Chamber and committees

a) There are six breast screening centres across Scotland. For women aged 53-70 years who were screened between 1st April 2020 and 31st January 2021, the average interval between screening episodes was 41 months across Scotland.

The average interval between screening episodes, broken down by screening centre, was as follows:

East – 46 months

North – 40 months

North East – 42 months

South East – 41 months

West – 38 months

South West – 39 months

b) It is not possible to provide information on the current longest interval between screening episodes; however, within the period between 1 April 2020 and 31 January 2021, 2% of those screened had an interval between screening rounds of greater than or equal to 51 months.

It should be noted that the data provided to answer this question is management information that has not been subject to quality checks applied on an official publication.

As of 31st January 2022, 54,726 women in Scotland have waited more than 36 months since their last breast screen. Data presented in relation to S6W-06127 on 28 February 2022 sets out the average length of time between screening appointments by screening centre. Historically, the Scottish Breast screening Programme has invited around 260,000 women per year. In 2019-20 just under 270,000 women were invited.

The programme continues to recover from the March 2020 Covid-19 related pause, and the National Screening Oversight, Scottish Screening Committee and Breast Screening Programme Board (BSPB) continue to work with health boards to increase the number of available appointments, including through deploying additional mobile breast screening units and providing additional appointments during evenings and at weekends.

It should be noted that the data provided is management information that has not been subject to quality checks applied on an official publication.

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

People with certain neuromuscular conditions, such as motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis, are eligible for antiviral medication The eligibility criteria for direct access to new COVID-19 treatments were developed by an independent expert working group commissioned by the UK Department of Health and Social Care and is based on detailed clinical evidence. The criteria are set out in a UK-wide clinical commissioning policy . The policy targets those higher risk individuals who have the potential to both be least likely to generate a material immune response to vaccines and be at highest risk of disease progression, hospitalisation and death.

Further information is available on NHS Inform .

In addition to the direct access arrangements described above for the most vulnerable, coronavirus oral antiviral treatments are being evaluated through a UK-wide study called PANORAMIC, run by the University of Oxford. Full details about the eligibility criteria for the study can be found at: https://www.panoramictrial.org/

The outcomes from the study will enable the NHS to fully understand how best to make use of these treatments in the future.

The Demand and Capacity programme and core principals have been designed and delivered in partnership with unions - with representatives of GMB, Unite the Union and Unison all being members of the steering group which meets monthly.

A staff engagement and consultation process, also agreed in partnership with Unions at the outset, is being conducted in all regions.

SAS continue to hold regular discussions with staff side representatives, including weekly meetings with the Project Team on this review.

The Service commissioned an independent Demand and Capacity Review in 2017. Funding has since been approved on a phased basis, with the third phase of the review scheduled to be concluded and changes implemented by November 2022.

Since agreement of phased funding, SAS have been actively recruiting staff at pace and increasing vehicles on the ground on a transition basis into priority locations across the country. Seven additional satellite stations have already been established, with a further three still to be established, enabling resources to be spread across busy urban areas to better match patient demand.

Alongside this, the service having been working in partnership to design new rosters. SAS are expecting new rosters to be implemented in April 2022 for the majority of locations across the East and North Regions. The West Region full implementation is expected to be concluded by the end of July.

Recruitment for phase 3 of the review has commenced and will enable SAS to increase their establishment by a further 162 staff as well as further increase our station locations and vehicles on the ground.

Internationally renowned modelling company Operational Research in Health (ORH) were commissioned by the Scottish Ambulance Service to carry out an analysis on 7 years’ worth of data to help inform the review of demand and capacity.

ORH used a population growth data to predict future demand and resources required to meet performance standards. This included patient demand, types of clinical presentation, on scene times, at hospital times, travel times, vehicle tracking data, resourcing levels, receiving hospitals, station locations, rest periods and standard operating procedures.

In addition, Working Time Solutions were also commissioned to assist with the design and implementation of rosters that better match demand profiles.

Following approval, SAS will publish the third phase of the business case.

The Scottish Ambulance Service continues to provide data each year to Operational Research in Health (ORH) to continually update the model. This enables resourcing requirements to be modelled each year to take account of changes in the data and wider health and social care system, therefore the most recent modelling includes the impact of COVID 19.

In light of the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic, the wellbeing of our health workforce, wherever they work, remains a key priority. The 2021/22 pay uplift saw staff receive an average 4% pay rise, the highest in the UK. The Scottish Government is committed to ensure that NHS Scotland nursing staff continue to benefit from the best pay and conditions in the UK.

In 2021-22, the Scottish Government made £12 million available to support the wellbeing of the workforce. This includes £8 million from the NHS Recovery Plan to provide ongoing wellbeing support for the workforce alongside an additional £4 million to provide further support to address winter pressures.

To complement this at a local level, we also have a range of resources including the National Wellbeing Hub, a 24/7 National Wellbeing Helpline, confidential mental health treatment the Workforce Specialist Service and funding for additional local psychological support. We are also providing further support for practical measures to aid rest and recuperation alongside additional resources such as Coaching for Wellbeing and grief and bereavement support.

Nursing and midwifery staffing is also at a record high, up by 13.1% since September 2006.

A full public consultation into proposed restrictions on the advertising and promotion of vaping products was launched on February 3. The consultation will run for 12 weeks and all responses will be independently analysed.