Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government continues to seek clarity from the UK Government about its plans to avoid medicine stock shortages in the event of a no deal Brexit.

I wrote to the UK Health Secretary, Matt Hancock on 10 July, to ask the UK Government to share with us the full report that they commissioned from Ernst & Young on the consequences of Brexit on medicines supply but have not yet had a reply.

The Scottish Government has also sought further details about how the UK Government’s plans to invite pharmaceutical companies to stockpile medicines will work in practice.

Any costs arising from the UK Government’s requests of pharmaceutical companies are a matter for the UK Government.

Weekly figures are not available, but NHS Information Services Division publishes monthly figures on dispensed prescription items in their community open data files. These files show number of paid items, paid quantity and gross ingredient cost broken down to GP practice level for all prescription items. The open data files are available at the following link - https://www.opendata.nhs.scot/dataset/prescriptions-in-the-community .

The Essential Medicines Buffer Stock is the mechanism for stockpiling medicines (including insulin) for emergency purposes, such as a disruption to the supply line or a pandemic. In addition, there will be some stockholding on shelves in the supply chain e.g. community pharmacies, hospital pharmacies and wholesalers. Some manufacturers may have stock held that has not been released into the UK supply chain e.g. held at a pre-wholesaler. However, there is no way to quantify exactly how much insulin is being held.

The Scottish Government has no plans to remove the requirement for managers of early learning and childcare (ELC) centres to hold or be working towards a degree level qualification. We are committed to expanding funded ELC provision by 2020, and quality is at the heart of this expansion. The single most important driver of the quality of a child’s ELC experience is a high quality workforce. The requirement that managers of funded ELC settings hold or are working towards the relevant degree level qualification will ensure that they are able to provide strong pedagogical leadership to staff within the setting and ensure that the ELC offer gives children the best start in life. To support the delivery of the expansion we are increasing the offer of early years courses in colleges and universities in 2018-19 to 1,813 additional places for HNC courses and 490 additional places at managerial level.

PrEP is readily available on the NHS to those in Scotland who are most at risk of acquiring HIV infection. Boards are working hard to meet the demand for PrEP. Anyone wishing to discuss PrEP should contact their local sexual health clinic. Information on the eligibility criteria for PrEP is available at https://prep.scot/.

NHS Boards have a legislative duty to give children and adults, across all care groups, who have lost their voice or who have difficulty speaking, a right to the provision of communication equipment and support in using that equipment.

It is for NHS Boards to determine the system(s) of communication equipment they provide based on clinical need.

Guidance on patient travel expenses was issued to Health Boards in the NHS Management Executive Letter (1996) 70: www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/mels/1996_70.pdf.

Although the guidance allows for the reimbursement for travel expenses by car, the Scottish Government does not specify the rate at which reimbursement is made. Health Boards have discretion to set mileage rates according to local circumstances.

The Scottish Government does not have this information. Whilst the Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme does collect information on the number of scheme beneficiaries who have died since 1 April 2017, it does not have data on the number of those deaths caused by hepatitis C or HIV. In addition, we do not have this information for other parts of the United Kingdom.

It is a matter for individual patients and their GPs whether to have a conversation about private healthcare options; clear guidance on the approach to NHS and private provision is available in cases where it is required. However, when an individual experiences mental ill health it is vital that they are able to access the support and help they need, when they need it. We remain determined to improve access to mental health services, and are continuing to work with Boards to make sure that this happens right across Scotland.

The Scottish Government, on the 13 July 2016, announced our commitment to supporting the recruitment and training of 1000 paramedics over the next 5 years to deliver care in the community.

The data tables below outline the paramedic and specialist paramedic training places available and filled in each year since 2016-17.

Details on intake numbers for 2018-19 are not yet available.

The tables also include detail on the number of places taken up on the undergraduate paramedic training programme at Glasgow Caledonian University

and the number of paramedics who have been directly recruited by the Service.

The decision to opt for private treatment is a matter for individual patients. However, receiving private treatment for long-term therapies should not impact on a patient’s standing on NHS waiting lists.