Chamber and committees

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.

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.

The Minister for Equalities and Older People has invited Hourglass to meet with her to discuss funding for its elder abuse helpline. Hourglass have yet to suggest a date to meet.

Within NHS GG&C, acute stroke thrombolysis is already available on a 24/7 basis. This is currently based at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH), with patients transferred for thrombolysis where appropriate. Work is ongoing to establish a telemedicine thrombolysis model to provide 24/7 thrombolysis at other sites.

The Scottish Government recognises that thrombectomy procedures can significantly improve outcomes and quality of life for some people who have suffered an ischaemic stroke by avoiding or reducing the level of disability. We are committed to introducing a high quality and clinically safe thrombectomy service in Scotland and are making important progress against this commitment. In NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the thrombectomy service is currently in the test of change phase, and has provided thrombectomies to 13 patients since October 2021.

The numbers of Community First Responders (CFRs) that were allocated to and attended incidents in the last financial year are presented in the table below. For safety reasons as a result of Covid, Community First Responders were stood down for a six month period in 2020. The required training for remobilisation of all volunteers and CFR schemes extended into 2021.

Please note that if two Community First Responders were allocated to the same incident, then they will both be counted.

Guidance on accessing COVID-19 treatment is provided on NHS Inform . Notably, there are different treatment options available for different groups of individuals who are thought to be at higher risk from COVID-19. The online guidance states that individuals with health conditions which mean they may be eligible for COVID-19 treatments should contact the health board where they live in the first instance. This is because an individual’s home health board will have access to more information about the individual to be able to support any requirements to confirm their eligibility. Where the individual is temporarily resident in another part of Scotland, or another part of the UK, they should contact their home health board who will support them in accessing their closest treatment service.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08411 on 17 May 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

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

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.

The Scottish Ambulance Service does not produce statistics based on free-text searches, as this data would require a significant amount of resource for analysis and clinical input.