Chamber and committees

GP practices are independent contractors and therefore decisions relating to telephony are at their discretion. On top of practices’ core funding allocation, the Scottish Government is making an additional £600,000 funding available this year for the Health Boards to allocate to GP practices for the purpose of upgrading or replacing telephony systems.

We have worked closely with a range of delivery and partner organisations to prepare, plan and respond to a range of issues and risks which may impact on NHS services. Planners and officials are using a range of modelling and intelligence to minimise potential impact of COP26 and to help protect NHS services across our communities.

Our planning has also used the experience and learning from previous large-scale events in Scotland, the UK and internationally including previous UN COP summits .

The Scottish Government publishes a weekly Research Findings which models the COVID-19 epidemic in Scotland. The Research Findings includes a section which estimates infections, as well as hospital and ICU bed demand from COVID-19. This gives an assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the NHS in the next few weeks. This will provide information in the run up to COP26 and after the event has taken place.

The publications can be found on the Scottish Government website at the following link:

https://www.gov.scot/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-modelling-the-epidemic/

The Scottish Government recognises vaccines approved for use in the UK regardless of where they were administered to determine whether a person has completed their primary dose or whether they require additional doses to be fully vaccinated.

Those who have been vaccinated out-with the Common Travel Area (CTA) should obtain proof of their vaccination status from the country they received their vaccination. For domestic certification purposes, we will accept proof of vaccination from across the UK and Crown Dependencies as well as from members of the EU Digital Covid Certificate Scheme.

For those who have proof of vaccination status from out with the CTA and the EU, domestic certification rules for international visitors will align with current border rules. Visitors from international countries out-with the CTA and EU scheme will require to provide the same proof of vaccination status that is accepted for entry to the UK.

Those who have received a final dose of a UK approved vaccine in Canada at least 14 days before travel are currently recognised as fully vaccinated and can use their proof of vaccination for domestic certification purposes. More information on this can be found at: Coronavirus (COVID-19): international travel and managed isolation (quarantine) - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Scottish Government is committed to the early detection of cancer. We are in currently in the process of establishing Scotland’s first Early Cancer Diagnostic Centres which will see the creation of a person-centred fast-track pathway for patients with non-specific symptoms (i.e. weight loss, nausea, fatigue) suspicious of cancer. These centres have been in operation since June 2021 and are continually taking patients with plans for equitable access across Scotland over the course of this parliament.

An estimate of the number of patients who have missed an early diagnosis of melanoma can be made by using data from the Public Health Scotland (PHS) Covid Wider Impacts Dashboard ( https://scotland.shinyapps.io/phs-covid-wider-impact/ ). The data indicates there were a total of 1,131 individuals with pathologically confirmed specimens for malignant melanoma of the skin between 1 April 2020 and the week ending 21 st February 2021. This was 398 individuals fewer than in the same period one year before.

Therefore, the data suggests there have been around 400 fewer melanoma diagnoses overall during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scottish Government has been working with heath boards most likely to be impacted by COP26 and have put in place measures to support provision of health services to official delegates and others visiting Scotland during the summit period.

Hosting this event does place an additional demand on our NHS and we continue to work closely with Scottish and UK partners to mitigate potential impact on NHS services and staff workload.

Special Advisers in the Scottish Government are bound by the Special Adviser Code of Conduct and the standards of integrity and honesty required of all civil servants as set out in the Civil Service Code. The Scottish Government has accepted the Hamilton Report proposal to give further consideration to matters relating to Special Advisers. We will cooperate with the Independent Advisers on taking this forward as part of any wider revisions to both the Ministerial Code and the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers that might be required.

The following table shows the number of people diagnosed with dementia and referred for post-diagnostic support from a named Link Worker in financial years 2018/19 and 2019/2020. Information on people diagnosed with dementia who are not referred for PDS is not available centrally.

For 2018/19, 8,021 people equates to approximately 43.4 % of those estimated to have been diagnosed with dementia in that year. Of those referred in 2018/19 for post-diagnostic support, 75.1% received a minimum of one year’s support. Full 2019/2020 figures will be published next year.

Table 1: Number of people diagnosed with dementia and referred for post-diagnostic support by financial year of diagnosis: Scotland: 2018/19 to 2019/20

The Scottish Government has been working with partners including Integration Joint Boards, COSLA and Alzheimer Scotland through the first four months of 2021 and subsequently to review the provision of dementia post-diagnostic services.

This year’s Programme for Government confirmed that we would provide extra resources to help ensure that everyone who is entitled to the service has the option for referral. We will be allocating the annual equivalent of £3.5m for this purpose on a recurring basis.

It is expected there will be approximately 40,000 delegates and retinues from international countries in Glasgow for the event. In addition to that, there will be civil society activists who will visit Glasgow during COP-26. Current estimates suggest there may be between 50,000 and 250,000 activists attending during the course of the event.

Our Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme is aimed at increasing early diagnosis rates of Scotland’s most common cancers while reducing health inequalities. Following an options appraisal exercise, melanoma was selected as the next tumour type for inclusion in the DCE Programme in 2016.

DCE’s website (getcheckedearly.org) and digital channels help to increase awareness of symptoms of a number of tumour groups, including melanoma, on an ongoing basis. The Programme also works closely with third sector to share patient experience stories, to prompt others to take action.

DCE launched a new overarching campaign – Survivors - in September 2018 to reduce fear of cancer and empower people to act early, if they noticed any possible signs of cancer. The NHS Recovery Plan, published 25 August 2021, commits a further £20 million investment to the DCE Programme which will include additional public awareness campaigns.