Chamber and committees

Sickness Absence rates for all staff directly employed by NHSScotland are published annually for year ending 31 March. Figures for NHSScotland, and for individual health boards are available from 2002 and 2005 respectively.

This information can be found on the Workforce web page of NHS Scotland’s Information Services Division at https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2018-06-05/Sickness_Absence_M2018.xls .

Once the Respiratory Care Action Plan is finalised we will have a better understanding of the financial challenges and opportunities lying ahead and this will inform funding decisions.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of effective asset management and investment planning to ensure that the health and care estate and supporting services are fit for purpose and capable of adapting to and encouraging new models of care delivery.

Our Capital Investment Strategy (CIS) will be brought to Parliament before the end of the financial year. The CIS will take a broad overview of required investment across primary and community care facilities, acute hospital infrastructure, digital technology, and medical equipment and will set out the further steps we will take to support all boards to continue to improve and maintain their estate and asset base.

The Scottish Government provides baseline funding to NHS Boards, which Boards use to best meet the healthcare needs of their resident population. Funding is not ring-fenced for prevention of and self-help for respiratory disease. It is not therefore possible to provide this proportion of the 2019-20 budget.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-21607 on 27 February 2019. 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

Alcoholic Liver disease is one of 15 conditions included in the Alcohol Specific Deaths statistics published annually by National Records of Scotland.

Data for number of deaths by underlying cause of death is available in table 2 of the NRS Alcohol-specific Deaths (new National Statistics definition) Data Tables which are available at the following link.

https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme
/vital-events/deaths/alcohol-deaths/alcohol-specific-deaths-new-definition/tables-and-chart

The data for alcoholic liver disease is detailed in the following table.

Alcohol-specific deaths (new National Statistics definition) by underlying cause of death (ICD-10): registered in Scotland, 2000 to 2017

The first £26.7 million of the £850 million has been allocated across all territorial NHS Boards and the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in 2018-19. This funding is being used to increase workforce, purchase new equipment, put on additional clinics in the evenings and weekends and additional theatres. Subsequent funding will be allocated on specific proposals to increase capacity as outlined in the waiting times improvement plan.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-21522 on 26 February 2019. 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 .

We welcome this report from Parkinson’s UK and will consider it closely as we continue to work with the neurological community to develop Scotland’s first National Action Plan on Neurological Conditions. Through this engagement we have already identified that we need to: understand the gaps in prevalence for neurological conditions; improve and enhance the capture of data; and further develop systems/ processes that support service planning and workforce development based on this information.

The public consultation on our draft plan closed on 8 February 2019. We will carefully consider all feedback received and publish our final plan later this year.

This information is not held centrally. Mechanisms for how complaints about bullying are recorded are matters for each individual Health Board within the framework of the relevant policy and procedure.

The Scottish Government is clear that bullying and harassment in our NHS is unacceptable under any circumstances. We continue to work with our partners to create a culture where all staff feel confident they can speak up about any dignity at work issues they may have.

We are carrying out a 'Once for Scotland' review of all our workforce HR policies, including bullying and harassment. The aim is to create a consistent approach with simplified, improvement focussed policies, which are person centred and supportive to all those involved.