Chamber and committees

Scotland is making excellent progress in the winter vaccination programme, when compared to the other UK nations. The latest published figures show that, as at 6 th November, Scotland has provided 87.8% of older adult care home residents and 55.7% of those aged 50 and over with a winter COVID-19 vaccine.

While differences in the way statistics are collected means that the figures are not always directly comparable, England has reported an uptake of 58.0% among older adult care home residents, and 53.5% among those aged 50 and over as at 6 th November.

Scotland’s winter vaccination programme also compares favourably to that of Wales, where, according to the latest data, 80.4% of older adult care home residents and 53.0% of those aged 50 and over have taken up the offer of a winter COVID-19 vaccination.

This year’s winter vaccination programme has enjoyed very high uptake to date. According to the latest data, 87.8% of older adult care home residents, and 83.0% of those aged 65 and over, have received a winter COVID-19 vaccination.

Nevertheless, we are continually exploring ways to build on these very promising levels of uptake. We have undertaken a range of national communications and engagement activity to further encourage uptake, as well as supporting Health Boards and other partners with local activity.

We have embedded inclusivity as a key aspect of the vaccination programme from its outset, working alongside health boards and other partners to encourage uptake, remove barriers and respond to evidence of low uptake in certain communities, including those from more deprived areas.

There is capacity right across Scotland to get vaccinated, and I would encourage all those eligible for COVID-19 and flu vaccinations this winter to come forward.

The data requested is not centrally held by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government have commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS) and National Services for Scotland (NSS) to undertake a programme of work to extract regular GP in hours activity data from GP systems. This data will be published for the first time by PHS on 6 December 2022 and will include a breakdown between activity by (1) GPs and (2) other clinicians.

Discussions are ongoing with PHS and NSS on the next phases of the programme of work.

The information requested is not collected or held centrally by the Scottish Government and would require to be obtained from Health Boards.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on remediation activity outwith the Cladding Remediation Programme. The Single Building Assessment pilot is currently assessing 27 buildings and this will be increased in number in 2023.

While GP sessions have sometimes been defined for the purposes of various payments, there is no overall contractual definition of GP sessions.

GP contract regulations require practices to ensure provision of services from Monday- Friday, 08:00 - 18.30. It is up to the practice partners to agree how that is covered by GPs and the number and length of sessions.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of appointments offered per full time equivalent GP.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) will publish data on activity levels in General Practice on 6 December 2022. This will include activity by encounter type. Encounters are recorded each time a member of the practice team enters information into the GP electronic health record. These include face to face consultations, telephone consultations, e-consultations, medicines management and administration.

The data will be published as experimental statistics, reflecting the developing nature of the data in relation to quality and ability to meet user needs.

PHS will also publish the GP In Hours General Practice Workforce Survey on 29 November 2022, which will provide estimates of GP workforce numbers.

Notwithstanding NHS Lanarkshire’s staffing levels are at a record high, with 33% growth under the SNP government compared to 22.1% across NHSScotland, we are providing continued assistance by investing in domestic labour supply, international recruitment, training, and retention.

That is why we have a £600 million package of measures that will get us through the winter, which includes hiring up to 750 nurses, midwives and allied health professionals from overseas and 250 additional support staff across acute, primary care and mental health.

Over the last 10 years we have doubled the number of funded places for Nursing and Midwifery to a target intake in 2022-23 of 4,837. Scotland already trains more doctors per head than elsewhere in the United Kingdom, and we’re working to increase Scotland’s medical undergraduate intake by 500 by the end of the parliament.

A clinical refresh of the Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer was completed in 2018 with revised clinical guidance published January 2019. The guidelines support primary care clinicians in ensuring those with symptoms suspicious of cancer are put on the right pathway at the right time.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with primary care clinicians across NHS Scotland, including the Scottish Primary Care Cancer Group, to raise awareness of symptoms and best referral practice for all cancer types.

Scotland’s first three Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services are live, providing primary care with a new referral pathway for patients with non-specific symptoms i.e. fatigue, nausea, weight loss – this can often include patients with Haematological cancers. A suite of tests, including blood tests, are undertaken in primary care at the point of referral. The Scottish Government is committed to working towards equitable access to a RCDS across Scotland, for eligible patients.

The Scottish Government does not hold this data. Requests for these data should be sent to Public Health Scotland or direct to Health Boards.