Chamber and committees

Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland indicate that as of the end of November 2022, a total of 3,444 referrals have been made to the charity’s long COVID Support Service since its inception in February 2021.

Scottish Government funding of £156,924 has been made available to Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland to support the continuation and development of the service over 2022-23. This funding has not been drawn from the long COVID Support Fund.

The development of the National Digital Platform (NDP) is a core commitment from the joint SG/COSLA Digital Health and Care Strategy (2018). This strategy was refreshed in 2021. NHS Education for Scotland (NES) was commissioned as the lead delivery partner.

Information on this important work is available via the website: www.nationaldigitalplatform.scot .

Up to 31 March 2022, a total of £6.838m was spent on the design, development and support for the NDP. NES accounts for spend during 2022-23 financial year have yet to be finalised and so associated costs for the NDP in this financial year cannot be provided as part of the answer.

A Financial Memorandum was published alongside the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill which sets out a range of costs that could be incurred within the establishment and running of the NCS. This included anticipated costs for co-design.

For people participating in the Lived Experience Experts Panel expense costs they incur to participate will be remunerated. The cost of co-design will therefore be dependent on the level of engagement and remuneration claimed by individuals for the cost of participating. A policy document on remuneration is currently being drafted and will be published before the end of the current financial year.

Paragraph 48 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill Policy Memorandum refers to this. This can be accessed at: https://www.parliament.scot/bills-and-laws/bills/national-care-service-scotland-bill/introduced

Once the structure and governance of care boards and their localities have been decided, decisions about the employment of local government staff can be made. Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) / Cabinet Office Statement of Practice (COSOP) principles will apply if the delivery of services is transferred from local authorities to care boards. If that is the case, the TUPE process would be followed.

The method for the geographical and membership makeup of care boards will be considered as part of the collaborative design work with people who access and deliver health and care support, stakeholders and partners.

Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) / Cabinet Office Statement of Practice (COSOP) principles will apply if the delivery of services is transferred from local authorities to care boards. If that is the case, the TUPE process would be followed. Decisions on whether any staff transfers take place will depend on decisions taken at a local level. Legal advice will be sought as required and external legal advice commissioned as necessary.

To support the Bill, provisions in the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill Financial Memorandum sets out an assumption of the range of required investments in pay and terms and conditions for frontline local government care staff, if all staff were to transfer to the National Care Service. This is set out at page 16, paragraph 53, table 8.

Paragraph 48 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill Policy Memorandum sets out the local decisions required. This can be accessed at: https://www.parliament.scot/bills-and-laws/bills/national-care-service-scotland-bill/introduced

These local decisions will inform future discussions on any staff transfers. The length of time taken to transfer staff is directly related to these local level decisions.

To support the collaborative co-design we launched registration to Lived Experience Experts Panel and Stakeholder Register on 22 September 2022. Further information and registration details can be accessed at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/design-the-national-care-service/

As of 7 December 2022, we had 421 applicants registered with the Lived Experience Experts Panel.

As of 7 December 2022, we had 210 organisations sign up for the Stakeholder Register.

The Panel and the Register are both being actively monitored for demographics, geographic spread and protected characteristics to ensure we encourage a true representation of the population. Targeted engagement will be undertaken to address any gaps and ensure robust information gathering and development Promotion of the opportunities to register will continue throughout the life time of the programme.

The National Care Service (Scotland) Bill requires Ministers to have a strategic plan if they are delivering, or arranging for the delivery of, national services.

In order to ensure that national services remain aligned with changing population need it is important that Ministers regularly review, with partners, stakeholders and people, the strategic plan.

We will continue to liaise with those who plan and deliver services to ensure that the Bill sets out appropriate national and local strategic planning requirements.