Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government began supporting efforts to implement online testing in 2020. Since then, we have provided over £0.5m for the development of a “once for Scotland” approach to STI home testing. This was rolled out in NHS Lothian in December, and work is underway to explore further roll-out. This service allows people to request a test online and perform home self-sampling, while providing clinicians with comprehensive, real-time data. We are aware that in addition to the work supported by the Scottish Government that a number of NHS Boards have also progressed work in this area. The Scottish Government does not directly collect data on the numbers of people who have directly accessed such services.

Since 2021, we have also provided funding to pilot the provision of at home HIV self-testing kits. Two methods of testing for HIV have been offered, encompassing HIV self-testing (in which the individual tests their own blood sample and interprets the results) and HIV self-sampling (in which a laboratory tests and processes the blood sample). The most current data from HIV Scotland shows that over 10,000 kits have been requested through this Scottish Government-funded project. This further breaks down to 8,545 self-testing kits and 1,752 self-sampling kits.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with partners to increase the number of social workers in the profession, as well as developing rewarding career pathways and improving terms and conditions.

The development of a Graduate Apprenticeship in Social Work is currently being considered for investment along with other routes into the profession. Discussions are underway with Skills Development Scotland on requirements to proceed with a pilot scheme.

Due to an absence of Scottish Government landholdings (i.e. presence of Scotland’s national forests and land) in East Lothian and/or Midlothian, Forestry and Land Scotland have not conducted any tree planting (either restocking or new planting) in the two local authority areas in the period of 2007 to 2022.

The current Health and Social Care Standards were implemented on 1 April 2018 and are published on the Scottish Government website.

The Care Inspectorate is the independent scrutiny body and regulator for care services in Scotland. Since April 2018, the Health and Social Care standards have underpinned inspections and quality assurance functions carried out by the Care Inspectorate, Healthcare Improvement Scotland and other scrutiny bodies.

Two new standards were published in March 2022 and have a strong emphasis on helping care home residents and their families stay connected. We have provided additional support and resource to the Care Inspectorate (£276,000 over the next two years) to enhance their role in supporting visiting rights through the ‘Anne's Law and Connection for People in Care Homes project’. This additional resource will enable the Care Inspectorate to proactively champion the implementation of the new standards and rigorously monitor its progress.

The Scottish Government has worked closely with the Care Inspectorate and other public bodies as they have raised awareness and understanding of the Standards. “Real stories” videos and animations raising the profile of the standards are available through the Care Inspectorate’s YouTube channel. A one-day Holyrood event took place to help organisations understand how they can be used in delivering quality care and the Standards were promoted at a number of conferences and events, including targeted events for NHS staff. A dedicated website and a Scottish Government Twitter page were created and used to promote the launch of the Standards, and a bespoke booklet for unpaid carers was launched in partnership with the Carers Trust.

The local road network is the responsibility of local authorities and they will allocate resources on the basis of local priorities. The vast majority of funding to local authorities from the Scottish Government is provided via a block grant and we do not stipulate how local authorities should utilise their individual allocations. It is therefore the responsibility of each local authority to manage their own budget and to allocate the financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

In the most challenging budget settlement since devolution, we are providing over £13.2 billion in the Local Government Settlement 2023-24.

The local authority may also wish to contact the Coal Authority to establish if there is any recourse to them regarding the historical mine works.

During 2020, national treatment targets were suspended in recognition of the necessary response to the covid-19 pandemic, before being reinstated in 2021.

We know that the covid-19 pandemic had a major impact across our health services, including the detection and treatment of Hepatitis C. In considering the re-instatement of Hepatitis C treatment targets, both the impact of COVID and associated steps to manage it were considered by the SHPN Hepatitis C Elimination Group, which comprises clinical expertise from Scottish Health Boards.

A recent PHS report shows that the number of new diagnoses made in 2020 and 2021 were the lowest recorded in the last decade. Encouragingly, however, it also shows that major progress has been made despite the pandemic. For example, there is evidence to indicate that Scotland has already achieved one of the WHO targets set for 2030; 80% of those ever diagnosed having received treatment.

The full PHS report can be found here: Surveillance of hepatitis C in Scotland (publichealthscotland.scot).

The Scottish Government remains committed to eliminating Hepatitis C as a major public health concern by 2024.

We must recognise the impact the covid-19 pandemic has had on services, as well as the monitoring and evaluation of HCV data.

However, despite that impact, PHS recently published a report (“Surveillance of hepatitis C in Scotland”) which shows that major progress has been made on a number of key targets including a large drop in cases in people who inject drugs, with some parts of Scotland seeing as much as a 70% reduction. This is hugely encouraging. As we continue to recover from the pandemic, we must build on that progress and continue to work with key stakeholders to remove this public health threat.

A Sexual Health Digital Group has not yet been established, in recognition of the pressures facing the NHS as it recovers from the pandemic, and to avoid further demands on the time of the clinicians and NHS professionals who would be required to join.

However, to maintain momentum, the Scottish Government has continued to support digital solutions, including online testing and ePrEP. Additionally, much of the anticipated work that the Group would have taken forward will be addressed through other forums, such as the forthcoming update to the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Framework or through the refreshed Digital Health and Care Strategy. However, the establishment of the Group will remain under review and be stood up, should the need arise and resources permit.

Establishing a Women’s Health Lead in every board is a medium term action in the Women’s Health Plan due for delivery by September 2024 . NHS Boards have begun the process of identifying their Women’s Health Lead.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. However, information regarding PrEP uptake is published by Public Health Scotland and can be found here: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/hiv-in-scotland/hiv-in-scotland-update-to-31-december-2021/ .