Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to developing digital skills for all staff across health and care, and ensuring that we embed digital leadership at all levels to enable digital service transformation. As part of our commitments in the Digital Health and Care Strategy’s Delivery Plan 2022-23 we are developing an Action Plan to articulate the range of learning and development opportunities more clearly, identify gaps and document outcomes. The Digital Health and Care Leadership Programme led by NHS Education for Scotland and sponsored by the Scottish Government supports staff to influence digital health and care in their organisations through strategic leadership, opportunities for learning, collaborating, and networking with others to maximise the use of technology to benefit service delivery within their organisations. The Programme is open to staff in NHS Scotland, social care, housing and the third sector, and will increase capacity in digital leadership, encouraging innovation in services and cross-organisation learning and development.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with the above bodies to ensure Scotland is maximising the potential of Digital Health and Care. We have developed Scotland's first data strategy for health and social care input from these bodies and are in the process of enhancing our role in innovation through work with the Accelerated National Innovation Adoption pathway.

The Scottish Government has accepted all 5 key recommendations in the Coming Home Implementation Report and is working with people with lived experience, COSLA, professionals from Local Authorities; Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs); the NHS; and other key stakeholders to implement these recommendations. This includes progressing the Dynamic Support Register, Peer Support Network and National Support Panel recommendations, focussing in the first instance on getting it right for people with learning disabilities using a collaborative and partnership approach.

We will work to address wider issues around the delayed discharge that people with enduring mental health conditions experience. Our work on the National Care Service, the Barron Forensic Services Review, and the Scottish Mental Health Law Review will further improve the care and support of people with enduring mental health conditions.

The Scottish Government is committed to implementing the recommendations set out in the Coming Home Implementation Report to reduce delayed discharges and out-of-area placements for people with learning disabilities and complex care needs.

Following the publication of the Coming Home Implementation report, the Scottish Government has worked with key stakeholders to understand the role and remit of a Peer Support Network in order to design a model that provides value and allows for genuine collaboration across Scotland. Further details on the establishment of the Peer Support Network will be available soon.

The Scottish Government is committed to implementing the recommendations set out in the Coming Home Implementation Report to reduce delayed discharges and out-of-area placements for people with learning disabilities and complex care needs.

The purpose of the occasional licence is to cater for the multitude of events which take place on premises which are not 'fully' licensed but feature the sale of alcohol. These can often include events arranged for the benefit of local communities such as local community fetes, gala day celebrations, wedding receptions and arts events. Occasional licences offer a flexible regime for the hospitality and entertainment sector to provide alcohol at events outside licensed premises.

The Scottish Government previously consulted on whether the current £10 occasional licence fee should be reviewed, and also whether the Scottish Ministers should make regulations setting limits on the number and duration of occasional licences granted. This follows concerns that occasional licences can be used in a manner designed to avoid the consequences of a permanent alcohol licence. Work in relation to this consultation was paused as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.

Having reflected carefully on this matter, the Scottish Government is minded to bring forward regulations which will put in place “occasional licence limits” in terms of the number of occasional licences, or the number of days on which occasional licences have effect, in relation to the same applicant or premises in any 12 month period.

The Scottish Government is also planning fresh engagement with licensing stakeholders to consider the level of fee currently charged for an occasional licence.

The approach of the Scottish Government will seek to balance the need for the cost and burden of occasional licences to be met by those seeking them while avoiding any undue impact on important local community events such as gala days and fetes. Any draft regulations would be subject to a targeted consultation and ultimately it will be for the Scottish Parliament to consider and approve.

The Scottish Government is committed to implementing the recommendations set out in the Coming Home Implementation Report to reduce delayed discharges and out-of-area placements for people with learning disabilities and complex care needs.

Significant work has been undertaken to develop and test a Dynamic Support Register, which has been led by a working group and co-designed with people with lived experience, HSCPs and NHS professionals across Scotland. We will be launching the Register soon following successful testing.

The guidance on widening eligibility has been drafted and agreed by the PrEP Prescribing Guidance Short Life Working Group. Discussions and planning are now underway regarding its rollout, which is expected in the coming weeks.

The development of the pilot e-prep clinic is in the early stages and is likely to involve a staged approach.

As this is a complex project, involving significant IT and clinical expertise to deliver well, it is not yet possible to provide a definitive start date. The development work that’s currently underway will determine the scale, start date and duration of the initial pilot. While we expect significant progress to be made in the coming months, it is important that when we launch the pilot we ensure that it is fit for purpose and will meet the highest standards of patient safety.

As I committed to during the Parliamentary Debate on World Aids Day, the Scottish Parliament will be provided with an annual report regarding the progress made towards the goal of ending HIV transmission within Scotland by 2030.

The Scottish Government remains committed to eliminating Hepatitis C as a major public health concern by 2024. We must nonetheless recognise the impact the pandemic has had across the whole health sector, including the detection and treatment of Hepatitis C. During the financial year 2021-22, 1,390 individuals across Scotland started direct-acting antiviral hepatitis C treatment. This is set out in a report on the PHS website: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/surveillance-of-hepatitis-c-in-scotland/surveillance-of-hepatitis-c-in-scotland-progress-on-elimination-of-hepatitis-c-as-a-major-public-health-concern-2022-update/

National target data for 2022-23 will be published as soon as the full data has been collected and subjected to the appropriate data quality checks.

Data on targets and treatment initiations at Health Board level cannot be provided centrally as it has not been subjected to the required data quality procedures. However, the Scottish Government can confirm national treatment targets are broken down to indicative levels by NHS Board area to assist with their planning.

Despite the challenges resulting from the pandemic, the PHS report linked above shows there is evidence to indicate that Scotland has already achieved the WHO target to treat 80% of those diagnosed with Hepatitis C.