Chamber and committees

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) was commissioned by the Scottish Government in late 2021 to develop Objective Structured Clinical Examination(OSCE) training provision and this training is available to all international nurses working across NHS Scotland as required for NMC registration.

As part of the 2021-22 Programme for Government (PfG), the Scottish Government committed to increasing the number of available medical school places by 500 over the lifetime of this Parliament. As part of this commitment we are also doubling the number of places reserved for widening access students from 60 to 120.

We are in the process of delivering this commitment following the creation of 200 additional places which have been distributed between Scotland’s 5 medical schools in the academic years 21-22 and 22-23. The next tranche of 100 will be delivered in 23-24, and the allocation of the final 200 places remain under consideration.

Primary care training hubs model has been developed and is in operation in GP practices in NHS Lothian and NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is working with Health Boards and GP practices to continue to increase training capacity in primary care settings for GPs and the MDT workforce. This work will inform the future use of training hubs and will accommodate the significant planned increases to medical undergraduate, foundation and GP training places, as well as other staff groups, announced by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is represented on the Cross-Whitehall International Recruitment Steering Group chaired by the Department of Health and Social Care. The Steering Group provides national policy oversight on international supply activity, including the development of bilateral country to country agreements, ensuring consistent ethical practices in line with the International recruitment of health and social care personnel: Scottish Code of Practice - August 2022 (revised) - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with partners including Higher Education Institutions, Health Boards, Skills Development Scotland, and the Scottish Funding Council on skills development, employability and widening access to NHS Scotland careers, including the development of progressive career opportunities for existing staff and the development of apprenticeship models to provide an ‘earn and learn’ pathway.

Career pathways are actively promoted to staff and those who may be interested in an NHS career, through NHS Scotland Careers website and social media accounts. This has included the development of resources such as the Shape Your Future – Find the Career For You in NHS Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10530 on 28 September 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13517 on 24 January 2023. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13366 on 20 December 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 Scottish Government is providing a range of recruitment support, as well as training and development activity to assist Health Boards with securing the right mix of new and experienced staff for their NTCs.

Detailed plans relating to the size and composition of the workforce for each NTC site has been or will be developed by the relevant territorial NHS Board and submitted to the Scottish Government as part of the wider planning and approval process for the site in operation.

The Centre for Workforce Supply within NHS Education for Scotland provides boards with support to undertake international and domestic recruitment activity but does not directly recruit staff therefore this information cannot be provided.