Chamber and committees

The timing for restarting the over-70’s self-referral scheme is regularly reviewed. The Breast Screening Programme Board (BSPB) agreed criteria to resume the option for women over 70 to self-refer in line with the programme’s recovery route map. The option for women over 70 to self-refer into the breast screening programme will resume once all screening centres are able to offer those aged 53-70 their breast screening appointments within 39 months of their previous screening. Progress towards this criteria is being closely monitored, and the National Screening Oversight, National Screening Committee and BSPB continue to work with Health boards to increase the number of available appointments within the programme.

Regardless of their age, women should remain symptom aware and report any symptoms to their GP immediately for these to be investigated.

As I noted in my statement to Parliament on 24 June, a single NHS Board first discovered in December 2020 that a small number of women who had subtotal hysterectomies had been wrongly excluded.

In 2016, a review was carried out of all individual records on the Scottish Cervical Call-Recall System (SCCRS) which had both a subtotal hysterectomy entry and also an open exclusion on the record. This was prompted by an IT error that had led to ‘no cervix’ exclusions being automatically added to the system when a subtotal hysterectomy was recorded together with recommended management of ‘no follow up’ or ‘no further recall’. This error was swiftly addressed.

In the course of addressing the issue, a number of other cases were identified, where a subtotal hysterectomy had been recorded on SCCRS and a manual exclusion had subsequently been opened. As soon as this was discovered, a process was initiated to identify all records on SCCRS with subtotal hysterectomies and open exclusions.

Following a rigorous review of affected records, it was established that some exclusions had been opened in error. Anyone affected was re-instated to the screening programme, and provided with a full explanation. Recommendations were made for safeguards to be put in place to prevent further instances of inappropriate manual exclusions.

At that time, it was believed that the records review had captured all affected patients, and there was no evidence to suggest further widespread errors in the recording of subtotal hysterectomies or the general application of exclusions.

It should be noted that, in 2006, in preparation for the migration to SCCRS, a data cleansing exercise was carried out. GP practices were provided with a list of women where there were discrepancies between the exclusion status and screening history and asked to resolve these before the transfer to SCCRS was complete.

This data cleansing exercise was standard good practice prior to the migration to SSCRS and did not uncover significant coding or data issues that gave rise to widespread concerns. Once the inconsistencies were resolved, the migration to SCCRS was carried out. A decision was made to migrate total hysterectomy information and all exclusions but not subtotal hysterectomy information, as individuals with subtotal hysterectomies would continue to be screened.

Although the actions taken in response to the issues detected in 2006 and 2016 were reasonable in light of the available evidence, we will consider whether there were opportunities to detect the wider issues now identified, and, if so, what lessons can be learned to strengthen monitoring and auditing going forward.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01898 on
‎ 23 August 2021. 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 mesh fund is being administered by NHS National Services Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government. The following table illustrates, as at 26 July 2021, the number of applications approved, declined and pending:

Wastage data is not currently published by Public Health Scotland. However we can confirm for NHS board operated vaccination clinics, wastage is well below our planning assumption of 5%, which is a precautionary approach for worst case scenario planning.

As we see children return to school after summer I understand how important it is for families to feel involved, especially where children are attending school for the first time. However, as we monitor the impact of important changes to self-isolation policies amongst children and young people, it is also important that we continue to minimise the risks of infection and transmission in the school environment.

Updated guidance, published on 3 August, makes clear that visitors to schools should be agreed in advance and arrangements appropriately risk-assessed. Parents/carers may accompany children onto school premises where this is agreed with the school and strictly necessary to support children and young people, for example where there are concerns about individual children making a successful transition from Early Learning and Childcare to P1. Otherwise, where virtual arrangements for parental engagement are already in place and working well, these should continue to be used.

The updated guidance is available at the following link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-reducing-the-risks-in-schools/ . These arrangements will be kept under careful review, and are expected to be in place for up to six weeks at the start of the new term.

The Covid-19 test kits are home PCR kits provided by NHS Test & Trace. The cost of the kits is set by the UK Government and the process managed through its contract with the travel management company CTM.

Currently, the Scottish Government does not allow use of private test providers for international travellers arriving into Scotland from green and amber list countries.

We are having on-going discussions with the UK government on using private test providers and exploring ways to allow private testing for travellers coming to Scotland provided we are confident in the flow of data into contact tracing services and that all positive test results are analysed to identify any variants of concern.

The latest data cut of 22.07.2021 showed 262 active Cancer Clinical Trials in Scotland. On that date there were 22 Covid-19 suspended Cancer Clinical Trials.

The Scottish Government currently only allows travellers returning from green and amber list countries to use NHS tests, delivered through the UK Government’s contract with the travel management company CTM. These tests are the highest quality with established data flows into NHS boards and samples are sequenced to ensure early detection of variants of concern.

The Scottish Government currently only allows travellers returning from green and amber list countries to use NHS tests, arranged through the CTM booking portal, as they are the highest quality with established data flows into NHS boards and samples are sequenced to ensure early detection of variants of concern.

Travellers arriving in other parts of the UK can access the NHS tests, however those arriving in England and Northern Ireland are also able to access private test providers who charge a range of prices.

The Scottish Government is exploring ways to allow private testing for travellers coming to Scotland provided we are confident in the flow of data into contact tracing services and that all positive test results are analysed to identify any variants of concern.