Chamber and committees

From April 2024, social care workers in the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sectors in a direct care role, and those working in the PVI sector to deliver funded early learning and childcare will see their pay increase to at least £12 per hour. This will mean an increase that could be worth up to £2,000 per year for those on full-time contracts. This uplift recognises the financial pressures of those working in these sectors, and will help to address issues with recruitment and retention.

Across both the adult social care and child care sector, we are also working closely with partners, including COSLA and individual Local Authorities, to understand and address workforce challenges.

We are committed to improving fair work practices across the adult social sector and, through the Fair Work in Social Care Group (FWISCG), we are taking action to improve the experiences of the workforce. Alongside a workstream on pay, the Group is focused on establishing a set of minimum standards for terms and conditions, developing a framework to embed the principles of effective voice in social care, and advancing sectoral bargaining arrangements.

We are working with partners and staff from across the childcare sector to develop a Strategic Framework for Scotland’s Early Learning and School Age Childcare Profession. The framework will set out the priorities for the profession now and in the coming years, as well as actions we will take to support a sustainable, diverse and thriving profession. We have also implemented a Protection of Vulnerable Groups fee waiver for childcare workers until March 2024 to help support workers with the cost of living.

Ministers are required by the Community Empowerment Act (2015) to review the National Outcomes within five years of their previous publication, and the next review is currently underway. The Scottish Government intends to lay the statutory document in Parliament in early 2024. This will outline the work undertaken during the Review, including any proposed changes to the National Outcomes.

The recently published NHSScotland Menopause and Menstrual Health Policy is intended as an example of best practice so that employers across Scotland can adapt it for their organisation, should they wish. The supporting resources, includes line managers’ guidance and workplace adjustment guidance and are intended for use more widely across a variety of employment sectors. They are available on the National Wellbeing Hub .

The National Cancer Medicines Advisory Group (NCMAG) will review the use of Anastrozole as a preventative treatment for post-menopausal women at a moderate or high risk of breast cancer, along with several other medicines for the chemoprevention of breast cancer at their Council meeting on 21 March 2024 and will publish their advice on 25 April 2024.

Alongside the NCMAG advice, consideration is being given to how it may fit into a chemoprevention care pathway in NHS Scotland, including screening and monitoring.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) continues to provide early information - on an in confidence basis - to Health Boards on medicines in clinical development that are expected to require a companion diagnostic through regular horizon scanning reports.

As part of the Scottish Strategic Network for Genomic Medicine (SSNGM), the Scottish Genomic Testing Advisory Group (SG-TAG) for cancer is now live, and has successfully carried out a review of a new genomic testing pathway for biliary tract cancer which was approved for implementation. This cancer pathway includes diagnostic and prognostic targets, and also targets for SMC approved medicines. The equivalent group for Rare and Inherited Conditions is due to launch next month. Both groups will include a process for considering the laboratory genomics delivery model as well as the cost of the genomic testing pathway for SMC approved medicines.

The only precision medicine accepted by the Scottish Medicines Consortium where the companion diagnostic test is not yet offered by NHS Scotland laboratories is Pemigatinib (SMC Number 2399).

We are continuing to work closely with key partners, such as the Scottish Strategic Network for Genomics Medicine (SSNGM), to ensure there is capacity within laboratories for companion diagnostics tests to be offered as soon as practically possible.

Priority six in the Stroke Improvement Plan is focused on psychological care and includes commitments to understand the availability of existing resources and develop strategies for raising awareness of the emotional and psychological impact of stroke on mental wellbeing. Work to appraise the range of resources currently available is scheduled to begin in 2024.

Education and training programmes on post-stroke psychological and emotional impacts are available as part of the Stroke Training and Awareness Resources (STARs) Core Competencies and Advancing Modules, hosted by Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland (CHSS). These resources were developed with the input of clinicians from across Scotland.

The criteria for NHS Board reviews sets out the Scottish Government’s expectation that all staff potentially dealing with hyperacute stroke patients should have undertaken the STARS Advancing Modules.

A public health campaign to help remove stigma and raise awareness of the symptoms of menopause is in development and is planned at present to be delivered within the current financial year.

The new Stroke Improvement Plan , published in June, includes a commitment to assess the current ability of NHS Boards to implement the National Model of Psychological Care in Stroke (Scotland).

This is being assessed via NHS Board reviews, which now include a requirement to demonstrate adequate provision of psychological support for those who have suffered a stroke.

In September, we published the National Specification for Psychological Therapies to help support improvements in the delivery of psychological care.

The Stroke Improvement Plan includes a commitment to assess the current ability of NHS Boards to implement the National Model of Psychological Care in Stroke (Scotland).

This is currently being assessed via NHS Board reviews which now include a requirement to demonstrate adequate provision of psychological support.

Assessment of ongoing implementation of the National Model of Psychological Care in Stroke (Scotland) will be reported on in the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme National Report.