Chamber and committees

The number of Scottish domiciled entrants to study medicine at a Scottish HEI in each year since 1999 is shown in the following table.

Scottish domiciled entrants to medicine:

(a)Additional Support Needs (ASN) Teachers - Full Time Equivalents

The following table sets out the full time equivalent of additional support for learning teachers in each authority in 2018.

This includes teachers with their main subject recorded as: Learning Support Secondary; Learning Support, Primary; Special Educational Needs (SEN) (primary) non-recorded pupils; SEN (recorded pupils); SEN (Secondary) non-recorded pupils; SEN Behavioural Support; SEN Learning Difficulties; SEN Physical Disabilities; Hearing Impairment; Visual Impairment; or English as an Additional Language (EAL). Teachers from all sectors, primary, secondary, special schools and centrally employed, are included. Teachers in grant-aided schools are not included.

Since 2016 a total of £6 million funding has been released directly to NHS Boards from this diagnostics fund. NHS boards have directed this funding to support additional scope and imaging capacity based on local need and demand. In 2018-19 alone, this £2m fund will have supported provision of an additional 560 endoscopy sessions, 950 additional one stop breast appointments and 2,000 additional scans across NHSScotland for suspected cancer patients and progress is monitored through regular Scottish Government performance meetings.

To date no funding has been directly invested in the private sector. However, we have provided almost £26.7 million to territorial NHS Boards and the Golden Jubilee National Hospital during 2018-19 to support a range of actions and to put in place additional capacity aimed at reducing waiting lists. NHS Boards will utilise some of this funding to secure capacity through the private sector while we build sustainable solutions over the next two years.

Over the next 12 months we will pursue use of the independent sector in a structured and prioritised manner developing a National Contract, based on clinical priorities and as set out in the Waiting Times Improvement Plan I published in October 2018. Further investment will be allocated in 2019-20 to support the national contract.

Recording only began for cancelled operations in May 2015. The following table displays the total number of scheduled elective cancelled operations recorded in theatre systems for calendar years 2016, 2017 and 2018 across NHSScotland.

Average per-pupil spending on additional support for learning in Scotland was £3,393 in 2017-18. Data detailing spending on additional support for learning is collected from local authorities via the Local Financial Returns (LFR). This figure shows gross revenue expenditure on additional support for learning in primary, secondary and special education from the local financial returns (£621,436, as provided in S5W-15037 on 15 March 2018), divided by the number of pupils identified as having additional support needs recorded in the 2017 Pupil Census (http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/dspupcensus).

As highlighted in the answer to questions S5W-21804 there are issues around the quality of this data. This means that accurate comparisons between local authorities and between years cannot be made. A lack of consistency in how local authorities have broken down the information to primary, secondary and special categories means that this data does not consistently represent the levels of spending in different categories of schools in local authorities. This data also cannot capture the full detail of the support provided to pupils, as a result of provision made for the whole pupil population, from which children and young people with additional support needs also benefit.

We recognise the challenge facing authorities and that decisions about prioritisation and budgets, including those for the provision of services for pupils with additional support needs, are a matter for individual councils, balancing their need to meet a wide range of statutory duties, local priorities and local circumstances. Local Government Financial Statistics for 2017-18 showed that local authorities spent £628 million was spent on additional support for learning – increasing from £610 million in 2016-17 – a 0.9% increase in real terms (2.9% in cash terms).

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 .

Current national guidance remains extant across NHS Scotland. This is set out in the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual which can be accessed via: http://www.nipcm.scot.nhs.uk/ .

Any new or updated infection prevention and control guidance is rightly provided to boards by Health Protection Scotland (HPS). The guidance is regularly updated by HPS and health boards then use this to develop their local policies and processes as appropriate.

The number of cancer nurse specialists employed by NHScotland for years 2016 and 2017 is available on the ISD website: https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2018-12-04/Clinical_Nurse_Specialists_S2018.xls

Health Boards are currently reviewing their Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) data, following data quality concerns raised by several Boards which resulted in this CNS data not being published in September 2018. The number of cancer nurse specialists employed by NHScotland for year 2018 is not centrally available.

ISD workforce holds information on the number of Hospital, Community and Public Health Services (HCHS) medical staff by specialty directly employed by NHS Scotland. Staff are not directly classified as “specialists” within the ISD workforce data, however we interpret this as staff who are working as HCHS medical consultants. As at 31 December 2018, the average age of HCHS medical consultants directly employed by NHS Scotland is 48 years and 1 month.

The average age of NHSScotland GPs as at 30 September 2018 is 44 years and 4 months. The analysis excludes GPs working only on a locum/sessional basis and the majority of those working only in Out of Hours services.

The average age of NHSScotland qualified nurses as at 31 December 2018 is 43 years and 3 months. Qualified nurses are nurses who are on Agenda for Change (AfC) Bands 5-9 excluding interns. Nursing staff working as and when required, e.g. bank and agency staff, are excluded.

The average age of NHSScotland dentists as at 30 September 2018 is 39 years and 9 months. This reflects the wider dental workforce across Scotland including those in the General Dental Service (GDS), Public Dental Service (PDS) as well as hospital dentists.

Further information on the statistics, including information on how the data are collected and notes to aid interpretation, is given in the 'FAQs' section of the Workforce Statistics website at http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce/ .

The Scottish Government Access Support Team is in regular contact with NHS Lothian glaucoma team. There is currently a member of the glaucoma team on long-term sick absence, a locum consultant has been employed to provide cover.

NHS Lothian are identifying the highest risk patients to ensure they are reviewed without delay. New ways of working are being developed within the glaucoma team, such as virtual glaucoma clinics where lower risk patients undergo a series of images which are then reviewed at a dedicated clinical session by the consultant. This enables a higher number of patients to be reviewed virtually and consequently frees up consultant time to review patients at the highest risk of sight loss. In addition, the Board are developing the roles of the non-medical profession (optometrists and orthoptists) to support the service.

I am aware that some aspects of performance across ophthalmology services within NHS Scotland, are below the level expected. The Scottish Government is working closely with health boards to improve Ophthalmology services across Scotland. Additionally on the 23 October 2019 I published our £850 million Waiting Times Improvement Plan.

The first allocation of £26.7 million has been allocated to all territorial NHS Boards and the Golden Jubilee National Hospital. This funding will be used to improve waiting times in the face of rising demand for services.