Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10433 on 20 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-10404 on 20 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

The Scottish Government is committed to the recruitment of a minimum of 1,500 additional staff to support the operation of Scotland’s National Treatment Centres (NTCs) and is supporting a range of activity to achieve this.

The recruitment data we collate is management information and not suitable for publication. NTC Recruitment is the responsibility of each NHS Board. It is therefore for NHS Golden Jubilee to provide detail regarding their recruitment.

The following table provides a breakdown of the core activity undertaken at the National Eye Centre at NHS Golden Jubilee, by month, since it opened in November 2020 up to the end of June 2022.

This does not include activity undertaken in main theatres at the NHS Golden Jubilee University National Hospital in 2020-21 prior to the National Eye Centre opening, nor any activity carried out in the National Eye Centre as part of the current independent sector contracts.

Following the publication of the National Advisory Committee for Stroke’s Progressive Stroke Pathway, work is underway to develop a refreshed Stroke Improvement Plan by the end of 2022. This will outline how recommendations in the Progressive Stroke Pathway will be prioritized and implemented, as well as a continued emphasis on the importance of the Scottish Stroke Care Standards.

The Scottish Stroke Care Standards are regularly reviewed in line with current evidence and updated guidelines. We monitor the implementation of these standards through the Scottish Stroke Care Audit to ensure that stroke patients in Scotland are receiving high quality care.

Despite the continued and unprecedented challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme report, published on 28 June, highlights areas where a high level of care is provided for stroke patients, including improvements in the number of patients who receive brain imagining within 12 hours of arrival to hospital.

We recognise that there are areas within stroke care that have proven particularly challenging and we are committed to continued improvement. We expect health boards to identify aspects of their stroke services which do not meet the Scottish Standards and to work to improve standards of care locally.

The number of thrombectomy procedures carried out at each stroke centre in the last year are:

West of Scotland: 16

East of Scotland: 17

North of Scotland: 31

The Scottish Government does not hold information about individual patients transfers.

We are not currently aware of any stroke unit closures.

The Scottish Government recognises that delivery of the acute stroke care bundle is of crucial importance to the provision of high quality stroke care. Monitoring of performance against stroke bundle standards through the Scottish Stroke Care Audit allows the Scottish Government to identify where challenges are being faced in the delivery of high quality stroke care.

We continue to expect Health Boards to identify aspects of their stroke services which do not meet the Scottish Stroke Care Standards and to work to improve standards of care locally.

The Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme team works closely with services and NHS boards to use learning from the Scottish Stroke Care Audit to support improvement across the whole stroke pathway, including timely access to thrombolysis.

For example, planning work is ongoing within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to develop a telemedicine stroke service. This aims to introduce remote specialist assessment of hyperacute stroke patients out-of-hours at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and 24/7 at Royal Alexandra Hospital to improve overall door-to-needle (DTN) times for thrombolysis.