Chamber and committees

The funding of local authority outdoor education centres and decisions on the commissioning of outdoor education centre experts are matters for individual local authorities.

The current Covid-19 guidelines do allow schools to invite outdoor education centre specialists into school grounds to work with staff and pupils to provide engaging and beneficial outdoor learning experiences, and we know anecdotally that this has happened in some schools. Where this has taken place, it has been a highly positive experience, and we would encourage many more local authorities and schools to consider it. This will allow children to continue to benefit from the experience of outdoor education experts, as well as supporting outdoor education specialists to make use of their skills whilst residential visits to outdoor education centres cannot take place.

We continue to work with the Covid-19 Education Recovery Group (CERG), COSLA and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) to encourage schools to work with outdoor education centre staff as a means to effectively take learning out of the classroom.

Following the recent debate in Parliament on the challenges facing outdoor education centres, Scottish Government has agreed to liaise further with local government partners to see what more can be done to share and spread this practice.

The location of PET scanners across NHS Scotland has been subject to national strategic planning for many years and NHS Highland is represented in these discussions.

NHS Highland patients requiring a PET-CT scan who are fit and able are currently referred to NHS Grampian if they live in the North of Scottish or to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde if they live in the Argyll area.

The need for a PET scanner within NHS Highland is regularly reviewed and at present the clinical load does not justify a fully running service.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-31615 on 22 September 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

The Scottish Government is committed to being at the forefront of human rights leadership and, as such, is undertaking a range of work to ensure that human rights are fully respected, protected and fulfilled in line with Scotland’s international treaty obligations.

The First Minister’s Advisory Group on Human Rights Leadership proposed recommendations to create a new statutory framework for human rights in Scotland. The National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership is progressing these recommendations at pace with a remit to consider bringing protections from a range of international human rights treaties into domestic law.

As the 2020-21 Programme for Government states, the Taskforce work includes consideration of how best to incorporate the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women into domestic legislation. Active consideration is also being given to the incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the UN Convention on Racial Discrimination. Additionally, a Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 1 September 2020 to incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

This programme of work demonstrates significant progress in the Scottish Government’s commitment to be at the forefront of human rights leadership.

The Scottish Government expects Health Boards to make every effort to treat patients within their local area. However there will always be circumstances where patients may have to travel to larger Health Boards to receive specific treatment.

This information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government or by Public Health Scotland.

Any Information relating to patients attending a PET scans out of area will be held by the Local Health Board.

In 2018 a strategy was developed by the PET/CT Capital Planning Group that set out the proposed way forward for the next 5-10 years. A national approach has been taken at present with 5 PET CT scanners currently supporting NHSScotland located within the Glasgow, Lothian, Tayside and Grampian Health Board areas.

The need for additional PET scanners is kept under regularly review with the next formal review planned for 2023.

The Scottish Government expects Health Boards to make every effort to treat patients within their local Health Board areas where there is access to the treatment and care they need.

During these unprecedented times with increased Health and Safety requirements as well as physical distancing measures, patients may be required to travel in order to receive safe and swift access to the treatment and care they require.

However, in order to reduce this travel, some mainland Health Boards are providing visiting medical services to deliver care in Island communities for certain specialities, alongside delivering additional activity on site by utilising Mobile Vanguard Theatres and Endoscopy Units to limit patients need to travel out with their Board area.

Many Health Boards are also utilising digital technology such as NHS Near Me , to support delivery of Outpatient activity across Scotland and receiving clinical support from colleagues in mainland Boards. In addition, Island Boards are utilising the services of locum support.

There remains further work to be done to resume all elective treatments, and our approach will continue to be informed by national and local clinical priorities, as well as the need to keep the virus under control and ensure the NHS has the capacity to respond to any resurgence of the virus.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Costs on local travel arrangements will be held by the local Health Board.

The First Minister announced on 20 August that the reopening of indoor sport and leisure facilities such as indoor karting venues, is Monday 31 August with physical distancing and enhanced hygiene measures in place.

The Scottish Government have produced new guidance for the opening of indoor sport and leisure facilities with physical distancing and hygiene measures. This new guidance, created in collaboration with the sport and leisure sector will provide staff and customers with the confidence that it’s safe to return.