Chamber and committees

NHS Boards understand and communicate with patients the importance of keeping as fit and healthy as possible while waiting for joint replacement surgery. To support patients waiting and recovering from surgery, Boards and partner organisations offer a range of support including pain management, mental health, physiotherapy, access to leisure services, weight management and financial support. Information and advice is also available through online platforms like NHS Inform.

We also work in close partnership with third-sector organisations who provide a wealth of knowledge and care though lived experience which many patients value. Charities such as Versus Arthritis also offer support to those awaiting treatment, including advice, information and practical help to manage the impact of musculoskeletal pain on people’s wellbeing. They also provide peer-led support such as walking groups and tai chi in local areas which enable people to improve their physical fitness and maintain their mental health and quality of life both before and after treatment.

In August 2021 we published the NHS Recovery Plan, which set out actions and commitments that will support inpatient, daycase, and outpatient activity to address backlogs. This will be delivered through the implementation of sustainable improvements and new models of care. This includes the National Treatment Centre Programme, which will deliver capacity for ring-fenced elective activity. Four centres will open in the next year in NHS Fife, NHS Highland, NHS Forth Valley and NHS Golden Jubilee specialising in orthopaedics.

We recognise the impact long waiting times can have on a patient, from both a clinical and mental health perspective. At this stage in recovery from the pandemic, long waiting patients must now also be considered a priority. That is why earlier this month we updated the Clinical Prioritisation Framework to allow Health Boards the flexibility to treat the longest waiting patients in parallel with the most urgent. The expectation is that NHS Boards will follow the principles of this Framework to prioritise patients based on their particular clinical needs and those who have waited longest. This will allow NHS Board to ensure that the patients with the greatest needs are treated quickest.

Most Health Boards across NHS Scotland offer fast-track clinics for patients with an urgent suspicion of skin cancer, including malignant melanoma. We are supportive of coordinating tests where possible to support faster diagnosis and improve patient experience, which is why we are developing national optimal cancer diagnostic pathways.

£10 million was released in 21-22 to support the recovery and redesign of cancer pathways, including to support one-stop clinics, with similar levels of investment expected this year.

Meanwhile, we continue to support the Dermatology Consortium that are exploring solutions for the rapid diagnosis of skin cancer in NHS Scotland.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) uses the national waiting times warehouse to collect electronic patient records covering the waits that patients experience waiting for treatment as an inpatient or day case under the Treatment Time Guarantee. This data source can be used routinely to identify the specialty of treatment. However this information does not provide the level of detail requested.

More detailed information on the procedure(s) that is planned or undertaken for a patient will be held locally by NHS Boards.

Statistics relating to the waits patients experience for inpatient or day case treatment at specialty level are published up to 31 March 2022 and can be found using the link below:

https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/13252/ipdc_may22.xlsx

ScotRail’s temporary timetable aims to provide the best possible service to as many passengers as possible with the available resources. The major determining factor is driver availability by rostered hours, location and with the necessary competencies, which fluctuates daily.

ScotRail has regularly reviewed the temporary timetable to take account of stakeholder feedback, wherever possible, and changes to driver availability and just recently was able to add additional services. With the positive progress made on pay negotiations with ASLEF, I have tasked ScotRail with reintroducing the previous timetable as soon as possible.

: In way of introduction it may be helpful to provide a general summary of the Scottish Government estate and the approach used in the management of asbestos. For buildings occupied by the core Scottish Government there are 18 owned (Crown) and 47 leased. The Scottish Government also has responsibility for the management of asbestos in these leased properties. Every agency looks after their own estate and are consequently not covered under the auspices of the facility management services contract for the core estate.

The Scottish Government estate comprises buildings and sites that are used to deliver the business of the core Scottish Government. These buildings are primarily offices. The estate includes a small number of other facilities that support the agriculture and marine sectors such as the Bull Stud Farm at Knocknagael, Inverness and Marine Scotland Science fishery research stations around the country. The Scottish Government estate does not include any buildings or sites to which the public have regular access. On occasion, visitors may attend for pre-arranged meetings when they would be accompanied.

Most of the buildings on the core Scottish Government estate were constructed at a time when asbestos was still in use as a building material and have been surveyed. Asbestos Management Plans have been produced where appropriate. This includes an Asbestos register and action plan on how to mitigate any risks from Asbestos Containing Material (ACM). Each case is assessed individually and it is often recommended to be safer to leave asbestos in place than to remove it. Our maintenance contractor regularly inspects areas of known asbestos to confirm that they have not been disturbed. Sometimes asbestos will be removed as part of wider building works. In such cases a refurbishment/demolition survey is undertaken ahead of any works happening. Information is then relayed to the Scottish Government’s Project Management Unit. The safe removal of any known asbestos is then integrated into the Project Delivery Plan.

There are 17 buildings currently known to contain asbestos.

In the last three fiscal years numerous operations have been carried out to remove asbestos from buildings for which the Scottish Government is responsible. This is summarised in the following table:

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08992 on 17 June 2022. 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.

Our universities are autonomous institutions and the alliances they forge across global academic networks are a matter for them and their governing bodies.

We expect all our universities to understand and manage the reputational, ethical and security risks associated with international partnerships. This includes conducting appropriate due diligence before entering into new international partnerships and monitoring existing partnerships. Guidance to support universities has been published by Universities UK.

In Scotland, NHS Boards are subject to the NHS Board Performance Escalation Framework which has a five stage escalation process. There are currently five territorial Health Boards escalated to Stage 3 or above on the framework. These boards are subject to additional scrutiny and are receiving tailored support.

Escalated Boards (as at June 2022)

Responsibility for the delivery of social care, including the setting and collecting of charges related to social care and support, lies at a local level.

The Scottish Government collects and publishes national data through the Local Financial Returns (LFRs). These are a series of detailed returns that collect final, audited financial data for local authorities in Scotland. The data is published as part of the annual Scottish Local Government Finance Statistics (SLGFS) publication.

The figures provided in the following table relate to all income received relating to customer and client receipts in relation to Social Work services, including Children & Families and Adult Social Care, for the last five years for which data is available.