and impact of the problem will inform action to reduce harm and prevent premature death. The work is defined in our drug and alcohol strategy, Rights, Respect and Recovery, and is being led by Public Health Scotland (PHS). PHS are placing a particular focus on the surveillance drug harms and deaths and this is being developed on behalf of the Drug Death Task Force.

PHS are working to provide a statement with more information on how this system will operate and the partners involved. This will be available in September.

We have committed to revising and improving substance use education, both in and out of school settings, to ensure it is good quality, impactful and in line with best practice and we are currently working with PHS to deliver this. We are also taking forward substance use education work in our schools through Curriculum for Excellence, to inform young people and help them make healthy choices.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that those living with respiratory conditions can access clinically appropriate, safe and effective person-centred healthcare treatment and support.

The draft Respiratory Care Action Plan for Scotland contains a set of commitments to drive improvement in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, sleep apnoea, bronchiectasis, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

As we continue to develop our understanding of the impact that Covid-19 has had on the health of the people of Scotland, including those that have developed long-term respiratory problems as a result of contracting Covid-19, the final Respiratory Care Action Plan will play a key role in responding to the implications and consequences for many aspects of respiratory care going forward.

The Scottish Government has no role in individuals’ power of attorney arrangements.

Where an individual has concerns about handling of a power of attorney, these are dealt with via local authorities’ and NHS complaints procedures, and through the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman if necessary.

Where a local authority or Health Board has concerns about the decision of an attorney with relevant powers, they can apply for directions from the Sheriff under section 3 of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000. If concerns persist, the local authority can apply to the Sheriff to appoint the Chief Social Work Officer as welfare guardian to replace the attorney.

We will continually review the advice for people shielding, and we will make further changes, if , and when, it is safe to do so. We will provide further advice on how long people will be advised to shield before the end of July, as set out in the document, “Shielding: a way forward for Scotland”, published on 8 June 2020.

It is not possible to definitively quantify the current CT scanning capacity as it is not a fixed number but is dependent on the daily availability of equipment and staff which has been affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic. However, diagnostic services have been running at reduced capacity levels, as Health Boards take account of Covid-19 related physical distancing and additional health and hygiene measures for staff and patients as they provide these services.

During the pandemic, Diagnostic Imaging services have continued to be provided for urgent referrals, and all those who have an urgent suspicion of cancer.

To support the recovery of diagnostic services additional mobile CT and MRI capacity has been secured to support the existing services which are operating at reduced levels due to the requirements of PPE and physical distancing. This capacity will be available for six months and will provide an additional 15,000 CT and 11,000 MRI scans.

The investigation into the safety and operation of the A702/A703/Old Pentland Road junction has identified a number of options to reduce vehicular conflict at this location. As the A703 and Old Pentland Road are the responsibility of Midlothian Council, Transport Scotland is collaborating with them to ensure effects on the trunk and local road networks from potential interventions are fully considered.

The site constraints at this location are extremely challenging, with topography and the presence of adjacent housing making it difficult to develop a solution that would meet current design standards. Improvements are therefore likely to be complex and further investigation will be required to understand their feasibility and buildability. Improvements may also require public consultation, with any objections to proposals having potential to delay or curtail alterations to the junctions.

Once a preferred option has been confirmed by Transport Scotland, following engagement with Midlothian Council, delivery will then be subject to prioritisation with other road safety schemes in the South East trunk road area, and the availability of sufficient funding for a scheme of this scale.