Chamber and committees

Student nurses entering Scottish Government funded degree programmes will increase by 9% in 2022-23, to a total recommended intake of 4536 students. This will be the 10 th successive increase in recommended student numbers, with the intake doubling over the last decade.

Every year, the Scottish Government undertakes a robust nursing student intake planning process to determine the target number of pre-registration students to which Scottish universities should recruit to in the following academic year to meet estimated future nursing workforce demands.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07924 on 27 April 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 .

Allowances for fuel that are paid to social care workers are a matter for individual employers and are not set by the Scottish Government. We are, however, actively engaged with our partners, including local government, to understand what impact the increase in fuel prices is having across Scotland, and how social care providers can support their staff to ensure they can continue to deliver the invaluable support they provide. In NHS Scotland, Employers and Staff Side representatives have recently agreed a temporary 5p increase to standard mileage rates. This agreement is set out in DL(2022)11 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07924 on 27 April 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-07711 on 19 April 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.

We do not hold data centrally on the number of NHS staff who would potentially be affected by the re-introduction of the abatement rules.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07924 on 27 April 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 .

In line with the Test and Protect Transition Plan, testing changed on Scotland on 18 April.

Thanks to vaccination coverage and new Covid treatments, most people no longer need to test when they don’t have COVID-19 symptoms. Lateral flow device (LFD) tests are now being used in a targeted way to support clinical care and protect high risk settings.

Up until the end of April 2022, LFD tests can be ordered online or by phoning 119 for:

• anyone eligible for Covid treatments,
• an unpaid carer,
• anyone visiting a hospital or care home,
• a contact of a positive case and are fully vaccinated, or,
• a positive case who is self-isolating and are eligible to end self-isolation early (take an LFD test from day 6 as advised in guidance for ending self-isolation early).

From the 1 May LFD tests can be ordered online or by phoning 119 for:

• anyone eligible for Covid treatments,
• an unpaid carer, or
• anyone visiting a hospital or care home,

PCR testing for those with symptoms remains available until the Test and Protect transition period ends on 30 April.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07532 on 19 April 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-questionsand-answers

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05799 on 26 January 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