Chamber and committees

From 9 August, national guidance was updated to remove physical distancing requirements in most settings. This, however, did not extend to health and social care settings.

On 11 August, the Chief Nursing Officer Directorate (CNOD) commissioned NSS Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated infections (ARHAI) and Public Health Scotland (PHS) to review current Infection Prevention and Control guidance as a matter of urgency, with a view to implementing a step by step reduction of physical distancing in non-clinical/para-clinical areas. ARHAI and PHS produced draft guidance which went out for consultation with key stakeholders including NHS Chief Executive Officers on 18 August with a closing date of 19 August.

ARHAI and PHS are currently drafting updated guidance which will issue to boards once this has been formalised.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring there is resilience and capacity in the health and social care system to aid us in our mobilisation, support staff to recover from previous COVID-19 waves, and to manage the need to remain vigilant against any future wave.

The most recently published data indicates a total of 258,269 patients were seen at new outpatient appointments during the first quarter of 2021. This is down 20.4% from the same period in 2020, prior to implementation of social distancing restrictions. At 31 March 2021, 48.1% of those waiting for a new outpatient appointment had been waiting 12 weeks or FEWER. This IS down from 74.4% in the same period in 2020. At 31 March 2021,184,224 new outpatients had experienced ongoing waits greater than 12 weeks, up 177.8% from the same period in 2020 (66,325).

It is difficult to quantify the impact that the two-metre social distancing restrictions have had on capacity and throughput in outpatient settings, not least because of the differences in Wave one where elective services halted and Wave two where services began to remobilise. In addition to this there is considerable variance in the layout, structure and fabric of NHS facilities across Scotland.

Whilst the two metre distancing restrictions will have played a part in capacity and throughput, other factors will also have influenced them. These include bed closure, staff absences (including those who have been deployed elsewhere to assist with the pandemic or were shielding) and throughput lost to other IPC controls, which include removal of beds to reduce potential risk of COVID-19 transmission.

There has been a change in the way services have been delivered in outpatient settings, for example – staggered waiting times to avoid overcrowding within these areas/ reduce footfall, one-way access/egress and the use of Near Me where possible to avoid face to face consultations.

The Evaluation Guide and Award Criteria published as part of the Invitation to Tender determined the Quality: Price ratio for the evaluation process as 75:25. The emphasis placed on quality reflects the importance the Scottish Government attaches to delivering a high quality assessment resource to schools, and recognises the requirement for a range of technical, educational and psychometric expertise to deliver the complex and multi-faceted Services associated with the Contract.

The Award criteria for the Quality Analysis element of the evaluation identified a series of questions across a range of areas, including Assessments and Reporting; Technical; Service Management; Security; and Transition, Implementation and Business as Usual. Some of these questions were identified as mandatory, requiring a minimum score of 2 in order for the tender to progress to the Price Analysis. The rationale for this approach is that if suppliers are unable to fulfil particular aspects of the service, the service would not be viable, irrespective of cost. Mandatory items are clearly identified within the published Evaluation and Award Criteria.

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 Statutory Guidance (amended 2021) states that regulated contracts must be awarded to the most economically advantageous tender. The Guidance clarifies that this means contracts cannot be awarded on the basis of lowest price or lowest cost alone.

ACER UK Limited was one of three companies to submit a tender for the contract for phase two delivery of the national standardised assessments in Scotland – incorporating both the Scottish National Standardised Assessments and their Gaelic equivalent, the Measaidhean Coitcheann Niseanta airson Foghlam tron Ghidhlig.

ACER’s tender did not progress to the Price Analysis stage of the evaluation as it did not achieve the minimum requirements for the Quality Analysis stage. Cost comparisons with the successful tender cannot therefore be drawn.

The Scottish Government works with partners to encourage all forms of sport and physical activity to be made available to all people across Scotland.

We provided £1.72 million of funding to enhance work led by Scottish Swimming and local authorities to provide swimming lessons for primary school children across Scotland between 2011 and 2015. An evaluation of the programme was subsequently carried out.

sportscotland works in partnership with all local authorities to invest in and support the Active Schools Network. Active Schools aims to provide more and higher quality opportunities to take part in sport and physical activity before school, during lunchtime and after school, and to develop effective pathways between schools and sports clubs in the local community. In academic year 2018/19 there were 50,954 swimming visits in 18-19 across 21 local authorities.

We are continuing to work with partners, including Scottish Swimming to consider how the provision of community swimming could be expanded.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) have recommended that, where operationally possible, those aged under 40 should receive an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

However, everybody who has already had a first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine should receive a second dose of the same jab, irrespective of age, except for the very small number of people who experienced blood clots with low platelet counts from their first vaccination. There have been no confirmed cases of thromboembolic events to date in second doses.

People will not be offered options on which vaccine they will receive, unless there is a clinical reason why this would be required, such as an allergy. Any vaccine authorised for use in the UK, by the appropriate Medical authorities is safe and effective, and will have a similar effect in terms of protection.

It is also worth noting that this is the case with many other vaccines. People are not routinely offered a choice of the type of vaccines in other vaccine programmes in Scotland. The Scottish Government currently has no plans to introduce an option for receiving either COVID-19 vaccine, beyond a clinical recommendation as the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh the risks for the vast majority of the population.

We are committed to exploring opportunities to target long-term vacant and derelict land to deliver sustainable inclusive growth and mitigate climate change as part of the Green Recovery.

In October 2020 we welcomed the Vacant and Derelict Land Taskforce’s report and recommendations. Since then, we have been working with the Scottish Land Commission and key stakeholders to develop detailed proposals to help deliver a culture change in Scotland’s approach to vacant and derelict land. In addition much of our current work already aligns with the recommendations.

A key recommendation was the establishment of a national programme of investment to bring our legacy of vacant and derelict land back into use in ways that will contribute to a fair and green recovery, support job creation and skills development and help rebuild community resilience.

In response to that recommendation, in March 2021, we opened our new £50m low carbon Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme, which is being delivered over an initial five year period. It will help to open up for new use persistent vacant and derelict sites, which are especially prevalent in disadvantaged areas. This will create opportunities for new green infrastructure, and support place-based approaches to regeneration and a just transition to net zero.

On 31 May, Zero Waste Scotland in partnership with Scottish Government and Keep Scotland Beautiful launched the second phase of the anti-littering campaign, Scotland is Stunning, which targeted families and young people enjoying the outdoors.

Zero Waste Scotland has also developed a number of behaviour change initiatives and education resources aimed at school children, including the #GetLitterLiterate campaign which aims to teach students about the harmful effects of littering and mobilise them to influence their local and online communities.

Work has begun to refresh the National Litter Strategy, which has come to the end of its five year lifespan, as a National Litter and Flytipping Strategy. This refreshed strategy will be published in early 2022. Recognising the important role of education in litter prevention, communications and behaviour change has been identified as one of the four key themes which will be the focus of this refreshed strategy.

This government has seen a 54.2% increase in the consultant radiologist workforce (from 223.5 WTE in September 2006 to 344.6 WTE in March 2021). While information on numbers of radiologists according to specialist cancer fields is not centrally held, the numbers of Clinical Radiology Consultants currently employed in each NHS Board, including Doctors in Training, are as set out in the following table:

NHSScotland Clinical Radiology Consultants, staff in post by NHS Board in Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) including Doctors in Training.

I met with the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland on 10 June 2021.

At this introductory meeting we discussed matters of mutual interest, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill and children and young people’s participation in decision-making.