Chamber and committees

The recruitment of specialists in menopause is a matter for individual health boards as the employer, depending on their service need.

Through the Women’s Health Plan, we want all women to have timely access to menopause support and services and there is now a specialist menopause services in every mainland health board and a ‘buddy’ support system in place for the Island health boards.

A total of £194,841 in private water supply grants has been awarded by North Ayrshire, Inverclyde, Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire Councils from financial years 2007-08 to 2022-23. A further £2,263,062 has been awarded by Argyll and Bute Council for the same period. However, it should be noted that the Argyll and Bute Council area goes beyond the West Scotland region. Totals by local authority are set out in the following table. The Scottish Government does not hold information regarding the breakdown of amounts awarded to (a) homes and (b) commercial premises.

I had an introductory meeting with Alex Plant, Chief Executive of Scottish Water, on 6 June 2023 and have been in close contact with Scottish Water particularly on issues around water scarcity recently and will continue to do so.

All grant funding allocated from the drugs policy division is subject to Scottish Government’s robust grant management process, outlined in the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM).The Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) provides guidance on the proper handling and reporting of public funds.

The SPFM also provides guidance on appraisal and evaluation techniques and procedures. The Green Book, Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government ? published by HM Treasury provides more detailed guidance on the principles, techniques and procedures applicable in relation to appraisal and evaluation.

We continue to work with key partners across Scotland to ensure that information, with the appropriate safeguards in place, is available to all staff when and where they need it. Regional Clinical Portals support NHS Boards to allow clinicians to access different pieces of information about an individual patient as a single electronic record including those patients from other NHS Boards if and when required.

The portal will scan the many clinical systems searching for records pertinent to the patient and assemble the results into a meaningful view on screen. The portal also allows a clinician with suitable access scrutinise the clinical information presented for a more detailed view, and to move into other systems without having to re-authenticate or reselect the patient.

Community Pharmacy gained access to the Emergency Care Summary (ECS) for all community pharmacists and registered technicians during COVID 19. It remains available in all NHS Boards, and is an effective tool to deliver enhanced and efficient patient care.

The Scottish Government is aware of emerging access issues within NHS Dumfries and Galloway, noting that this is an area which has suffered disproportionately with dental workforce issues in the past – an issue has only been heightened by the significant loss of EU workforce as a result of Brexit.

While an overall assessment of the impact of local access issues has not been undertaken, as it is a matter for the NHS Board, Scottish Government is working closely with the recently appointed Board Dental Taskforce to help understand and mitigate against the drivers of access issues. This includes strategic planning on the design and implementation of more sustainable dental services across the Board area. While this work continues, unregistered patients will continue to be able to access emergency and urgent care via Public Dental Service clinics.

The Scottish Government does not stipulate that private companies have to offset carbon emissions.

As Circularity Scotland is a private company, we therefore did not make any stipulation to them that they must offset any such emissions.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18901 on 21 June 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government and our overseas offices work to advance Scotland’s interests, including those of our universities. Our international network will continue to invest in our international relationships and support our universities to engage globally.

As an autonomous body it is for Glasgow Caledonian University to decide on its strategic direction, including investment in particular areas of activity such as overseas campuses.

We do not collect national-level data associated with this provision. Breakfasts are being provided across Scotland by a range of service providers including public, private and third sector. Some of this provision has been and continues to be supported through Scottish Government funding.