Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is not automatically notified of whistleblowing allegations but is grateful to all whistleblowers who raise concerns.

It is vitally important that staff feel they can raise any concerns they may have about patient safety and malpractice. All NHSScotland staff are encouraged to raise any concerns they have directly with their Board in the knowledge that these will be taken seriously, investigated thoroughly, and where appropriate, acted upon.

The latest Dignity at Work Survey shows that 65% of respondents feel it is safe to speak up and raise concerns, up by almost 10 percentage points on the last survey in 2015. This reflects our focussed effort over the last few years on supporting and encouraging staff to speak up. This includes having robust whistleblowing policies; introducing an independent confidential alert & advice line; having named whistleblowing contacts as well as non-executive Whistleblowing Champions in each Board. All of this is contributing to an increasingly honest and open reporting culture within our NHS.

Furthermore, we are introducing the role of an Independent National Whistleblowing Officer (INWO). The INWO will, amongst other things, provide a national leadership role in setting whistleblowing standards as well as offering direction, support and guidance to Health Boards with a focus on continuous improvement, early resolution, good practice and reporting. We plan to have this role in place by the end of 2018.

The Scottish Government is not automatically notified of whistle blowing incidents. The Health & Social Care Partnership has operational responsibility for the Community Hospital and worked in partnership with NHS Lothian from the outset of the complaints being made early last year.

We are very grateful to the Whistleblowers for raising their concerns.

We have discussed the issues with the Partnership. The issues were addressed immediately and seriously following the complaints being raised, including an independent multi-disciplinary review process leading to the report and an action plan. We are reassured that those actions have been taken and that the Partnership has kept families informed. We also understand that the student placements have resumed and a new Chief Nurse was recently appointed.

Decisions on the use made of the report are for NHS Lothian and the Health & Social Care Partnership to make.

The advice issued to Scottish Government employees is set out in the answer to question S5W-15047 on 16 March 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 .

From the onset of the adverse weather, our staff were advised to consider alternative working arrangements such as working from home or working from another building if feasible. All staff were reminded on 27 and 28 February of our Disruption to Work guidance, which confirms staff will be credited (and therefore paid) their standard working hours in relation to an exceptional unplanned disruption to work if they are:

unable to travel to work,

unable to work from home,

advised to leave work early; or

had their shift cancelled

This was confirmed in subsequent staff communications also.

It is for each individual employer to determine what communications to issue to their employees. However, our staff communications were issued to a number of other bodies (listed in the following table) to make them aware of the approach taken in the Scottish Government.

Copies of the staff messages that were issued between the 27 February to 2 March 2018 are placed in the Parliaments Reference Centre (Bib number 59593).

The Scottish Government has two Directorates that have an HGV; The Marine Scotland HGV was not on the road on 28 February or 1 or 2 March 2018. The ARE Stud Farm HGV was out on 2 March. It left Inverness at 1300 and travelled west to Uig, Skye and then by ferry to Lochmaddy, returning the following day. None of the journey was within the boundaries of the red or amber alerts. As the ARE HGV carries livestock, the team consults the Met Office, Traffic Scotland, and the Calmac port prior to the journey and they have a contingency plan in place.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14824 on 13 March 2017. 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 .

According to Health Board records, just under 700 women received an Essure contraceptive implant from four Health Boards in Scotland, though no Health Board now offers the device following its withdrawal from market. Whilst for confidentiality reasons a precise number cannot be stated, fewer than five adverse events relating to the device have been submitted to NHS Scotland's Incident Reporting and Investigation Centre. Patients who suspect they have suffered a complication are encouraged to report it, and should never hesitate to discuss any concerns they have with their GP.

As of 27 February 2018 the Scottish Government employs 160 Modern Apprentices.

We do not record Modern Apprentices location as they, and other staff, may work within specific Scottish Government Departments and Agencies, but are based in different locations across the country at different times.

The number of Modern Apprentices employed by Department or Agency is set out in the following table.

(a) SCTS currently employ 5 members of staff on a Modern Apprentice programme, at the following locations.

(b) COPFS currently employ 24 members of staff on a Modern Apprentice programme. They are employed at the following locations.

In August 2017 Bayer announced that Essure's CE mark had been temporarily suspended, stressing that this development was unrelated to product safety or quality. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) subsequently announced, in September 2017, that Bayer had withdrawn the Essure contraceptive device from the European market. The MHRA stated that Bayer had taken the decision for commercial reasons.

www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-statement-on-essure-devices

It is understood that fewer than five women received the implant shortly after withdrawal of the CE mark though, for reasons of patient confidentiality, an exact number cannot be given. The women concerned, some of whom had already begun preparatory treatment, gave consent after being made aware of the withdrawal of the product's CE mark and were given an option to choose alternative methods.