Chamber and committees

We are working hard to abolish excessively long waits that have undoubtedly been exacerbated by the impacts of the global pandemic and we offer our sincere sympathies to all patients waiting for treatment.

Pausing of non-urgent activity during the pandemic has inevitably led to a build-up of numbers waiting for treatment, and the emergence of Omicron and the BA.2 sub-variant in late 2021 has undoubtedly added to existing significant pressure. We are working closely with NHS Boards to get those waiting for treatment the care they need as quickly as possible.

In order to support a sustainable reduction in the backlog of planned care procedures in Scotland, the Scottish Government published an NHS Recovery Plan in August 2021. Backed by over £1 billion of funding, this sets out our plans for health and social are over the next 5 years.

The NHS Recovery plan can be accessed here: NHS recovery plan - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

NHS Boards understand and communicate with patients the importance of keeping as fit and healthy as possible while waiting for joint replacement surgery. To support patients waiting and recovering from surgery, Boards and partner organisations offer a range of support including pain management, mental health, physiotherapy, access to leisure services, weight management and financial support. Information and advice is also available through online platforms like NHS Inform.

We also work in close partnership with third-sector organisations who provide a wealth of knowledge and care though lived experience which many patients value. Charities such as Versus Arthritis also offer support to those awaiting treatment, including advice, information and practical help to manage the impact of musculoskeletal pain on people’s wellbeing. They also provide peer-led support such as walking groups and tai chi in local areas which enable people to improve their physical fitness and maintain their mental health and quality of life both before and after treatment.

We have invested £10 million in 21-22 to support cancer waiting times improvements. Latest data (Q4 2021) shows that the median wait for melanoma patients on the 62 day pathway (from urgent suspicion of cancer referral to treatment) is 27 days and 0 days for those on a 31 day pathway (from decision to treat, to first treatment).

We are also investing in our £44 million Detect Cancer Early Programme. The Detect Cancer Early website (getcheckedearly.org) features an interactive ‘symptom checker’ tool to raise awareness of the common signs and symptoms of cancer, including skin cancers to improve the likelihood of better outcomes for melanoma patients. To further improve diagnosis, Scotland’s first three Early Cancer Diagnostic Centres (ECDC) have been established. The Centres provide primary care with access to a new, person-centred fast-track diagnostic pathway for patients with non-specific symptoms (including weight loss, nausea, and fatigue) that are suspicious of cancer.

As part of our NHS Recovery Plan we are investing over £400m to create a network of 10 National Treatment Centres across Scotland, increasing capacity for over 40,000 additional planned elective procedures and diagnostic care across 12 specialities, including cancer treatments.

More specifically, the Centre for Sustainable Delivery manages a Dermatology work-stream, to improve patient pathways, experience and outcomes within the specialty. As part of this work they have committed to ongoing work in relation to Dermatology Nursing Education and working with the British Association of Dermatologists to ensure sustainability and to increase the range of pathways where primary care have access to high quality referral information from a single source.

Work is underway to develop a new cancer strategy for NHS Scotland. Ensuring cancer patients, including those affected by melanoma, have access to equitable, timely treatment will remain a priority.

We are working hard to abolish excessively long waits that have undoubtedly been exacerbated by the impacts of the global pandemic and we offer our sincere sympathies to all patients waiting for treatment.

Pausing of non-urgent activity during the pandemic has inevitably led to a build-up of numbers waiting for treatment, and the emergence of Omicron and the BA.2 sub-variant in late 2021 has undoubtedly added to existing significant pressure. We are working closely with NHS Boards to get those waiting for treatment the care they need as quickly as possible.

In order to support a sustainable reduction in the backlog of planned care procedures in Scotland, the Scottish Government published an NHS Recovery Plan in August 2021. Backed by over £1 billion of funding, this sets out our plans for health and social are over the next 5 years.

The NHS Recovery plan can be accessed here: NHS recovery plan - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Most Health Boards across NHS Scotland offer fast-track clinics for patients with an urgent suspicion of skin cancer, including malignant melanoma. We are supportive of coordinating tests where possible to support faster diagnosis and improve patient experience, which is why we are developing national optimal cancer diagnostic pathways.

£10 million was released in 21-22 to support the recovery and redesign of cancer pathways, including to support one-stop clinics, with similar levels of investment expected this year.

Meanwhile, we continue to support the Dermatology Consortium that are exploring solutions for the rapid diagnosis of skin cancer in NHS Scotland.

Information is provided in the following table.

As required by the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002, Ministers made a Principles of Charging statement for the 2021-27 regulatory period. The statement included the increase to the maximum discount available under the water charges reduction scheme from 25% to 35%.

This information is provided in Scottish Water’s Annual Report and Accounts which is published on Scottish Water’s website and laid before Parliament each year. The accounting provision Scottish Water has made for household bad debt in each of previous 10 financial years is set out in the following table.

This information is provided in Scottish Water’s Annual Report and Accounts which is published on Scottish Water’s website and laid before Parliament each year. The information is copied in the following table.

None. Business Stream was provided with access to precautionary funding facilities during 2020-2021 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. To date there has been no requirement to drawdown against this facility.