Chamber and committees

There is no requirement for the direct measurements of CO2 via calibrated flow meters and calibrated CO2 CEMS in SEPA permits for municipal waste incinerators (MWI) in Scotland. The requested information is therefore not available either in total, or as a breakdown by proportion derived from fossil fuel and proportion derived from biogenic sources.

Permit holders are however required to report their annual CO2 emissions via the Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory (SPRI) and SEPA can therefore provide this data for the last reported year although this may include CO2 from additional sources to those from the incineration process eg. standby generators. This data can be found in SEPA’s SPRI data tool informatics.sepa.org.uk/SPRI/ . This is usually estimated using emission factors. There is no requirement in SPRI for MWIs to further breakdown their reported CO2 emission data into the proportions derived from fossil fuel or biogenic sources so this data is not available.

Decisions on whether to install defibrillators in schools are a matter for Local Authorities to consider at the local level.

Scottish Government recognises the important role of defibrillators in the chain of survival from Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA). We are a key partner in the Save a Life for Scotland (SALFS) partnership, which published an updated strategy in March 2021: Out of hospital cardiac arrest: strategy 2021 to 2026 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . This includes the aim of increasing the percentage of OHCAs which have a defibrillator applied before the arrival of ambulance service from 8% to 20%.

To achieve this, the strategy’s focus is to ensure that defibrillators are publicly accessible, are registered with the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) so they can be directed to in instances of OHCA, and that people feel empowered to use them. The strategy identifies a number of actions to take in order to achieve these goals.

It is important to support evidence based placement of defibrillators in areas where OHCAs are most likely to occur. To support the OHCA strategy, the Resuscitation Research Group at Edinburgh University are working to develop a tool to show where defibrillators are most likely to be required in order to support organisations and communities with optimal placement.

NHS Scotland is offering 2 doses of the coronavirus vaccine to all children and young people aged 12 to 17 years. The second dose will be offered from 12 weeks after the first dose. Children and young people aged 12 to 15 years have been sent second dose invitation letters. They can also attend drop-in clinics. More information on vaccinating children and young people is available at https://www.nhsinform.scot/covid-19-vaccine/the-vaccines/vaccinating-children-and-young-people-aged-12-to-17-years/

We cannot provide advice on the rules for other countries. Before travelling you should check the up to date entry requirements for the destination country.

The information requested is not held centrally. However, patients are asked to contact their local Health Board single point of contact telephone number if they believe they are eligible for treatment. The phone lines are open seven days a week, including public holidays. Further information is available on NHS Inform .

Some COVID-19 positive individuals who meet the eligibility criteria will decide not to receive antiviral treatments, or may be unable to, for example due to other medications they are taking.

The pandemic paused the Oral Health Improvement Programme, which was developing, through Design Groups, preventive and patient focused care through the New Model of Care.

The clear focus for Scottish Government is to recover and stabilise NHS dental services, enabling the sector to emerge from the pandemic in a condition to improve patient access to care. The recovery of the sector will support the development of the longer term reform programme, building back the sector to support necessary strategic reforms that develop the work that was developed in the Design Groups pre-pandemic.

Scottish Government has signalled some key areas for the reform programme through fee changes that were put in place form 1 February, in particular the preventive Childsmile element, focus on deprivation and harmonisation of examination fees for adult and child patients.

We have established a process for individuals who have received their coronavirus vaccinations outwith Scotland which allows for them to upload official proof of vaccination from an approved country to their Scottish Vaccination Record through NHS Inform . This will allow those who have been vaccinated within the UK or internationally to receive a combined fully vaccinated status to show for travel and domestic purposes.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) is currently reviewing its 2007 recommendation against lung cancer screening. The work on developing a protocol for NHS Boards to undertake pilot programmes for lung cancer screening will resume once the NSC’s evidence review is complete, as any new recommendation will guide pilot design and implementation.

The Scottish Government acted on requests by retail organisations not to launch the consultation in the run-up to Christmas which is the busiest trading period and may not have allowed retailers the full opportunity to share their views. We took the opportunity to liaise with a short-life working group and update the consultation in line with the most recent emerging evidence.

A full public consultation into proposed restrictions on the advertising and promotion of vaping products was launched on February 3. The consultation will run for 12 weeks and all responses will be independently analysed.

NHS Boards are expected to assess their patients’ travel needs and can, if required, direct them to appropriate support this will include local volunteer groups and charities who they have engaged with. For example NHS Ayrshire and Arran has a service level agreement with Ayrshire Cancer Support which provides transport for patients.