Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government believes that EU citizens make a vital contribution to the delivery of NHS services in Scotland. Given the uncertainties presented by Brexit, we are working with all NHS Scotland Boards, and engaging with the professional regulatory bodies, to support on-going impact assessment and workforce planning activity, in line with Boards’ service provision responsibilities.

We know from Annual Population Survey Estimates (2016) indicate that approximately 3.5% of the health and social care workforce in Scotland (c.13,000 individuals) are EU/EEA nationals. Nevertheless, the proportion of the workforce who are of EU/EEA origin will vary considerably from profession to profession, as data from the professional regulatory bodies, including the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council demonstrates.

The Scottish Government has clearly set out the importance of continuing membership of the Single Market, which would be the best outcome for both our NHS and wider public service delivery in Scotland.

There are currently 157 Changing Places Toilets (CPTs) across Scotland. Unlike other regions of the UK, the number of CPTs in Scotland has been increasing. The location of each CPT in Scotland can be found at http://pamis.org.uk/campaigns/changing-places-toilets/.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to the continuing provision of CPTs through our A Fair Scotland for Disabled People action plan ambition, ‘places that are accessible to everyone’. We work closely with PAMIS, the only organisation in Scotland which works with people with profound and multiple learning disabilities and their families for a better life. PAMIS continues to progress the CPT campaign, and has engaged with a range of stakeholders, particularly in areas where there are limited or no CPTs.

The following table details the number of Changing Places Toilets in NHS Boards premises:

Information on how much the Scottish Government has spent on cessation and related campaigns in each year from 1999 is as follows:

* N-A means information is not held.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14083 on 6 February 2018. 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 report of the review of rejected referrals will be published by the 31 May 2018.

Information on the number of patients delayed due to procedures under the Adults with Incapacity Act (awaiting Guardianship) are available in the monthly Delayed Discharge census published by NHS information Services Division. The publications are available here: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Health-and-Social-Community-Care/Delayed-Discharges/Previous-Publications/, and the December data will be published on 6 February 2018.

NHS Lothian are in the process of developing their business case and it will be submitted as soon as possible.

Agency spend figures for each NHS Board are only available from 2006-7 to 2016-17 and are given in the following table. Information on NHS Board spend on bank staff is not held centrally.

Agency Spend by NHS Board (in £’000)

The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland actively promotes the participation of traditionally underrepresented groups within the NHS workforce; this is underpinned by fair and inclusive recruitment policies, supported by a clear and unequivocal Staff Governance Standard.

The Race Equality Framework and the Disability Delivery Plan set out specific actions through which we are pursuing an explicit goal that Scotland’s health and social care workforce better reflects the diversity of Scotland’s communities. Equally, we have established a national partnership with Stonewall Scotland, through which all NHS Boards are encouraged to participate in the Workplace Equality Index. Through the partnership, NHS Scotland has founding partner status on the ‘Proud Employers’ Website, accordingly NHS boards can actively promote both board and executive level appointments.

This information is not held centrally. NHS Information Services Division publishes quarterly workforce statistics which details current vacancy information for consultant grade specialists. The data tables can be accessed via the following link: https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2017-12-05/Consultant_Vacancies_S2017.xls