Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to the development of a Scottish Seabird Conservation Strategy in partnership with stakeholders, to drive forward and prioritise action aimed at improving the conservation prospects of our internationally important seabird populations.

With Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) continuing to have a devastating impact on wild birds, including some of our seabird populations, the Scottish Government, Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies and partners have focused their resources on monitoring and responding to the outbreak, taking action where appropriate to minimise impacts. This included the development of a Scottish HPAI in wild birds response plan which was launched by the Minister for Energy and the Environment in August 2023.

The resource required to respond to HPAI has meant that the strategy has yet to be published. However, actions continue to be taken. This action is important now more than ever with the impacts of HPAI and the results of the recent Seabird Census published in December 2023.

Through the Future Catching Policy, Ministers will be delivering on their obligations to minimise and, where possible, eliminate bycatch of sensitive species as part of a wider effort to ensure the sustainability of our fisheries. As our priority, we will take firm measures to increase selectivity by introducing additional technical measures to reduce unwanted catch and bycatch of sensitive marine species, working with stakeholders to explore and deliver solutions.

The Scottish Marine Protected Area (MPA) Network, including our Seabird Special Protection Areas (SPAs), protects and enhances our marine environment, supporting ecosystem health, improved livelihoods, economic prosperity, social inclusion and wellbeing.

Work on the strategy is moving at pace and targeted stakeholder consultations are expected to take place in spring 2024.

Overall more trainee doctor posts have filled in 2023 than any other year on record, (data correct as at 25 July 2023). Within that overall context there will always be a number of posts which do not fill. Rehabilitation Medicine ST3 is a small specialty with only 1 post advertised in 2023, therefore, as this post has not filled, the fill rate appears as 0%. We continue to work closely with our partners in NHS Education for Scotland and Health Boards, to consider ways of improving fill rates across all specialities.

Overall, more trainee doctor posts have filled in 2023 than any other year on record. 8 posts were advertised in Palliative Medicine at ST4 level and 4 (or 50%) filled successfully. These figures are accurate as of 25 July and pertain only to the initial recruitment rounds of 2023; NHS England will publish full recruitment data for all UK nations in January (date TBC).

Palliative Medicine recently became what is known as a group 2 specialty (formerly group 1), meaning that trainees must complete 3 years of Internal Medicine Training (IMT) rather than 2. We are working with NES to determine what impact this is having on the attractiveness of the programme. We are also funding uplifts in IMT with 22 posts set to be created in 2024. IMT is a pre-requisite for Palliative Medicine (among several other specialties) and increasing front-end supply should therefore improve the sustainability of services in the longer term.

In addition to expanding numbers, the mandatory education programme in the first year of IMT now includes aspects of Palliative Medicine training which should increase the visibility of the specialty for trainees who are considering their future career options. Various careers events have also been showcasing opportunities in Palliative Medicine.

(a) For Local Authorities there were 140 separate lines in the funding formula being used in the consultation process for the 2024-25 revenue settlement. Twenty-six lines specifically use rurality-related indicators, though about 120 of the lines attract extra funding for island communities .

(b) Formula allocations to territorial NHS boards are informed by the NHS Scotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) formula. The NRAC formula captures the variation in both the relative need for health services across small area populations and the relative unit costs of delivering services across different geographies. The formula models 6 care programmes separately: Acute (with 7 discrete diagnostic groups), Care of the Elderly, Maternity, Mental Health and Learning Difficulties, Community and Prescribing. An adjustment to take account of the difference in relative unit costs across urban, rural and remote areas is applied to all of the care programmes except GP prescribing (because prescriptions are reimbursed at national prices).

Overall more trainee doctor posts have filled in 2023 than any other year on record, (data correct as at 25 July 2023). Within that overall context there will always be a number of posts which do not fill. Oral and Maxillo Facial Surgery ST3 is a small specialty with only 2 posts advertised in 2023, therefore, as only 1 post has filled, the fill rate appears as 50%. We continue to work closely with our partners in NHS Education for Scotland and Health Boards, to consider ways of improving fill rates across all specialities.

Overall more trainee doctor posts have filled in 2023 than any other year on record, (data correct as at 25 July 2023). Within that overall context there will always be a number of posts which do not fill. Paediatric and Perinatal Pathology ST3 is a small specialty with only 1 post advertised in 2023, therefore, as this post has not filled, the fill rate appears as 0%. We continue to work closely with our partners in NHS Education for Scotland and Health Boards, to consider ways of improving fill rates across all specialities.

Overall, more trainee doctor posts have filled in 2023 than any other year on record. 14 posts were advertised in Geriatric Medicine at ST4 level and 7 (or 50%) filled successfully. These figures are accurate as of 25 July and pertain only to the initial recruitment rounds of 2023; end-year data for all UK nations and specialties will be published by NHS England in the coming weeks. We continue to work closely with our partners in NHS Education for Scotland and Health Boards, to consider ways of improving fill rates across all specialities. Examples in Geriatric Medicine include:

• Increasing the number of Internal Medicine Training (IMT) posts in the system. IMT is one of two primary routes into Geriatric Medicine. 22 additional posts will be created in 2024 to feed supply into Geriatric Medicine among other specialties.
• The Geriatric Medicine team within NHS Education for Scotland arranged a national teaching session in December for IMT trainees which focused on progression opportunities in the specialty, and a virtual ‘Geriatrics for Juniors’ conference was run in November which included career advice sessions.

Overall, more trainee doctor posts have filled in 2023 than any other year on record. 15 posts were advertised in Emergency Medicine at ST4 level and 5 (or 33.33%) filled successfully. These figures are accurate as of 25 July and pertain only to the initial recruitment rounds of 2023; end-year data for all UK nations and specialties will be published by NHS England in the coming weeks. It should be noted that recent uplifts in Emergency Medicine (10 posts in 2023) led to a greater number of posts being advertised. Another 12 posts will be added this year. Steps have been taken by NHS Education for Scotland to fill the 10 vacant posts: 5 are being filled through IDTs (Inter-Deanery Transfers), 1 has been converted to an ST1 post and the other 4 are have been converted to LAT (Locum Appointed to Training) posts.

There is no minimum required number of medically-trained NHS 24 call handlers, as call handlers are classed as healthcare support workers and are not medically trained.

Call handlers operate under clinical supervision at all times with a minimum level of one clinical supervisor for every five call handlers. Each call has clinical supervision input at an appropriate level, depending on acuity and outcome.

The Scottish Government greatly values the positive effects that twinning can offer to communities home and abroad and the opportunities it can provide to maintain close international relationships with partnering countries.

With the financial challenges we currently face, there are no current plans for the Scottish Government to provide financial support towards town twinning in the near future.

However, the Scottish Government and the international network will continue to work with partners at home and abroad to support and promote meaningful and valuable twinning arrangements.