Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has no plans to publish the six-month progress reports for the nine projects funded through the Chief Scientist Office long-term effects of COVID-19 research call.

Interim progress reports are not published as their purpose is to enable monitoring of the progress of the projects, as a check that the researchers have gained all the necessary research regulatory and governance approvals, to monitor grant spend, and to determine whether adjustments to projects are required to deal with unforeseen challenges that may have arisen. Interim reports are not a vehicle to publish research results as the projects have not completed and any results are likely to be incomplete. Publication could therefore potentially lead to misleading conclusions being drawn. It is important that conclusions are drawn from research studies once all the data are fully analysed and also preferably published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature following independent scrutiny.

The Scottish Government has issued guidance to Health Boards setting out our expectation that Ukrainian refugees in Scotland will have access to all primary health care services along with vaccinations including those for COVID-19.

The Scottish Government is actively working with local authorities, Education Scotland and other partners to understand and support the needs of Ukrainian children and ensure they can access appropriate education. This work is being co-ordinated through a joint Scottish Government and COSLA working group. In addition, Councillor Buchanan and I have recently written to all local authorities on this issue to ensure a joined-up approach and consistency of understanding.

Local authorities are responsible for the delivery of education and are best placed to consider the educational needs of children arriving into Scotland from Ukraine. These needs are potentially complex and dependent on the age and stage of the child, including any additional support needs such as learning English as an additional language (EAL). I have asked Education Scotland to contact all local authorities to discuss current plans, and to understand where ongoing support can best be provided.

The Scottish Government is pressing the UK Government for more clarity on the method and timing of education tariff payments to local authorities for those arriving from Ukraine. This tariff, which is to be available for 2022-23, pro rata to the time the child or young person is receiving education, can help meet specific needs that arise in relation to accessing education, including having English as an Additional Language. This is in addition to the funding the Scottish Government provides to local authorities for additional support for learning as part of their block grant.

The Scottish Government has issued guidance to Health Boards setting out our expectation that Health Boards will ensure Ukrainian refugees have access to local dental treatment and GP practices.

The Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland (PHS) are working together with Health Boards to support their planning and the safe delivery of monkeypox vaccination to support the response to the current outbreak.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended offering the vaccine to people who are at higher risk of coming into contact with monkeypox to help reduce the spread.

There is currently a limited global supply of existing MVA vaccine which Scotland has secured its share of. Vaccination is underway and it is currently being offered to those at highest risk first.

Additional supplies are expected in September, and people will be offered a first dose in priority order as soon as it becomes available.

Procurement of the MVA vaccine is being managed by UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on a 4 nations basis. Scotland has secured a limited supply of 3,000 doses so far and will have access to more stock once it becomes available.

UKSHA have procured a further 100,000 vaccines that will be arriving in September. Date of arrival and details on Scotland’s share are still to be confirmed.

The National Mission has been set out for the five years of this Parliament and with it comes a commitment to fund the MAT standards. I have previously given Parliament and delivery partners assurance that funding is to be used for Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships and front-line services to support local areas in meeting the MAT standards. Initial funding of £6 million was provided to Health Boards on 1 March 2022 following discussions with Integration Authorities on the appropriate amount required to deliver the initial set of objectives.

Funding requirements for meeting the MAT standards for 2022/2023 and beyond was agreed with ADPs between January and April 2022 as being over £10 million per year for the next 4 years, to supplement the initial £6 million. The formal notification letter for 2022-23 was sent out to Integration Authorities and Health Boards in June 2022. Health Boards will draw down additional funding for 2022-23 as and when the initial funding has been utilised.

The information that has been requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Official statistical reports relating to the Scottish Ambulance Service can be found on the following link.

Public Health Scotland

All territorial health boards were invited to submit a gap analysis providing an assessment of care and support available to people with long COVID and areas identified for future development.

Returns were discussed during a meeting of the Strategic Network’s Service Planning Group on 14 April 2022, to enable Health Board representatives to reflect on priorities identified by other Health Boards, identify any services that could be delivered collaboratively, and make best use of the £3million funding across Scotland. The meeting also enabled NHS Board representatives to hear priority issues put forward by organisations representing people living with long COVID.

Boards were requested to use the insight from this process to develop and submit an application for funding, outlining initiatives they planned to undertake over 2022-23 supported by their Resource Allocation formula (NRAC) share of the available long COVID Support funding.

Thirteen applications were received by Health Boards by the Strategic Network by 28 April 2022 and were discussed during a meeting of the Network’s Strategic Oversight Board on 3 May 2022.

No applications had to be resubmitted due to rejection by the Strategic Network’s Oversight Board before funding allocations were confirmed, on 19 May 2022.

The Scottish Government previously provided a response advising where the £12 million to support the wellbeing of people working in health, social care and social work was allocated and what was spent. https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers/question?ref=S6W-08799

A breakdown of the funding provided by the Scottish Government for each service is as follows;

In the financial year 2021/22, £12 million was allocated to support the wellbeing of people working in health and social care of which £11.5 million was spent. We allocated £1,145,895 to the Workforce Specialist Service to deliver psychological and psychiatric support to regulated practitioners who provide care to others. £921,029 was allocated on formal psychological interventions that formed the Workforce Development Programme and £366,650 was allocated to the NES Coaching for Wellbeing service. To ensure staff have access to support when they need it, £138,666 was allocated to the National Wellbeing Helpline and £175,142 on the National Wellbeing Hub.

The Workforce Wellbeing fund was set up to support staff who work in adult social work and social care. This fund has been managed outwith the Scottish Government by Inspiring Scotland and the total allocated on this wellbeing initiative was £1,100,000. In addition, £12,332 was allocated to Programme Support and £93,525 in further wellbeing services which include CRUSE Grief and Loss Counselling, Elite Training, Awesome Postcards and a workforce respect marketing campaign. A total of £7,561,432 was directly allocated to Boards and HSCPs. This money was to be spent on, but not limited to, spiritual care, psychological first aid, catering and rest facilities to further support the wellbeing of the workforce.

We continue to work with boards and stakeholders to evaluate the impact of funding and how it meets the needs of the workforce.