Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has not undertaken analysis of time savings for staff in relation to improvements of medical records systems. We encourage NHS Boards to ensure they maximise the transformative opportunities offered by digital and understand the impact and the effect on staff and their roles.

The Scottish Government holds data provided by our mobile voice and data supplier, Vodafone in relation to our mobile contract, this includes call, SMS and data usage statistics and along with any associated charges.

In an assessment of ways to overcome the challenges of rurality, submitted by Alcohol and Drug Partnerships in several rural areas to Public Health Scotland, a number of collaborative and innovative actions were described.

These included:

• Increased use of non-statutory services, informal local networks and peers to engage and support people, thus freeing up capacity to deliver rapid access and ensuring that staff can work at highest level within their banding
• Utilising generic primary and secondary care staff and settings to deliver care for example when weather disrupts usual access
• Development of more generic pathways for all drugs and alcohol referrals (given in many places the same staff deal with these issues)
• Some areas now have formal arrangements with other Health Boards to utilise 82 guidelines (Shetland and NHS Grampian), and to share expertise (Western Isles and Borders)

National Records of Scotland publish annual accredited official statistics on drug-related deaths in Scotland. The latest release, covering 2023, is available at https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/drug-related-deaths-in-scotland-in-2023/. The accompanying data file provides a more comprehensive breakdown of the statistics, including by both NHS board area and local authority area.

The Scottish Government publishes a quarterly report to provide an indication of current trends in suspected drug deaths in Scotland. The data in this report is operational information from Police Scotland who compile figures on the basis of reports from police officers attending scenes of death. This is management information and not subject to the same level of validation and quality assurance as Official Statistics. The latest release, covering July to September 2024, is available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/suspected-drug-deaths-scotland-july-september-2024/. The accompanying data file provides a more comprehensive breakdown of the figures, including by Police Division.

The Scottish Government remains fully committed to reducing drug deaths and harms. Through the National Mission we are seeing success across a wide range of actions designed to save lives and reduce harms. The total funding proposed for alcohol and drugs, including health board baseline funding, is over £150 million in 2025-26. This includes maintaining £112 million funding for Alcohol and Drug Partnerships, continuing to fund grassroots organisations through £13m via the Corra Foundation, and supporting a wide range of activity - including supporting residential rehabilitation.

The Scottish Government expects and relies on our Integrated Joint Boards and Health Boards to plan and deliver services to meet the needs of local populations. Local planning is expected to take account of the particular needs of these populations, and decisions on the provision of services will be based on ensuring fair and equitable access to services wherever this is possible.

The Scottish Government works with territorial Health Boards to ensure services meet the needs of local populations. NHS Boards set out service delivery in annually produced Delivery Plans, reviewed and discussed with the Scottish Government. These plans describe how Boards will deliver services to meet the needs of their own communities, including the particular needs of rural areas, with a focus on fair and equitable access to services.

At the national level, a Board-led working group has been convened to develop a framework for safe, quality and sustainable healthcare services across our rural and island communities.

The number of cancelled operations under ‘non-clinical/capacity reasons’ is the most granular level of detail that’s provided from PHS’s website, breakdown as follows:

The Scottish Government regularly publishes a register of compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) submitted to the Scottish Ministers for confirmation since 2012: https://www.gov.scot/publications/compulsory-purchase-order-register/. The current register, published in December, includes CPOs received up to the end of October 2024.

Whilst the register of CPOs does not include information on whether orders submitted for confirmation were opposed, it does indicate where orders were confirmed with modifications.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. Decisions around the provision of mental health services is a local responsibility, planned by Integrated Joint Boards and delivered through a mixture of NHS, local authority and third sector organisations. The availability of service, including via digital platforms, will vary depending the local population needs and will be guided by clinical decision making.

The Scottish Government is in the process of establishing a stakeholder group on Employment Injury Assistance which will be comprised of organisations and experts with experience of Industrial Injuries Scheme benefits.

Invitations for the Employment Injury Assistance Steering Group will be issued in the coming weeks. The first meeting will take place early this year, subject to members’ availability.

This group will take forward considerations raised in the consultation and provide valuable input for our ongoing work on Employment Injury Assistance in Scotland.

This information is not held centrally. I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-33200 on 21 January 2025 and S6W-33202 on 17 January 2025 which set out the information we do hold on how the carcasses of the 138,534 deer reportedly culled in the 2022-23 season were processed. 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.