Chamber and committees

We are taking significant action to reduce waiting times. I recognise some patients are experiencing long waits, that is why I have made £50 million available to NHSScotland - with up to £3.2 million being made available to NHS Highland. This additional funding should improve waiting time performance between now and the end of March 2018.

In addition I have set up an expert group to reduce waiting times and improve the way elective care services are provided. The Elective Access Collaborative programme will bring experts from the Scottish Government, NHSScotland and the Royal Colleges together to provide support to all health boards, including NHS Highland.

The Scottish Government’s Ferries Plan 2013-2022 contained a clear definition of a lifeline ferry service as being one required in order for a community to be viable. The Scottish Government also uses the term “lifeline” in connection with the ferry services subsidised from public funds to support lifeline links which would not otherwise be provided by commercial operators. The car ferry service between Hunters Quay and McInroys Point is a profitable commercial operation, and thus, is different in character from our subsidised services.

We published Part 1 of the National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan on 28 June 2017, and we will publish Part 2 on social care jointly with COSLA in the near future, with Part 3 on Primary Care to follow the conclusion of General Medical Services contract negotiations.

We have sought to keep Parliament regularly updated on progress with workforce planning and we will continue to do so on a regular basis, including on development of future iterations and implementation of the workforce plan.

In addition we will be writing to the UK Government to offer our input on the workforce strategy recently announced by the Secretary of State for Health, and seeking clarification on the immigration and free movement matters vital to recruiting and retaining the staff we need to deliver future NHSScotland services.

The legal aid system in Scotland is internationally recognized as being one of the most generous in the world. It enables access to justice for a wide scope of legal issues with generous eligibility criteria. As it is a demand led system all who are eligible, will receive publicly funded legal assistance.

In line with our manifesto commitments to ensure proper access to legal services in Scotland, Scottish Ministers launched an independent strategic review of legal aid in February this year and it will report early next year.

The review is taking a long-term and strategic look at the legal aid system and aims to ensure a progressive system that is sustainable for the future.

Scottish Ministers also launched an independent review of the regulation of legal services in April this year due to report in July 2018. This review is focusing on ensuring that the regulatory system for legal services in Scotland keeps pace with changes in the marketplace, provides choice for consumers, and protection when things go wrong.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-12433 on
14 November 2017. 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 know further work is needed to shorten waits for diagnostics and in September 2017 we formed a Ministerial Cancer Performance Delivery Group to drive forward service redesign and improvement, backed by £1 million investment on top of £4.85 million already allocated to boards.

Among a series of actions the group will audit processes for managing patients with a suspected cancer, implement new scrutiny and monitoring processes for health boards struggling to meet the 62 day standard, and invest in the roll-out of new technology to assist with pressures on diagnostic services.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-12433 on
14 November 2017. 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.

Scottish Government’s Fish Health Inspectorate received notification of increased mortality at North Shore fish farm, Isle of Lewis, and a site inspection was conducted on 18 October 2017. Diagnostic samples were taken to screen for the presence of listed diseases and to determine the cause of mortality on site. There is no evidence of listed disease from any of the samples taken. A diagnostic case review will be completed before written notification, which will include the significance of any findings, is issued to the company.

As recognised in the Audit Scotland Report, NHS in Scotland 2017, all Boards are currently within 1% of their target funding allocations.

In 2017-18 NHS Highland’s resource budget has increased by 1.6% to
£586.9 million. This includes an additional £0.8 million of NRAC parity funding, which takes the Board to within 1% of its target funding allocation. Since 2015-16 NHS Highland has received additional funding of £13.3 million for the specific purpose of accelerating funding parity in line with the NRAC formula.

The Integration Joint Board (IJB) is responsible for strategic planning of local service provision, including health care services. It would therefore not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment on the precise nature of these proposals.

We understand that the Western Isles IJB plans to hold a series of public meetings which will allow those affected communities a further opportunity to engage in future service design.

IJBs are bound by the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014, which requires Integration Authorities to engage and consult with a range of stakeholders, working with local communities to improve outcomes and sustainability through service redesign.