Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of providing high quality cancer services for the Edinburgh Cancer Centre at the Western General Hospital and are supportive of NHS Lothian’s plans to develop a business case.

A decision on the funding will be made following review of the business case and it would not be appropriate to make any decision before that review is complete. However the Scottish Government have agreed to support the necessary investment on interim bridging capital in the current building which will improve current service provision while the business case is being developed.

NHS Lothian are in the process of developing a business case for a world-leading cancer centre in NHS Lothian and work is on-going. A decision on the funding will be taken when the business case is submitted to the Scottish Government for review. The target date of completion remains 2025, but will be updated once we receive more detailed plans from NHS Lothian.

While that major project is underway, NHS Lothian have taken the interim step of creating plans to enhance the current accommodation. This will allow their clinicians to continue to provide expert care for patients in the same building until they are able to move into a new facility. A significant amount of work has already been undertaken and the Scottish Government is planning on allocating additional funding to support these plans; the exact amount of support will be confirmed as the plan is developed but it is expected to be in the range of £15 million.

The Scottish Government last met with Universities Scotland on 19 December 2017, when officials met with them to discuss the impact of Brexit on the Scottish Higher Education Sector, including EU students.

Since 2016-17, we have provided £187,500 in project funding to support chronic pain research on behalf of the Scottish Government and NHS in Scotland, at the University of Dundee. This is looking at the development of better data and the collection of best evidence to help drive improvements in pain services, and is phased over a planned three-year period.

The research was initiated to collect detailed data on a one-year long pilot study across three NHS Pain Services (Lothian, Tayside and Fife) in Scotland. Its aim was to assess the process, utility and challenges associated with data collection within these services to improve these NHS services for people affected by chronic pain.

The initial stages of the research have been completed. The current stage aims to translate and implement the findings from the initial phase. Scottish Government receives frequent updates on activity and output from the research team, and these include;

- study of existing data collection from three chronic pain services

- analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of these, and the associated systems

- design of a draft core minimum dataset for collection by pain services across Scotland

- design of draft Quality Performance Indicators, for pain services across Scotland

- consultation with professional stakeholders around these data and QPIs

- initiation and completion of evidence-based guidelines for management of chronic pain in children and adolescents

-systematic review of interventions to support reduction of opioid treatment

- support for the Scottish Pain Research Community's Annual Scientific Meeting, and further development, to inform best management in Scotland.

Any future funding will be considered against progress made towards agreed outcomes.

I can confirm that in 2018-19 the City of Edinburgh Council will again receive an additional £3.9 million in recognition of the increased costs that are associated with Edinburgh being Scotland’s capital city.

In line with the commitment set out in the Cancer Strategy, I can confirm that two radiotherapy physics trainee posts per annum were filled in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

The reporting of waiting times data was a standing item for discussion at the meetings of the Ministerial Steering Group (MSG) on Chronic Pain. Officials met with ISD on 13 January 2017 to provide feedback from patient representatives of the MSG following discussion of the waiting times publication at the MSG on 4 October 2016.

In relation to waiting times data for return appointments, the MSG maintained a position that as this data would not lead to better outcomes for people with chronic pain other options should be explored and subsequently approved progression of the development of a National Chronic Pain dataset.

The Ministerial group has been replaced by the National Advisory Committee for Chronic Pain, which met for the second time on 19 December 2017 and is chaired by Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Gregor Smith. That group, which includes patient representatives, will oversee the development of the National Chronic Pain dataset.

ISD adheres to the Code of Practice for Official Statistics which is underpinned by the Statistics and Registration Services Act (2007). This is achieved by listening to users of their statistics through consultations and adjusting their statistical outputs accordingly, ensuring their statistical reports are protected from any political pressures, and presenting statistics impartially and objectively.

As part of moving the Chronic Pain Waiting Times Publication from developmental status to Experimental Official Statistics, ISD carried out a consultation with users and published a report in October 2017. ISD will be implementing changes over forthcoming publications and are also happy to receive feedback on publications at any point in time.

The Scottish Government committed £100 million of funding to the cancer strategy ‘Beating Cancer: Ambition and Action’ over the 5 year period between 2016 - 2021. To date we have spent £34 million to implement the actions set out within the strategy and the remainder will be allocated over the next three years.

The Scottish Government has regular discussions with NHS Lothian regarding the delay at the new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh and these discussions will continue until the project is complete.

NHS Lothian have suffered unexpected initial delays on site, which included the liquidation of a crucial sub-contractor, severe weather and issues surrounding piling works.

NHS Lothian remain committed to delivering this flagship facility in a timely manner and to the highest of standards. They are working with the contractors to open the hospital as soon as possible and aim for moves to take place by autumn 2018. Their forensic work with IHSL and Multiplex will continue through regular meetings over the coming weeks and the Scottish Government will be kept fully informed of developments.

A variety of changes have been made for the 2017-2018 Health & Care Experience Survey to maximise efficiency and keep costs down, including:

• A number of aspects of the project which were previously contracted out have been brought in house.

• A survey contractor has been used for administrative aspects of the survey that, for logistical reasons, cannot be completed in house. Value for money was a key criteria in the evaluation of tenders submitted for this work.

• The look of the survey materials has been refreshed to better engage with survey respondents and increase response rates. This has included reducing the length of the questionnaire by a third.

• The sampling and weighting methodologies for the survey have been reviewed to ensure that they remain suitable and proportionate.

• Changes to the mail-out approach for the survey to encourage respondents to complete the survey online.

• Local level results, which have previously been published as static reports, will be presented via an interactive dashboard which will allow individuals and organisations to interrogate the data in different ways to meet their particular needs.