Chamber and committees

The NHS Recovery Plan highlights our ambitious plans to expand and grow the workforce, in particular to assist with the additional procedures we intend on undertaking through our NTC's.

Significantly, we are recruiting more staff throughout the NHS so our ambitious recovery can be fully realised, with this plan outlining our commitment to:

Recruit 1,500 new clinical and non-clinical staff for National Treatment Centres by 2026 .

We use a range of measures to monitor the wellbeing of the workforce taking into account the diverse nature of the workforce operating in a range of roles and geographies, the broad spectrum of wellbeing needs at both a professional and personal level and different reporting arrangements across sectors.

We continue to actively listen to colleagues across Health and Social care to understand where the current pressures are, and what actions can be taken to mitigate their impact on staff.

Information on the number of MS specialist nurses were in post in each of the last five years is not centrally held.

Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) data by NHS Board from 2009 to the most recent data published in September 2018, can be found at:

https://turasdata.nes.nhs.scot/media/4ndpx4za/clinical_nurse_specialists_s2018.xlsx

Given data quality concerns all historical data, whilst published, should be treated with caution.

A national review into the CNS role and definition is currently underway, NES will work with NHS Boards to cleanse their CNS data once this is complete.

As part of the pathfinder programme guidance will developed and issued to NHS Boards on GP DACS. However, I should clarify that Near Me is not an asynchronous model (as it only provides real-time video consultations) and that AskMyGP has been procured at a local level and does not fall under the remit of the national programme.

Following the launch of the Scottish Mens Sheds Association (SMSA) in November 2015, the Scottish Government has supported the men’s shed movement in Scotland, by providing £645,000 of funding to the SMSA and Age Scotland to date.

Our annual core funding support to the SMSA has enabled the movement to fully establish in Scotland and grow our Scottish men’s sheds from just 3 sheds in 2013 to 127 sheds which are open today, and a further 70 that are currently in development, serving 2,899 members, and 10,267 shedders across Scotland.

Scottish Government annual breakdown of support to the men’s sheds movement is as follows:

To SMSA:

• 2016/17 - £75,000
• 2017/18 - £75,000
• 2018/19 - £75,000
• 2019/20 - £75,000
• 2020/21 - £150,000 (higher figure included funds to support Covid response)
• 2021/22 - £45,000

To Age Scotland:

• 2017/18 - £50,000
• 2018/19 - £50,000
• 2019/20 - £50,000

The expenditure on local adoption of GP DACS is not currently monitored at a national level given the variation in different approaches and systems that are currently in use for online triage and asynchronous consultations. We expect to develop a clearer picture of this as we develop the approach to national GP DACS.

The Scottish Government is currently undertaking a review of permitted development rights (PDR) as part of its wider planning reform programme. The review is being taken forward on a phased basis, with each phase focussing on specific types of development.

We intend to consult on proposals relating to private ways (sometimes referred to as ‘hill tracks’) through phase 3 of the review. The detailed scope and timing of the phase 3 consultation is currently under review.

The Scottish Government provided grant funding totalling £27,071 to the Scottish Council on Global Affairs (SCGA) for 2021-22 to support costs associated with the establishment of the international relations institute, as committed to in the 2021-22 Programme for Government.

Scottish Government officials will work with the SCGA to determine what support may be given for 2022-23.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

When I outlined my response to the Moray Maternity Services review I recognised model 6, the full consultant model at Dr Gray's, presents significant challenges that NHS Grampian will need to work through to safely deliver this model. It is vital to take the time now to get the implementation of Model 6 right to ensure sustainability. Ralph Roberts report also recognised that within the existing service and workforce context, it would take several years to deliver model 6. I have asked NHS Highland and NHS Grampian to submit formal plans for implementation, and will discuss timescales and communications with them at our next meeting. As I have said I am happy to keep Parliament updated and I will bring forward a timetable for Model 6 later this year.

The COVID-19 Advisory Sub-Group on Education and Children’s Issues noted in its recently published evidence summary , that the evidence continues to indicate that teachers do not have an increased risk of severe disease. Guidance for all schools has been updated to reflect public health guidance on symptoms of a respiratory infection, including COVID-19 and we are asking ask people to continue to take sensible, basic steps in order to protect themselves and others in the same way as we do within shops and on public transport.

In relation to those who are clinically vulnerable, the Scottish Government announced on 27 April that we will formally end the Highest Risk List on 31 May 2022. The success of the vaccination programme, and availability of new medicines to treat Covid-19, mean the majority of people on the list are at no greater risk from Covid-19 than the rest of the population in Scotland.

The Chief Medical Officer has for some time advised people on the Highest Risk List to follow the same advice as the rest of the population unless advised otherwise by their GP or clinician. This applies equally to household members of people on the list and includes going into schools and early learning and childcare settings. He has also advised people whose immune system is suppressed to take extra care and follow the advice of their GP or clinician as they would have done before the pandemic.

At this stage in the pandemic it is no longer considered necessary or proportionate to continue to ask school staff and secondary pupils to test regularly. This is in line with advice from Public Health Scotland, senior clinicians and the Advisory Sub-group on Education and Children’s Issues. That advice makes clear that the population currently has much stronger protection against COVID-19 than at any other point in the pandemic, due to the vaccination programme (levels of vaccination are very high amongst school staff) and the development of natural immunity to the infection. In contrast to the position when the testing programme was first introduced, severe health outcomes for all age groups are far less likely to arise due to this protection, availability of and access to antiviral treatments, and increased scientific and public understanding about how to manage risk.