Chamber and committees

All medical doctors, whether UK citizens or nationals of countries outside the UK, European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, with a primary qualification from a medical school outside the UK, EEA or Switzerland must undertake parts 1 and 2 of the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) test. Doctors who have European Community rights, a GMC approved sponsorship arrangement, an approved postgraduate qualification, or who are eligible to enter the GP or specialist medical register do not have to undertake the PLAB test.

In recognition of the difficulties refugees often face in providing the standards of verified evidence normally required for IMG registration, the GMC works with applicants to try to verify their home qualifications through other means if they have been formally recognised as a refugee under the 1951 United Nations Convention, granted limited leave (5 years), granted exceptional leave to remain (granted prior to 1 April 2003), granted humanitarian protection, or granted other leave. The GMC also offers two free attempts at part 1 of the PLAB test and reduced fees for part 2, with the option for successful candidates to pay their initial registration fee in installments.

The Bridges Programme works with NHSScotland to help refugee doctors to meet the criteria for IMG registration including, where necessary, assistance with attaining the International English Language Testing System score required to demonstrate that they have the English language skills to practise safely in the UK. Other assistance programmes are run across the UK by various organisations and professional bodies; however, the Scottish Government does not hold specific information on these.

It is current protocol for all NHS Scotland Health Boards to ensure appropriate referral and testing when Lynch syndrome occurs, and for all patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer before the age of 60.

In relation to the NICE guidelines recommendation to extend referral and testing for lynch syndrome to all patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer; the impacts of this recommendation are currently being reviewed by NHS Scotland’s Molecular Pathology Consortium (MPC).

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) publish the number of applications received from Scottish domiciles to study pre-clinical medicine at any UK Institution, as well as the number of applications received from UK domiciles to study pre-clinical medicine at Scottish Institutions. Individuals may apply to more than one institution.

The information requested on training places for workers in this sector is not held centrally as the activity is not centrally managed. Much adult social care and childcare training is vocational and work-based and training providers with relevant information could include employers, private training providers, colleges, universities and bodies such as the Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Qualifications Authority.

Introduction of an internship programme would be a matter for the organisations responsible for delivering social care and other stakeholders and this approach has not to date been raised with the Scottish Government. It may be helpful to note that much of the training for this sector is work-based and that many of those studying for qualifications in social care are already employed in the sector.

We acknowledge recruitment challenges in the sector and are working with stakeholders on a number of actions including payment of the living wage in the sector. In addition our NDPB, the Scottish Social Services Council provide a range of resources to support those looking to recruit staff and for those looking at a career in the care sector, including free online career resources, Career Ambassadors and support for modern and foundation apprenticeships.

The Scottish Government is continuing to work closely with partners in the region to deliver the West Lothian Economic Growth Plan, which was agreed following the announcement in 2012 that the Halls of Broxburn plant would close with the loss of 1,700 jobs. The Plan, launched in 2012, captures a range of interventions supporting economic growth in the area over a 5 year period, including those that support jobs and businesses.

We have supported the delivery of the Plan with £12 million of additional resource which, along with existing budgets represents an overall package of financial support of £29 million to strengthen the West Lothian economy and to help it weather future economic challenges. An independent mid-term evaluation undertaken in 2016 demonstrated that interventions in the Plan had supported the creation of 2,395 additional jobs and supported 450 ex-Halls of Broxburn employees with training to assist them in finding new employment.

In addition, Scottish Enterprise works closely with partners including the Business Gateway, Skills Development Scotland and Local Authorities to provide support to ambitious growth companies in Scotland. Together we offer support for start ups, SMEs and large organisations. There is a wide range of support available from the public sector including business mentoring, business planning, innovation to develop products or services, leadership development, investment advice, international support, training and development for staff, business improvement academy and manufacturing reviews through Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Services.

At a local level, West Lothian Council and Business Gateway offer a range of services including workshops and seminars on topics such as marketing, tax,
‎ e-commerce, supplier development programme, business health checks and provide 1-2-1 adviser support.

The Scottish Government is in regular contact with NHS Lothian to discuss all key issues which impact on service delivery.

As far as possible, NHS Lothian minimised the impact on patients as they are aware that any delay in diagnosis or treatment can be worrying, especially for parents of young children and they were able to prioritise those patients requiring urgent MRI scans, and transfer them to other sites within and out with Lothian. Lothian Radiology Management and the Clinical teams worked in collaboration with Estates, Medical Physics and the supplier of the MRI to resolve the problem exercising the safety precautions required when working with an MRI scanner. Radiographers and Radiologists provided additional evening and weekend sessions on various sites in Lothian to minimise the impact. NHS Lothian were able to scan outwith normal working hours to reduce the waiting time for patients.

NHS Lothian will work with Scottish Government to ensure that any lessons to be learned from this incident are addressed appropriately.

Health Boards have fully delegated powers to recruit and deploy staff, in order to meet their service delivery responsibilities. The Scottish Government supports health boards in their efforts to ensure that they have the right staff in place to meet the healthcare needs of the local population. We understand from NHS Lothian they have recently recruited two consultant orthopaedic surgeons, with both taking up post in January 2018.

I recognise some patients in Lothian are experiencing long waits including in the specialty of orthopaedics, that is why I have made £50 million available to NHSScotland - with up to £7.4 million being made available to Lothian. This additional funding will build up their capacity and make sure that all patients are seen and treated in a timely fashion. I expect to see improvements between now and the end of March 2018. Officials continue to meet with the Board regularly to support improvement in waiting time performance.

The Board are also taking a number of actions to improve orthopaedic waiting times for patients this includes redesigning their Muscoloskeletal Allied Health Professional service to ensure that patients with foot and ankle and upper limb conditions are seen by the most appropriate healthcare professional in the right place in a more timely manner.